OAKLAND, CA – Imagine the equivalent of driving coast-to-coast 334 times without ever leaving the city limits, and imagine doing it safely, under hazardous road conditions, gridlock, rural terrain, and with a vigilant eye on inattentive drivers.

Just ask the 18 U.S. Postal Service drivers who are recent inductees into the National Safety Council’s Million Mile Club, and they’ll tell you that driving safely is no accident. As a result of their achievement, they will be honored at the 17th annual Million Mile Club awards ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at the Oakland Processing and Distribution Center, 1675 7th Street, Oakland, Room 229-W.

For the new inductees, logging over a million miles safely was just part of their appointed rounds. What makes the million-mile achievement so astonishing is the fact that all the drivers never had as much as a fender-bender or a single preventable accident in over 30 years of driving.

“Postal Service drivers are among the safest in the world,” said Bay-Valley District Manager Jeffrey Day. “The remarkable achievement of our 18 drivers demonstrates how Postal Service 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 of the road, and giving themselves enough time to react in a safe manner. 

Two of the 18 Million Mile Club awardees face an added risk. Much of their driving includes backing up a tractor-trailer to a truck-platform stall, requiring them to utilize all mirrors and maneuvering skills in a backwards motion.  Safe driving is more than awareness of what is in front of you. It is also about what is behind and on either side.

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 on a daily basis.

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