CHAPEL HILL, NC – At 83 years old, Rudy Tempesta is the oldest active letter carrier in North Carolina and one of the oldest in the country, and on Tuesday will be recognized for a unique accomplishment very rarely given to octagenarians: no motor vehicle accidents in 60 years.
Tempesta is one of four Chapel Hill letter carriers to be honored by the Postal Service next week for excellence in safe driving. The Million Mile Club is the highest honor given by the National Safety Council, recognizing professional drivers in the workplace who have traveled at least 30 years without a preventable motor vehicle accident. However, this is the second time Tempesta will receive this award.
A New York native and Chapel Hill resident, Tempesta is a World War II veteran and a 63-year employee of the Postal Service, so for his clean driving record he will receive a “double” Million Mile Club award.
The special ceremony will be held on Tuesday, April 21 at Chapel Hill Main Post Office, 125 S. Estes Street at 10 a.m. Also being inducted into the Million Mile Club are letter carriers Ed Cooper, Joe Crawford and David Rutter. In attendance will be Greensboro District Manager Russ Gardner, Chapel Hill Acting Postmaster Margaret Fox, and a host of civic officials, family members and colleagues.
According to the NSC, the Million Mile status is to professional driving as reaching the peak of Mt. Everest is to the sport of climbing. The Chapel Hill carriers are among only 11 such employees honored in the district this year, a unique feat.
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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.
