AND THE AWARD GOES TO: At Greensboro Summit Station, Bernard Smith (2nd from right) receives Million Mile award from (l-r) Station Mgr. Sharon Patrick, DM Russ Gardner and PM Ronnie White.

GREENSBORO, NC — Bernard Smith, a city letter carrier at Summit Station in Greensboro and a 41-year veteran of the U.S. Postal Service, is the latest person to be inducted into the National Safety Council’s Million Mile Club, an honor bestowed upon all professional drivers who drive at least 30 years or one million miles without getting into a preventable motor vehicle accident.

The award was the highlight of a short ceremony where many Summit letter carriers were recognized for their safe driving, getting cards and pins based on their years of driving without getting into an accident. “We realize the tough jobs you have every day, and we appreciate your attention to detail when you’re on the road,” said Ronnie White, Greensboro Postmaster, to the gathering.

The Million Mile Club is the highest honor given to a professional driver in the workplace by the National Safety Council, and according to the NSC, the status is to professional driving as reaching the peak of Mt. Everest is to the sport of climbing. Smith, born and reared in Greensboro, earns this unique recognition to highlight his 38 years of driving postal vehicles.

Greensboro District Manager Russ Gardner was also present at the ceremony and said, “Our carriers give the best service in the country, and being committed and dedicated to doing it safely and on a daily basis is a huge part of making that happen. I don’t know if I could still do the job that you do, so I’m extremely grateful for your efforts.”

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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 tax dollars. 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 26th in the 2008 Fortune 500.