AL SCHELL/Courier-Post Russ Barrus delivers to a regular customer, Beef International in Pennsauken.

By JEY CHO
For the Courier-Post

The most recent UPS television ads show smiling delivery men dropping off and picking up packages, interacting with consumers in a way that can't help but bring a smile to your face. Russ Barrus looks as if he has stepped right out of that advertisement.

Barrus has been a driver and service provider for UPS for 30 years. He jokes that's "55 years in anybody else's life."

In fact, he hasn't lost a step, say his customers and supervisor alike.

Nancy Geigelman, a secretary for Beef International in Pennsauken, has nothing but praise for Barrus' work ethic and personality.

"He's been delivering packages here for 16 years, and he does 10 times the work anyone else could do," says Geigelman. "Nobody else can come close. His on-time deliveries, dependability - it's hard to replace someone like him."

Barrus, a Cherry Hill resident, is retiring in two months. A veteran of the armed services, he joined UPS after hearing from a friend that the company was hiring veterans. A short while after getting the job, a fellow employee who was driving the Pennsauken route broke his leg. Barrus has been picking up and delivering packages in the Pennsauken area ever since.

"I have customers who were kids when I started working," says Barrus. "I was able to see them grow up, get married and now their kids are my customers."

Kirk Barb, manager of the local UPS operation center in Lawnside, says Barrus is one of his best employees.

"He's a really, really excellent guy," says Barb. "Here's a guy who comes to work every day with a great attitude. He's well respected by his fellow drivers, and I consider him a good person and good friend. We all call him `Russell the muscle.' "

Barrus says his friendliness is just a part of the job, as is working through terrible weather - rain, thunderstorms, even hurricanes.

"There was a hurricane a few years back, and we worked while everybody else went home. I saw a truck rocking back and forth on its wheels."

Last year Barrus was inducted into the UPS Circle of Honor for more than 25 years of safe driving. While retirement is on the horizon, you can bet that Barrus will remain the same outgoing, friendly driver that he has been for the past 30 years.

"Everybody at Beef International will miss him," says Geigelman.

"There isn't a better guy to represent UPS," finishes Barb.