OAKLAND, CA — Imagine driving coast-to-coast 334 times without ever leaving the city limits. That is the equivalent of what 20 letter carriers accomplished by each logging over a million miles on their appointed rounds from the East Bay to Salinas. All 20 drivers will be honored at the 12th annual Million Mile Club awards ceremony on Thursday, October 14, from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at the Oakland Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC), 1675 7th Street, Oakland, Room 229-W.
What makes the million-mile achievement so outstanding is the astonishing fact that none of these drivers has experienced a single preventable accident in over 30 years of driving.
“Our drivers are the safest in the world, and these 20 drivers are the best of the best,” said Bay-Valley District Manager Kim Fernandez. “They have demonstrated 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.”
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 drivers 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 their surroundings, looking ahead, checking mirrors, following the rules, and giving themselves enough time to react in a safe manner.
The United States Postal Service has one of the largest vehicle fleets in the world. Our drivers face hazardous road conditions, congestion, gridlock, city and rural terrain and careless drivers every day.
Million Mile Club Award List
Berkeley
Stephen Oubichon, Oswald Jacob, Regina Springer, Gale Hengesch, Ezekiel Bradley III, Alfred Bates, Frederick Clark, David Pena, Victor Rivera
Eastmont (Oakland)
Jonathan Tanner II
Hayward
William Persons
Hollister
John Horcajo Jr., Michael Rovella
Piedmont (Oakland)
Larry Neal, Barbara Robinson
Salinas Main
John Mendoza
Seaside
John Taormina, James Walters
West Grand (Oakland)
Ronald Jones, Walter Green
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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/welcome.htm.
A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no direct support from taxpayers. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 28th in the 2009 Fortune 500.
