Lenexa UPS driver retires after 45 years and more than 3 million safe miles

After 45 years and more than 3 million accident-free miles, Larry Saunders of Lenexa retired Thursday as a UPS driver.

Saunders, one of the Kansas City area’s longest-driving and safest UPS drivers, drove all those miles by concentrating on his job one day at a time.

“I need to get home safe today,” Saunders said his goal was. “That, to me, is what really got me through it more than anything.”

Sure, his driving record was in the back of his mind, but the past wasn’t important while he was driving.

“You can’t drive on the record you have,” he said. “You have to take it day by day.”

Saunders, who grew up in Ironton, Ohio, joined the Air Force after high school.

After serving for four years, including 2 1/2 at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base, he moved to Kansas City with his wife, Kathleen, because the job market was better here.

“A relative told me that he thought that UPS was hiring,” Saunders said. “I called, and they asked me to come on down and put an application in. I did, and they hired me on the spot.”

He started working as a package driver in December 1969. When he was hired, he was the 71st UPS driver in Kansas City.

Five years later, he switched to a feeder driver, the position he held the rest of the career.

“It looked appealing to me,” Saunders said. “I loved it. I got out and got to see a little of the countryside.”

For the last 14 years, he has been running the route from Lenexa to Cabool and West Plains, Mo. That’s a round trip of 546 miles that he drove daily.

“It is beautiful country down there,” he said. “That’s what I loved so much about it.”

His favorite places to stop were Collins and Lowry City, which catered to truck drivers.

“We stopped there daily, and you get to know the people,” he said. “It’s not just a walk in and buy something and leave. The people make the job.”

Saunders made his last run on Christmas Eve. He has since been using accumulated vacation time and option days.

Now that he is retired, Saunders said he will tinker with his 1966 Mustang coupe and ride his motorcycle.

His wife passed away two years ago, but his son, Jim Saunders, and daughter, Angela Currey, live in the Kansas City area.

Looking back on his career, Saunders said it’s important for people to find something that they like to do.

“I enjoyed my work,” Saunders said. “I found what I liked to do. I didn’t realize it was what I was going to do. It kind of found me.”

This story was originally published March 5, 2015 at 3:41 PM with the headline "Lenexa UPS driver retires after 45 years and more than 3 million safe miles."