About 40 Ames community members gathered on a rainy Thursday morning to celebrate Ames UPS drivers for reaching 1 million miles without any accidents. 

Members of the Ames community were invited by the UPS Safety Committee to send off their drivers by lining the street with cars and celebrating the “accomplishment and the hard work the drivers are doing day in and day out for the community for which they live and work in,” Anthony Brice, UPS Safety Committee chair said. 

Among the crowd, signs reading “We love UPS” and “You are the best” were raised as 35 UPS drivers headed out to start their deliveries. 

People cheered from the sidewalks, cars and neighboring businesses. Businessman Ray Schmidt was one of them.

“My UPS driver has been very helpful for me getting products in and shipping out,” Schmidt said. “They’ve been supporting me getting started [with my business], so I really want to support them back. I believe it’s for a million miles without an accident and I thought that was really cool.” 

Since COVID-19 hit and stay-at-home orders have been placed across the nation, people have opted for online shopping methods. In mid-April, there was 68 percent over-the-year revenue growth for U.S. online retailers. 

Because people are staying at home, Brice said UPS drivers face more risk with cars parked on the street as well as children playing — a cracked mirror or a driver getting rear-ended can count as an accident.

“It’s just little things like that for 46 drivers to go out in the elements in the snow and the sleet and rain in the hot temperatures every day and have to go down numerous different streets and make it [in] that kind of scenario without any incident is a huge accomplishment,” Brice said. “Especially during the pandemic right now, there are people that are at home, so there’s more risk for us.” 

The next goal is to “shoot for 2 million miles.”

“We’re at their houses every day like I’ve seen, you know, kids grow up,” Brice said. “I’ve seen families go through good times and bad times and having my own ground, I’m able to have that relationship and build that relationship with my customers. 

“And it’s just it’s heartwarming that day in and day out there is always a ‘thank you for what you do,’ and that’s the key right there,” Brice said.

“We know they appreciate what we do and we found that out today.”