Jerry Owens, a Rural Carrier at the St. George Post Office for 33 years, has been given the National Safety Council’s Highest Award for safe driving, the elite Million-Mile Award. Owens, who has carried route 2, located on the south side of town along Quaker Rd and Hwy 15 S, for the last 20 years, has an excellent record of service competence and customer satisfaction. “Being on the alert daily and never taking safety for granted in the day-to-day performance of delivery have helped keep me and my customers safe,” said Owens, who swears by defensive driving. “I have definitely had some close calls in my day, and each one reminded me to be on my guard,” he added.

The Million Mile Award, begun by the National Safety Council in 1972, is given only to approximately 1,000 of over 300,000 USPS professional drivers each year. Recipients must drive at least 30 years or one million miles without getting into a preventable motor vehicle accident. According to the NSC, the status is to professional driving as reaching the peak of Mt. Everest is to the sport of climbing. Greater South Carolina District Manager, Nick Rinaldi made the presentation (PHOTOS ATTACHED) to Owens at the St. George Post Office. “With as many drivers as we have on the road, delivering to everyone, everyday, we can never compromise on safety,” he said. “That’s the only thing we hold more important than customer service.”

FACTS
USPS Delivery Employees:

• Use the world’s largest fleet—221,000 vehicles
• Drive 4.1 Million Miles per day; 1.2 billion miles per year
• Deliver 584 million pieces of mail per day
• Did you know? Rural Carriers, are “Post Offices on Wheels”, who sell stamps, money orders and take packages for mailing.

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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.