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Four million miles, one safe decision at a time · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Four million miles, one safe decision at a time. Written by Emily
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  Beebe. This article is being read by an automated voice brought to
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  you by Everlet. The red carpet at XPO’s La Salle service center
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  on Thursday morning was not for a movie star.
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  It was for a truck driver.
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  James Jim Cosentino, 67, of Yorkville, rolled through the gates at 750
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  Progress Parkway in a brand-new tractor with his name on the door,
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  escorted by La Salle police and Illinois State Police. Confetti fired over
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  a standing crowd of family, friends and coworkers. By morning’s end, the
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  41-year company veteran had received a $25,000 check, a custom-framed varsity jacket,
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  a ring for him and a pendant for his wife, his own
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  reserved parking spot and a state Senate resolution.
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  The occasion was 4 million consecutive accident-free miles, a milestone only seven
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  previous drivers in the company’s history have reached, out of about 13,000
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  drivers across North America, according to XPO.
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  Mario Harik, Chairman and CEO of XPO, who came to La Salle
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  for the celebration, told the crowd the achievement is rarer than winning
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  the Super Bowl.
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  For Cosentino, who goes by Cos, the number comes down to a
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  rule he has never broken.
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  Safety never takes a break, he said. You’ve got to be safe.
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  You’ve got to be alert. You’ve got to be patient.
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  Cosentino’s road began in October 1985 at the company’s then-new Aurora terminal.
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  After years on local pickup and delivery and a decade of night
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  runs to Tomah, Wisconsin, he transferred to La Salle when it opened,
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  as the most senior driver in Aurora.
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  Today, he runs a day route to Salem, Illinois, swapping trailers with
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  a driver up from Memphis. The freight keeps moving toward Jackson, Mississippi,
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  roughly 900 miles in a single day.
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  The miles added up slowly: 14 years for the first million, the
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  second million came in Aurora, the third in 2017 and this year
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  the fourth.
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  The final stretch even cost him sleep.
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  I was a nervous wreck just to get it, he said. Nobody
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  in our region had hit it yet.
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  Cosentino could have retired. He kept driving because 4 million miles was
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  the goal, and now that he has it, he’s not done.
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  Ask him how, and the answer is the same for a rookie
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  or a veteran: following distance, and knowing what is happening around you
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  at all times. His eyes move from mirror to mirror every five
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  to 10 seconds, his phone is never in his hand, and in
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  heavy traffic he backs off rather than force a pass.
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  You’ve got to be driving for everybody else, he said. Be ready
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  for everyone around you to screw up.
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  He leaves Yorkville about 5:30 a.m. And is gone 12 hours a
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  day, through blizzards, high winds and whatever other weather may be on
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  the interstate. His wife, Collette, makes sure he gets his rest. They
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  have been married 43 years, with three children and four grandchildren.
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  A patient wife and partner like that is amazing, he said. She’s
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  got 4 million miles on her just because of me, putting up
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  with me.
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  His advice to young drivers is the same advice that got him
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  where he is today: take it a mile at a time, a
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  day at a time.
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  La Salle Police Chief Jason Stubler put the number of miles into
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  perspective for the crowd:
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  Four million miles is equivalent to driving around the Earth approximately 160
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  times, Stubler said. It is the same as driving 55 miles an
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  hour, on cruise control, with no fuel, food, rest or brake pedal
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  for 8.3 years.
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  In law enforcement, Stubler said, the philosophy is simple: predictable is preventable.
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  State Sen. Sue Rezin presented Cosentino with an Illinois Senate resolution honoring
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  the milestone.
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  When Cosentino was given the microphone, he looked out at the family,
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  friends and fellow drivers who had taken the morning off to be
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  there for him.
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  I haven’t done it by myself, he said. This takes a village.
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  His grandchildren, the oldest of them 8, ran up to wrap their
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  arms around him.
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  Cosentino keeps the new tractor, his name on the door, for the
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  rest of his career.
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  Four million miles comes down to one thing for me, he said.
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  Make a safe decision every day so we all can get home
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  safely to our families.