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UPS, FedEx as dependable as Santa
BY MARGO OXENDINE • STAFF WRITER
 | | Steve Brown, with UPS, and Terry Allamong with Fed Ex, are colleagues, rather than rivals, in the package delivery business. The two grew up together in Waynesboro, and have known each other for about 50 years. (Recorder photo by Margo Oxendine) |
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MONTEREY - Who is the most important man about town this holiday season? It's not Santa.
In many households, the UPS and/or FedEx man is the one who deserves the milk and cookies. Alas, they're much too busy to stop for milk and cookies.
We managed to catch up with UPS driver Steve Brown and FedEx man Terry Allamong last Friday in Monterey. Each proclaimed it their busiest day of the year.
They rolled into town almost simultaneously. Between them, they delivered packages to nearly every business on and off of Main Street - The Recorder, the auto parts store, the video store, the bank, Evelyn's Pantry. And everywhere, folks were waiting for them; many, like David Jesse and Delmar Vandevander, hustled out to meet them on the street. They were anxious for their packages, and Brown and Allamong were anxious to complete their rounds.
Still, that didn't mean there wasn't time to exchange a few pleasantries, to remark on the great weather, to fret over the bad weather that was surely on the way. There was also a minute for the UPS and FedEx guys to greet one another. They're not competitors, you see; they've been friends for 50 years.
Brown and Allamong grew up in Waynesboro, went to school together, played Little League and Northside High School sports together, graduated about the same time. Now, they share a similar career. And while their paths may not cross that often on their home turf, they do pass each other at least once a day in Monterey.
"Heck," Allamong says, "sometimes we set our packages on top of each other."
Both drivers pick up their daily pile of deliveries at FedEx and UPS terminals in Fishersville, and then head east over the mountains. Allamong reckons he puts about 120,000 miles a year on his truck, which he owns and maintains, as an independent contractor for FedEx. Through his company, Two Creeks Distribution, "I'm the liaison between FedEx and Highland County," he explains.
"I operate things outside the model of FedEx," he adds with a laugh. "I guess at headquarters, they think of me as an educated redneck. But I have to do things differently around here. I don't have the numbers most FedEx drivers do, but that's a bureaucracy dictated by a keyboard. If they realized they're paying me to drive seven mountains every day, maybe they would understand a little better. I cater to y'all's needs; I've got a rapport established with my customers."
While Brown carries more packages - at least 100 stops a day this time of year - his service area is limited to Highland. Allamong covers Churchville, Swoope, and Deerfield, in addition to Highland.
"I think there's about 650 households in Highland County, and we'll do 20 to 25 percent of every one of them, every day, between now and Christmas Eve," Allamong notes.
Brown agrees with those numbers, but "holiday packages mean I'm busy, busy," he says. "Today, I've got 98 stops to make."
One of those was at First & Citizens Bank at Main and Spruce streets. Brown swept in the door with a package and, almost before the door shut completely, swept back out again and hustled to his big, brown truck.
Here in the hinterlands - where most of us live at least 75 miles from a shopping mall - catalogs are a favored mode for holiday shoppers. Place your order online, and then wait for Santa, in the guise of Brown or Allamong, to deliver it to your door. Or a neighbor's door. Or your work place.
In a rural locale, we've learned to depend on deliveries from a man who knows our haunts and habits. The UPS guy might leave your package with your sister, or stop you on Main Street and hand it over, if he notices you there. It's personal. We like that.
"Steve seems to know everybody," notes bank teller Ellen Ratcliffe. "He just ran in here to drop off something, and on his way out, he told one of the girls, 'I delivered a package from Cabella's today; it's on your back porch.' He knows everybody, where they live, who they're kin to; it's amazing."
In a land of unpaved driveways and mountainous terrain, home delivery can be a challenge for a fellow in a big truck, even if he's familiar with the territory.
"I thought I knew Highland County until I started trying to find places where packages go," laughs Allamong. "Sometimes, I take a look at a driveway and think, 'My truck won't get up there.' Those great big box trucks are great for Charlottesville; they're not very good for Highland County, though."
That's why it's not unusual for Brown or Allamong to get out of the truck, grab a package, and hoof it up the driveway.
The terrain is quite familiar to Brown, who has been with UPS 33 years. Thirteen of those years have been spent navigating the roads and driveways of Highland. He averages about 1,200 miles per week.
"It's an easy job," he says. "I know everybody. I'm on a first-name basis with probably 95 percent of Highland County. I've seen kids grow up, go all the way through school. The people here are always so nice to me; I don't think I've made an enemy one, in all these years."
Brown adds with a laugh, "And they probably know as much about me as I know about them."
Maybe milk and cookies are in order, after all.
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