A quartet of local letter carriers with more than 120 years of collective devotion to civil service and four million accident-free miles logged on the job were honored as the newest members of the National Safety Council’s “Million Mile Club.”
Morgan Hill Post Office drivers Angel Montelongo, 53, of Morgan Hill; Steven Wright, 52, of San Jose; John Velasco, 55, of Gilroy; and Toni Chandler, 62, of Morgan Hill, were special honorary guests at the 17th annual Million Mile Club awards ceremony held Nov. 18 in Oakland, where they received a plaque, jacket, cap and prestigious club membership for their career achievement.
“It is an honor,” said Velasco, a Gilroy native who has put in 33 years with the postal service, including the last 28 in Morgan Hill. “The last three years, it’s been a goal for me.”
The million-mile award is a lifetime enrollment, and it is given to drivers who have accumulated 1 million miles or 30 years of driving without being involved in a preventable motor vehicle accident. According to the National Safety Council, it takes approximately 30 years to reach the milestone in mileage.
“I just move vigilantly on the street, especially now with everyone on their smart phones. I go through parking lots very carefully,” said Montelongo, who is closing in on 32 years as a letter carrier.
Montelongo took the civil service test on a whim with his father in February 1984. Three months later he was hired. After 18 months in San Jose, he came over to Morgan Hill and has stuck around locally ever since.
“I enjoy being outside. I get to see different things every day,” said Montelongo, who, like the other million-milers, starts getting his mail route ready for delivery around 8 a.m. and hits the streets between 9-9:30 a.m. with hopes of finishing up by 4:30 p.m.
Defensive driving gets packages delivered
After more than three decades of postal work—starting as a clerk working the graveyard shift in Fresno before 10 years in Monterey and landing in Morgan HIll in 1994—Wright still values his postal job and takes great pride in being one of the best.
“Every day is a little bit of an accomplishment,” said Wright of completing his daily home deliveries that have miraculously transpired with not one driving accident. “I just assume out on the road that the other person is going to do the wrong thing…You’ve got to be extremely aware.”
A common denominator among the Million Mile Club members is being a defensive driver. They attributed their accident-free driving to being constantly alert for dangers, anticipating the actions of other drivers, paying attention to their surroundings, looking ahead, checking mirrors, following the rules of the road and giving themselves enough time to react in a safe manner.
“(Our delivery vehicles) have seven mirrors and I use all of them,” Velasco said.
It’s all about the customers
Chandler, who was born and raised in Morgan Hill, got her in at the postal office as a substitute driver in 1987, and it was not long before she was hired as a permanent employee. With a rural route in western Morgan Hill, Chandler would make deliveries in her own 1969 Cougar in the early years.
“I’ve been out in the same route for a long time so they know me. They knew the sound of my car. I would roar through the canyons,” said Chandler, who recalled receiving a half-million mile notification in the mail and wasn’t sure if she’d make it the rest of the way. “It was so nice to be acknowledged and recognized for it. At my age, I didn’t think I’d get there.”
All four drivers shared in the same sentiment that their customers—the longtime residents who they’ve seen generations of family members grow up or grow old—were the driving force for them especially with a job that sometimes seemed monotonous.
“That’s my favorite part of the job. The less time inside the better. The customers are great,” Wright said.
“They know me as family,” Velasco added. “It is a lot of work, but it is fun.”
As local delivery drivers for the United States Postal Service, they are part of one of the largest vehicle fleets in the world, facing hazardous road conditions, congestion, gridlock, city and rural terrain and careless drivers on a daily basis.
“Postal drivers are among the safest in the world,” said Bay Valley District Manager Jeffrey Day. “The remarkable achievement of these four drivers demonstrates how postal employees continue to deliver on the promise of delivering their best every day with care, courtesy and the concern for the safety of others.”
