A Tribute to Phillip Burg for Two Million Miles of Safe Driving

Representative Jerry Lewis

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the achievements of Phillip Burg, a resident of Apple Valley, California, located in the heart of the 40th district. Phillip, a truck driver with Roadway Express for over twenty years, recently drove his two millionth mile. To put this in perspective, the average car driver would have to travel around the world eighty times to equal this milestone. And Philip has driven that distance without a preventable accident.

Driving two million miles is an achievement in and of itself. Not having a single accident during that trek is extraordinary. A driver can travel 999,999 miles without an accident, then break a mirror on the way back to the terminal, and the count starts again at zero. Few in the trucking industry have the longevity and dedication to reach this milestone.

Sixty-one years old, Phillip has seen it all: America's giant cities and small towns, open plains and towering mountains, farms that seem to go on forever and city skylines lit up against the stars. He's driven in every kind of weather imaginable in order to get the job done. These days, Phillip hauls everyday goods to Fresno, California and back five times a week, an average of 2,400 miles a week.

The men and women of our nation's trucking industry bring us the goods we use in our everyday lives. Be it toys for children, cups for the dinner table, or frames for pictures of loved ones, America's truckers bring it to you. "If you use it, we hauled it" is a motto of truckers, and it couldn't be more true. Simply stated, Phillip and his colleagues keep America running.

I applaud Phillip's dedication to his profession and his commitment to safety. I know I join his colleagues, his wife Melody, and his three children in congratulating him for his record of success.

[Taken from the Congressional Record, 27 March 2001, page E456.]