By Mary O’KEEFE

We have all seen them, the brown trucks with the gold UPS [United Parcel Service] sign on the side. We’ve seen drivers jump out and quickly deliver packages to a home, then just as quickly jump back into their truck and continue on their way.

UPS and those brown trucks, with delivery people dressed in matching brown, have become part of our landscape, perhaps even more so since COVID-19 has had many people staying Safer at Home and ordering online. But just like mail carriers of the past, many people have gotten to know their UPS driver. They have not only found themselves dependent on their deliveries but have become friends with the driver on their route.

For a little over two decades the UPS driver in the La Crescenta/Montrose area has been Tony Esposito.

“I started as a utility driver and then [was asked] to fill in for a driver in La Crescenta who was out due to a back injury,” Esposito said.

That launched a 31-year career with UPS, but that was not the career he had planned.

“When I first started I had no intention of staying with [UPS],” he said.

At the time he was attending college with an interest in law enforcement when a UPS job recruiter came onto campus.

“I thought I could work nights [at UPS] and go to school,” he said.

After he worked there for a while another driver approached him and suggested he become a driver permanently. After finding out how much he could make as a driver he decided to make a career change.

He started in the Crescenta Valley area and has remained here throughout the years. He started covering a large area of the foothills community but, as time went on, his route began to shrink – not because of a lack of customers but due to an increase in deliveries.

“The Internet,” Esposito said of the biggest change to deliveries. “When I first started I covered pretty much all of La Crescenta and the foothill area by myself.”

Gradually as new advances were made in technology and more people went online the company hired more people help cover the increased number of deliveries. His route went from being most of La Crescenta to an area stretching from Briggs to Lowell avenues. But as the demand, and deliveries, increased his route stretched only from Briggs to Rosemont avenues.

“UPS invested a lot of money in technology,” he said as the company went online and kept up with the changing needs of Internet customers.

There were some challenges. Esposito said “99.9%” of his customers are wonderful though there have been some who have been challenging. But he prides himself on getting to know the customers on his route … and their dogs.

He was never bitten by a dog while delivering because, he said, he loves dogs and gets to know them. This way when a package needs to be delivered but the customer will not be home for a time he can drop the item off in the backyard with the approval of the resident’s dog. He knows his customers on his route and has often gone beyond dropping the package and taking off.

“I have watched three generations of customers grow up,” he said. And he knows most of them well. “About a month ago I delivered a package to a customer, and the next day noticed it was still there on the [porch].”

With the new tracking technology he found the customer had included a telephone number so he called her to see if she was out of town or wanted him to put the package in a hidden location.

That attention to customer service has those along his route sad to see him retire.

“For the last 16 years that we have lived [in La Crescenta], Tony has been the most amazing and wonderful friend and UPS driver in our neighborhood,” said resident Kim Mattersteig. “He has always been so helpful, offering to pick up packages that need to be returned or making sure special packages were hidden from porch pirates.”

When asked if he had any stories of his most unusual deliveries he said, “Bears in the trees,” then added, “but the Station Fire was the most [memorable].”

In 2009, the Station Fire blazed along the Angeles National Forest foothills.

“I was always in communication with sheriff and fire departments,” he said. “I remember [one day] I was on Canyonside [Road] and there was a fire engine stationed there. I saw the smoke over the ridge and asked the firefighter how much time I had and if I could do my deliveries. He said, ‘When you see it crest then get out.’”

Within a few minutes he saw the flames come to the crest, but he was able to finish his route.

“I don’t like to go back [to the UPS base] with [items],” he said.

He is looking forward to retirement and is happy that he decided to take this job over three decades ago making it possible for him to retire early in life.

“I am going to be a stay-at-home dad for a while,” he said.

But then he and his family have decided to move to Costa Rica where his wife’s family is from.

He is excited about the move and happy to retire but, when asked what he would miss the most after his retirement, said, “My customers and my dogs.”

“Tony is someone you always look forward to seeing! He would always take the time to stop and chat for a few minutes, give the dog a biscuit and a pat even if it meant he got home late,” said customer Dede Mueller. “He always made sure your packages were safely at your door with care often putting them out of sight from the street. Tony is irreplaceable and will be greatly missed. I wish him all the best in his retirement.”

“We wish him the best health and happiness in his adventure. We will miss his warm smile and friendly wave he would do every time he saw you,” Mattersteig added.

“My first day of retirement is officially Aug. 17 but I am taking vacation days now,” Esposito said. “My last day was Friday. I am done wearing brown.”

  Dede MUELLER, Mary Okeefe