UPS has some of the safest people in the industry, but don’t just take it from us. Five of our drivers recently took home Joseph M. Kaplan Safe Driver of the Year Awards.
Presented by the National Safety Council, the award recognizes professional drivers across the U.S. who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to safe driving practices.
“The recognition doesn’t come easy,” said EVP & Chief Global Operations Officer Nando Cesarone. “Drivers must go 15 years – or 250K miles – without a preventable accident. I was a UPS driver myself and can confirm that takes a lot of care. It’s a big deal!”
Congratulations to 2026’s Safe Driver of the Year Award winners:
Winner | Award Region | Years of safe driving |
Jerry Allen | West North Central | 39 |
Paul Houston | West South Central | 36 |
John Kilcoyne | Middle Atlantic | 37 |
Dan Peterson | East North Central | 40 |
Michael Willding | East South Central | 42 |
All the awardees are also UPS Circle of Honor members – an exclusive honor recognizing drivers with 25 years or more without an accident. Currently, we have more than 9,500 Circle of Honor drivers on the roads who collectively have driven 1.5 billion miles without as much as a fender-bender.
Did you know? When it comes to safety, teaching and training are always on at UPS. We provide employees with industry-leading training to keep them safe:
- Since 2021, we have invested more than 35 million hours and over $2 billion to help UPSers work safely.
- UPS Integrad graduates more than 13,000 UPSers a year. Developed with MIT, Virginia Tech and the Institute for the Future, our one-of-a-kind training program uses virtual reality, classroom instruction and a replica city to prepare drivers for real-world safety decisions.
- Across the U.S., we have more than 2,400 Comprehensive Health & Safety Process committees, bringing together hourly employees and management to identify risks, improve work processes and strengthen safety performance.