PORT ANGELES — When Corey Alton stepped inside the cab of a 55-foot-long Pullman brown semi-truck on Friday night, it was for the final shift of his 36-year career with UPS.
After driving an estimated 3.6 million miles — about seven round trips to the moon — Alton, 56, had decided it was time to retire.
He slowed down and flashed the semi-truck’s lights as he drove past a group of 30 family, friends and co-workers who waved signs and yelled outside Traylor’s restaurant to send him off.
Alton, a 1987 Port Angeles High School graduate, began working for UPS in 1989 after part-time jobs with Atlas Trucking and Hartnagel Building Supply and earning an Associate of Arts Degree from Peninsula College.
He started at the bottom by washing and loading and unloading vehicles.
He began driving the iconic brown home delivery trucks about a year later and then graduated to feeder driver, transporting trailers filled with packages between UPS hubs in Port Angeles, Port Townsend and Redmond — and frequently other legs between.
The 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. feeder driver shift isn’t for everyone, said retired UPS drivers Jeff Gilchrist and Kim Kochanek who worked with Alton.
“It’s hard on you physically and mentally,” Gilchrist said.
Racheal Alston said her husband worked hard to balance his 12-hour, five days a week schedule with family life so he could spend time with his daughter Brooklyn, 23, and sons Zak, 20, and Tate, 18.
“He was able to help with getting the kids to school and have dinner with the family,” Racheal Alston said. “He coached Little League and soccer at the cost of some sleep.”
Alton averaged 100,000 miles a year over the course of his career without an accident, earning him a place in UPS’ elite Circle of Honor, which recognizes those who have achieved 25 years or longer of safe driving.
He wasn’t sure how the transition from his current schedule that has him sleeping during the day and awake at night to one where he’ll do the opposite would be.
“I’m just hoping it’s going to go smooth,” he said. “Having more time with everyone, that’s the most important thing.”
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com
Corey Alton drove about 3.6 million miles over the course of his 36 years with UPS, during which he didn’t have a single accident. Friends, family and co-workers gave the Port Angeles father of three a rousing send-off on Friday for his final shift. (Courtesy photo)
