North county mailman wraps up 41 years of delivery

Today’s outgoing mail will be the last bundle of packages and letters crammed into the back of Jan Anderson’s white 1997 Ford F-700 freight truck.

For the past 41 years, letters, cards and birthday gifts from families like the Halls, Mills, Maleys and Pittmanns have begun their journey from northwest Whitman County to the world in Anderson’s vehicles.

“But who’s counting?” he asked.

That long record of service comes to an end today, as he hauls his last loads from Steptoe, St. John, Malden, Rosalia and Spangle to the U.S. Postal Service’s sorting center at the Spokane airport.

Since September of 1969, Anderson, who lives in Spokane, has dropped mail at post offices along the 70-mile route six days a week. He figures his daily trips have amounted to two million miles, equal to 80 trips around the world and four trips to the moon.

His day begins at 4:15 a.m., when he picks up a load of incoming mail from the Spokane sorting center, tunes the radio to an oldies station and heads south.

Even with the advent of e-mail and cell phones, Anderson still hauls a nearly full truck each way.

“They say it’s dropped off, but I haven’t seen it on my route,” he said.

In fact, Anderson’s daily load has gotten heavier over recent years. That’s why he decided 12 years ago to switch to the bigger truck. Prior to that he hauled the mail in a series of four cargo vans.

His final stop is at Steptoe, where he arrives around 7 a.m. At that point, Anderson is off duty until he has to pick up the outbound mail in the afternoon.

“I come down here, and I have an eight-hour coffee break,” he said with a grin.

Anderson uses the time of his “coffee break” the only way he knows how – driving.

“I love it,” Anderson said of hitting the road. “Sometimes when my wife and I get bored on weekends we pack up and head to Seattle for lunch.”

Over the years, Anderson has occupied his free time during the Whitman County layover to deliver flowers and other items, including sausage.

“You remember that meat shop that used to be in Endicott?” he asked as he stood beside his idling truck. “I used to haul sausage from there.”

Anderson also kept a small trailer at St. John to spend part of the idle hours.

No matter where he went in his “side jobs” Anderson was back in plenty of time to pick up his 4:30 p.m. load and head off through St. John, Pine City, Rosalia and points north all the way to Spokane.

He made the trip past loaded harvest trucks, through driving rain storms and blizzards.

“Malden Hill – I call it Malden Pass,” he said. “That place has been a pain in my side for 40 years. That’s one spot I won’t miss.”

Despite those hazardous conditions, the only time he would claim to have missed a day’s delivery was when Mt. St. Helens blew ash all over the Inland Empire in 1980.

“That was tough,” he said. “I had three days off, but I couldn’t drive anywhere.”

Anderson plans to relax in his newfound free time. He will continue to live in Spokane with Pat, his wife of 40 years.

“My wife still has two more years before she retires,” he said.

After that, the couple plans to spend their retirement – what else? – traveling.

The postal service will let out a temporary contract until they can find a full-time replacement for Anderson’s route.

A retirement party is planned for Anderson from 2 p.m.to 5 p.m. Saturday in the St. John Community Building.