ONE IN A MILLION: Left photo — Mark Yount, Claremont rural carrier and Million Mile award winner. Right photo: Yount (center) with Claremont PM Trena Kirby (his right) and colleagues celebrating together.
CLAREMONT, NC — A Claremont letter carrier who covers the schools and the Rockbarn area was recently honored after having joined the ranks of the prestigious Million Mile Club, the highest honor given to professional drivers in the workplace.
Rural letter carrier Mark A. Yount, a Catawba resident, was recognized at the Claremont Post Office as the latest inductee into the Million Mile Club. It is an award given by the National Safety Council for one’s ability to drive regularly for the Postal Service for at least 30 years — which translates to at least one million miles — without incurring a preventable motor vehicle accident.
“The Postal Service is proud of Mr. Yount’s accomplishments and our community should likewise be proud of the safety record he brings,” said Trena Kirby, Claremont Postmaster.
“The key is being aware of my surroundings at all times and looking more than once each way,” said Yount of his ability to avoid accidents for 30+ years. “There are so many things to distract drivers these days — cell phones, electronic devices, etc. — that I have to watch them more than ever before to avoid trouble. And, I have to be a bit lucky, too.”
According to the NSC, the status is to professional driving as reaching the peak of Mt. Everest is to the sport of climbing.
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A list of processing facilities studied, FAQs, mail processing b-roll, and additional information can be found at usps.com/ourfuturenetwork.
A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With nearly 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, the U.S. Postal Service was ranked number one in overall service performance, out of the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world, Oxford Strategic Consulting. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.
