UPS tractor-trailer driver Brea Jackson-Carter understands better than most what it means to be safe on the road. To start with, she has logged an impressive 28 years of professional driving without a single accident.
Brea credits the training she’s received at UPS for helping keep her – and other drivers – safe.
Our top priority: Nothing is more important than the safety of our people, and UPS spends over $300 million on safety training annually. Operations employees in the U.S. received 5 million hours of training in 2022 alone.
“It's a really good thing to work at UPS. It's a great company,” Brea said. “UPS is on top of it – we have delivery down to a science.”
This year, we inducted 1,205 new members into the Circle of Honor, an elite group of drivers who have not had an accident in 25 years or more. Brea is one of nearly 10,500 active Circle of Honor drivers who have a combined 30,125 years of safe driving.
Follow her lead: Brea is now sharing some of that knowledge with the next generation. She taught her three sons to drive using UPS’s defensive driving strategies and believes everyone can learn something from UPS’s training.
Brea’s son, Alphonso, is following in her footsteps. He joined UPS in 2020 and now works as a trainer in the same Florida facility where his mother got her start.
The best offense is a good defense: In her 35 years of driving, Brea has seen it all. Get her top three tips to protect yourself and others on the road:
- Don’t get distracted: “You can sense when someone is on their phone while driving – everyone should just put it down,” she said.
- Steer clear: “I use my blinker and switch lanes to take myself out of danger’s way.”
- Stay aware of your surroundings: “I always pay attention to what's in front of me and what's on the sides. I check my mirrors, every five to eight seconds.”
Did you know that for many, UPS is a family affair? Check out the other families turning UPS into a tradition: