Photo above: Rick Lockhart receives his Million Mile Club award and jacket from Appalachian District Manager Wendy English.

WYTHEVILLE, VA — The Appalachian District of USPS recently recognized Wytheville Post Office City Carrier Rick Lockhart for the extraordinary feat of driving a million accident-free miles.  Lockhart was presented the National Safety Council’s Million Mile Club award by Appalachian District Manager Wendy English in a special ceremony attended by his postal leadership and his 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 English. “And we credit our comprehensive safe driver training program as being second to none.”

Lockhart, an Ohio State University graduate, moved from the Cleveland area to Wytheville eleven years ago and has been on city route 2 ever since. He adds the prestigious Million Mile Club award to his distinguished thirty-year career which he will conclude at the end of November.

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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