Palouse handyman rolls into retirement

MOSCOW -- For 36 years, Steve McClaine has been driving a truck around the Palouse doing odd jobs like cleaning gutters, washing windows and, early on, helping people move.

McClaine got the idea to start his business, Me and My Truck, from his wife, who had checked out the book “How to Make 15 to 35 Dollars an Hour with a Pick-Up or Van” from the library.

McClaine had been working as a newspaper advertising salesman after graduating from Washington State University and decided it was time for a change.

“One thing people can do is go online and learn new things, so I did that, but I still have my own tricks,” McClaine said.

The business has undergone a few changes over the decades, but the biggest change for McClaine happened in December. He sold the business to Kevin Moore, who has about 15 years of similar work experience and with whom McClaine has worked with the past few months.

McClaine said he chose Moore because he is committed to the same level of quality and because he was ready to learn the tricks McClaine has discovered over the years. The company name and phone numbers will remain the same, McClaine said.

McClaine credits the success of his business to the many employees he’s had and to his wife, Linda, who has done Me and My Truck’s taxes and other paperwork.

McClaine’s early work with Me and My Truck included a fair share of helping families haul belongings to a new residence. Once the move was complete, McClaine said he tacked on family vacations to places like Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon.

McClaine also has climbed his share of 40-foot ladders to wash windows on university buildings, removed plenty of snow and maintained gutters across the region.

“I just found I’m wired to make things clean,” McClaine said. “It’s really satisfying.”

McClaine said he took pride in a job well done, no matter how small the job, and landed many of his jobs through word of mouth.

“When you do the same work for so long, word gets around,” McClaine said.

Now retired, McClaine is currently working through his own at-home honey-do list and writing a book about Luke, Chapter 24, from the Bible. McClaine said he sometimes writes short stories.

One, for example, is about the resurrection of Jesus, but as a television newscast.

Me and My Truck can be reached by email at hello@meandmytruckmoscow.com and by phone at (208) 882-5641.

Nelson can be reached at knelson@dnews.com.