Class of 2021 includes first-ever 4 Million Miler
When it comes to moving goods better, these folks are in it for the (extremely) long haul.
We recently honored 181 elite professional truck drivers for more than 241 million combined miles of safe driving. Every one of these drivers for U.S. Xpress and Variant has hit 1 million safe miles behind the wheel, and many of them have topped the 2 million and even 3 million mark.
Jim Davis, a 35-year U.S. Xpress Dedicated driver, became the first driver in company history to reach 4 million safe miles. Also recognized were seven drivers reaching their 3 million safe driving milestones, 10 Drivers of the Year, and one Trainer of the Year.
“Professional truck driving is an often thankless job, so it’s always exciting to bring our most seasoned professionals to town for a few days of recognition and celebration,” said Eric Fuller, president and CEO of U.S. Xpress.
This group of elite drivers hit these safe driving milestones during the 2021 calendar year and were honored during an awards ceremony at our Chattanooga, Tennessee, headquarters. The awards ceremony is part of a two-day event we host for drivers and their guests, which has been a company tradition since 1995.
In addition to the awards, drivers were celebrated by our office employees in an Honored Driver Walk of Fame and breakfast at headquarters followed by an afternoon of activities and socializing with office staff and company leadership. Each driver also received a personalized award and company merchandise, including coveted Million Miler jackets.
The event for the class of 2021 in June followed a similar event in April that brought together the classes of 2019 and 2020 after the in-person event was paused during the pandemic.
It takes about a decade of moving goods safely on America’s roads to earn Million Miler status. Other ways of calculating what 1 million miles really means? Try 40 trips around the circumference of the Earth, or twice to the moon and back.
How long would it take the average driver to cover a million miles? Consider the average driver in the U.S. covers 14,263 miles each year, according to the Federal Highway Administration. At that rate, it would take an ordinary driver 70 years to cover 1 million miles.
