Imagine driving coast-to-coast 334 times without ever leaving the city limits. That is the equivalent of what each of the 46 U.S. Postal Service letter carriers, one driving instructor, and three tractor-trailer operators accomplished by each logging over a million miles on their appointed rounds from the East Bay to Salinas. All 50 drivers will be inducted into the prestigious Million-Mile Club in an award ceremony on Friday, June 12, 10 a.m., at the Oakland Processing and Distribution Center, 1675 7th Street, Oakland.

By the numbers, the total driving experience comes to more than 1,500 years and more than 50 million miles driven. Making this feat even more astonishing is the fact that it was done without a single preventable accident in over 30 years of driving by each driver.

“That’s a lot of rubber, and a lot of road,” said Bay-Valley District Manager Kim Fernandez. “Our drivers are living examples of the values we practice every day – Excellence, Courtesy, Integrity, Trustworthiness and Efficiency. When you drive that many miles for that long, your value system is riding along with you.”

Each driver will be presented with a plaque from the Safety Council and automatic membership in the prestigious National Safety Council “Million Mile Club.” The million mile award is a lifetime enrollment, and it is given to employees who have accumulated one-million miles or 30 years of driving without being involved in a preventable motor vehicle accident. According to the National Safety Council, it takes approximately 30 years to accumulate one-million miles.

A common denominator, or trait, that the drivers share is defensive driving. They attribute their accident-free driving to being constantly alert for dangers, anticipating the actions of other drivers, paying attention to surroundings, looking ahead, checking mirrors, following the rules, and giving themselves enough time to react in a safe manner.

The Postal Service has one of the largest vehicle fleets in the world. Its drivers face hazardous road conditions, congestion, gridlock, city and rural terrain and inattentive drivers every day.

The achievement of driving the equivalent of 40 times around the world, safely and under many of these conditions, demonstrates how postal employees continue to deliver on the promise of delivering their best every day with care, courtesy and the concern for the safety of others.

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An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 149 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes, six days a week. It has 34,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services, not tax dollars, to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.