SAN FRANCISCO – Holiday travelers could learn a thing or two about safe driving from 19 San Francisco Postal District employees. Today, 18 letter carriers and a motor vehicle operator were honored for successfully navigating the streets, highways and byways in and around the San Francisco Bay Area for 30 years or more without a preventable accident.

The drivers were recognized for driving an estimated one million miles each and received a plague from the National Safety Council for their accomplishment and a lifetime membership in the prestigious National Safety Council “Million Mile Club.” In addition, District Manager Rosemarie Fernandez presented each recipient with a coveted San Francisco District Million Mile Club jacket.

To put the distance in perspective, imagine driving coast-to-coast 334 times without ever leaving the city limits or driving around the equator 40 times. That is the equivalent of what these drivers accomplished as they logged over a million miles on their appointed rounds.

The nation’s 32,000 Post Offices are linked by 221,000 vehicles — the world’s largest civilian fleet. As one of America’s last vestiges to make house calls, 340,000 letter carriers and truck drivers log more than 1.2 billion miles annually when delivering to America’s 150 million addresses. 

Americans hitting the road this holiday season should consider some advice from the U.S. Postal Service and its nearly 6,000 million mile drivers.

• Drive defensively — expect the unexpected.
• Maintain a distance of one car length for every 10 M.P.H. between you and the car in front of you.
• Keep your options open — have a “what do I do if I’m cut off” strategy.
• Turn off mobile devices when driving — no cell phones or texting.

The drivers that were honored today are: From the North Bay: Gilbert Greenwaid, Fort Bragg, Joel Bantly, Mill Valley, Aaron Kondrasky, Rohnert Park, Barry Leslie, Rohnert Park, Patrick Knittel, Santa Rosa, David Van Hall, Santa Rosa and John Wyman, Santa Rosa. From the Peninsula: Lauro Navarro, San Bruno, Darry Louie, San Bruno, Kyou Lee, San Bruno, Michael Jung, San Bruno, Steve Ho, Daly City,  Charles Aung, Daly City, Hardy Wong, San Bruno, David Zane, San Bruno, Alberto Esconio, San Carlos and Hector Pena, San Carlos. From San Francisco, Ricardo Yumag and Alex Bolds Jr.

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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 32,000 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 six 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.