John Gibbons of Burlington has joined a rather exclusive club. You can’t buy a membership; you have to earn it — one mile at a time.
Gibbons recently completed 1 million miles of accident-free driving — the ultimate measure of excellence for a professional truck driver.
Gibbons, 43, reached the milestone Oct. 18, while making his regular nightly run from Mount Vernon to Pasco and back — a 570-mile round trip. Gibbons has driven the route, five nights a week, for 11 years for Con-way Freight, his employer since 1995.
Gibbons started out driving long-haul runs with another company. “I would get home about once a week,” he said in a recent telephone interview. “Sometimes only every other week. Now I’m home every day.”
Gibbons, a professional truck driver for 17 years, said his mother had a lot to do with his getting started in the profession.
“She saw an ad on TV for a truck driving school,” he said. “The trucking companies needed people. I had done some driving in the military — I drove the Air Force band and jazz band around the East Coast — and I figured I could make a good living at it.”
To commemorate Gibbons’ achievement, Con-way threw a party for him and gave him a jacket embroidered with his name and the company logo.
“John Gibbons’ impressive accomplishment highlights the personal and professional commitment to safety of those of our employees who go behind the wheel of a truck every day,” Con-way President John Labrie said in a news release.
According to Gibbons, less than 1 percent of the drivers at Con-way have reached the 1 million-mile mark since the company was founded in California in the 1980s.
A million miles represents a lot of driving. It’s enough to go to the moon and back — twice — and still have more than enough miles left over to take a spin around the equator.
Gibbons hopes to continue driving long enough to reach 2 million miles.
“Barring any mishaps,” he said. “Like wrapping the rig around a tree or sliding off the road in the snow or piling into the back of another driver.
“Paying attention is a lot of it. I see people trying to read a book or their mail, or they’re talking on the phone or text messaging. When you’re driving, you should be concentrating on the road.”
Gibbons offered some advice for drivers who encounter trucks on the road:
Avoid a truck’s blind spots.
Use your turn signals.
Don’t pull in front of a truck and then hit your brakes. When that big rig is moving, it can’t stop as fast as your car.
Most importantly, pay attention while driving.
When he’s not on the road, Gibbons enjoys woodworking, playing piano and spending time with his children. He’s also a member of the Burlington Eagles Club.
And he likes to cook.
“On work nights, it has to be quick,” he said. “I usually get up and just have time to shower and fix a quick meal before I leave for work. On the weekends I have time to do more.”
When asked if he would encourage his children to become truck drivers — John is the divorced father of four, ages 8 to 16 — he said, “Probably not, though I’d support them in whatever they want to do. It’s a hard job.”
While he’s driving, John likes to listen to music, anything from hard rock to oldies to blues to country. He’ll sometimes listen to books on tape.
“And sometimes it’s just nice to drive in silence, with nothing but the roar of the engine,” he said.
Newsroom clerk John Cumbow contributed to this story.
