UPS tractor-trailer driver Lawrence “Jim” Sanchez has been honored with the Joseph M. Kaplan Safe Driver of the Year Award from the National Safety Council. With an impressive 38-year safe driving record, Sanchez is a valued member of UPS’s Circle of Honor, a select group of drivers who have achieved 25 years or more of accident-free driving.
Sanchez, a resident of Yucaipa, California, serves as a sleeper team tractor-trailer driver alongside his daughter, Raquel. Together, they handle 10-hour driving shifts covering thousands of miles to deliver packages to UPS facilities across multiple states.
Not only has Sanchez demonstrated exceptional safe driving skills, but he has also remained injury-free for his entire career. With the responsibility of raising five children, he understands the importance of working safely and protecting himself on the road.
“I have a lot of responsibility to make sure I continue working to provide for my family,” Jim said.
Throughout his career, he’s made UPS history twice:
- In 2022, Sanchez and his daughter, Raquel, were the company’s first father-daughter sleeper team drivers on the west coast.
- In 1997, Sanchez was on the first sleeper team out of Ontario, California when the company introduced its first four long-haul routes.
Sanchez credits UPS’s driver training for his safety achievements.
“It’s always talked about and reinforced at UPS, and therefore, becomes muscle memory,” he said.
In 2013, his driver training enabled him to rescue a young woman from a burning vehicle.
The Joseph M. Kaplan Award is inspired by the exceptional leadership of Joseph M. Kaplan, former president of the Southern California Chapter of the National Safety Council.
Source: Truckers News
Photo: UPS
