(Newser) – Jim Ed Bull has put nearly 300,000 miles on his red Ford Ranger, many of them from delivering the mail. For 13 years, the 72-year-old has been working for the US Postal Service, and at 187 miles, his mail route is the longest in the country, NBC News reports. It requires him to drive nine hours a day through sometimes rugged Oklahoma terrain, making 198 stops as he delivers mail to 247 families. He gets two or three flat tires each month, and sometimes has to deal with 110-degree weather. So why did he take the job after retiring as a high school principal and basketball coach? "I was raised on a farm, I guess that’s why I like to work." And he has some advice: To show someone you really care, "write 'em a letter." (Read more US Postal Service stories.)