Photo above (L to R): City Carriers Pete Pesut; John Hardy; and James Fike; join Rural Carriers Mary Minor and Joyce Kutzavitch as they receive their Million Mile Club plaques and jackets during a ceremony at the Aliquippa Post Office.

ALIQUIPPA PA — The Western PA District of USPS recently recognized Aliquippa Post Office mail carriers John Hardy, Pete Pesut, James Fike, Mary Minor, and Joyce Kutzavitch for the extraordinary feat of driving a million accident-free miles. The five professional drivers were each presented the National Safety Council’s Million Mile Club award by Appalachian District Manager John J. Phelan in a special ceremony attended by postal leadership and their coworkers.

The award is given to professional drivers who reach a million miles or accumulated 30 years of driving without sustaining a single preventable accident. “We place the safety of our employees as our top priority,” said Phelan. “And, we credit our comprehensive safe driver training program as being second to none.”

Representing the best of the best, each employee is a long-time veteran of the Postal Service. Hardy has 41 years of service; Pesut has 36; Fike has 35; Minor has 33 and Kutzavitch has 30 years.

"These five special people are outstanding postal employees in every aspect considering this very demanding position,” said Aliquippa Postmaster Cathleen Paduana. “Each member of this group is very conscientious and their leadership and accomplishments are a great example for every member of our workforce."

According to the National Safety Council, nearly 11,000 postal employees have achieved a unique distinction most of us never approach in a lifetime — driving more than a million, accident-free miles. No other business comes close. Reaching this pinnacle requires 30 years of service and a safe attitude.

The nation’s 31,000 plus Post Offices are linked by nearly 214,000 vehicles — the world’s largest civilian fleet. As one of America’s last vestiges to make house calls, 297,000 letter carriers and truck drivers log more than 1.2 billion miles annually when delivering to America’s 151.5 million addresses.

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