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  • Jeff Harrell, a mail carrier for the Belle Rive and Opdyke area, drives this 1976 Jeep on his routes. The Jeep is one of two Harrell owns, and he says the vehicle is not only convenient to ensure mail delivery, but efficient. KANDACE MCCOY/REGISTER-NEWS

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February 7, 2010

Mail carrier uses 1970s jeep on route

By KANDACE MCCOY

kandace.mccoy@register-news.com

OPDYKE — When it comes to delivering the mail in rural areas, the type of vehicle a carrier drives can make all the difference.

Jeff Harrell has been a full-time carrier with the U.S. Postal Service for 12 years and delivers mail in the Opdyke and Belle Rive areas, and depends on his 1974 Jeep to get him through his route.

"I've had it for about three years," he explained. "It's about the fourth or fifth one I've had and right now I have two of them."

Harrell says the older vehicle is better made for delivering mail, with doors that slide open, similar to the modern Postal Service trucks and in contrast to rural carriers who use their own vehicles.

"It has a steering wheel on the right side, so I can sit behind the wheel and deliver the mail," he said. "I can't buy anything else that would be just as good. It has a tray on the passenger side to put all your mail — it's handy to reach over and grab what you need."

Harrell said when he first started working as a mail carrier, the postal service would sell the vehicles to carriers after "so many miles were on them."

"So a lot of carriers bought them," he said. "They're simple to work on and simple to maintain. That's the main reason I have mine. I don't have to take it someplace to have it serviced — I can do it myself."

Harrell said he bought the Jeep from a colleague who had himself bought three of the vehicles to "put one together."

"It has a V-8 in it and it was converted to 4-wheel drive," he said. "Most of them are just 2-wheel drive."

And, he admitted, in the case of inclement weather, he doesn't have to worry about getting stuck in the mud or in the snow.

"Any (vehicle) you use on rural routes you have to work on because it's hard on them. The nice thing is, the Jeep is all steel and I can hose it out, especially in the summer when there's a lot of dust. When the roads start bleeding with oil in the summer, I don't care," he explained laughingly. "I had a pickup I used on the route once and it made me sick having oil on the sides of the truck."

And though it's been his vehicle of choice the past few years, he says it isn't usual for people to ask him why he drives it.

"I get comments all the time," he said. "They'll ask me, 'How old is that thing'" or how many miles have I put on it. I tell them I go about 100 miles every day in it."

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