Positivity: 45 Accident-Free Years for UPS Driver
That would be over 3 million miles (link may require free registration):
Friday, January 26, 2007
WEST CARROLLTON — Ronald Sowder has been driving professionally nine years longer than Jeff Gordon has been alive. And Sowder hasn’t so much as a fender bender to show for it.
When his UPS colleagues say Sowder, 67, is a safe driver, they’re not kidding. As the Springboro resident stepped down from his tractor-trailer at the UPS West Carrollton facility Thursday evening, he marked 46 years of mishap-free driving, he said.
UPS puts Sowder’s number of years at 45. Either way, it’s a long haul. In UPS’ 100-year history, only one other driver has matched the milestone.
Sowder said the secret to his success is no secret: He makes sure he sees drivers around him, and that they see him.
“I think the main thing is space and visibility,” he said.
Every day, Sowder pulls a double-trailer of packages bound for air travel from West Carrollton to Louisville, Ky., a 152-mile one-way trip.
“Ron’s got our premium product,” said Tom Cecil, a UPS safety supervisor. “It’s in good hands.”
Charlie Halfen, UPS’ Atlanta-based corporate fleet safety manager, said his company has 90,000 U.S. drivers on the road daily and 102,000 across the globe. They are trained to focus on a chain of variables with the aim of driving defensively, Halfen said. They are taught to focus on intersections, pedestrians, speed, traffic lights and other motorists.
“You’re trying to create a way of life,” Halfen said. “You’re trying to create a habit.”
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By the numbers:
- 3+ million: Miles Ronald Sowder has driven — enough to make six roundtrips to the moon with miles left over.
- 46: Years Sowder has driven professionally. (UPS says 45.)
- 4,200+: Active UPS drivers who have avoided accidents for 25 years.
- 107: Drivers who have avoided accidents for 35 years.
- 6: Drivers who have avoided accidents for 40 years.
- 1: Driver who has matched Sowder?s milestone.
- 0: Accidents Sowder has had.
