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Distinctive new blue truck arrives for accident-free ‘Stoney’
It was like Christmas in July for Greencastle Walmart Transportation driver Jim Stone on Thursday.
The second local driver to ever log three million accident-free miles in driving for the nation’s biggest retailer, Stone was feted last January with a wintertime barbecue featuring T-bones and congratulatory cake.
Thursday he got his present -- a bright blue 2018 Peterbilt (he had his choice of Peterbilt, Kenworth or Freightliner) tractor which, by virtue of winning the Three-Million-Mile Safety Award, Stone got to order to his specifications.
The bells and whistles he opted for include an automatic transmission, buckskin seats, the obligatory TV and microwave and a spiffy sleeper compartment. Sorry, though, no sleep number bed.
Co-workers who ventured up to sit in the cab Thursday were surprised by the air-rise seats not only for positioning the driver at the perfect height but for the passenger as well. Incidentally, the air horn works fine, too, since one cab visitor pulled it and sent everyone jumping.
With almost every other Walmart truck on the road outfitted with a white cab with blue lettering, other drivers should easily recognize Stone’s special place in the accident-free world when they spy his distinctive blue tractor.
“A couple guys out West have hit four million miles,” Norman Nero, Walmart general transportation manager, said, noting that a red cab indicates four million accident-free miles.
The new truck, Nero told the Banner Graphic, is a $150,000-$160,000 venture. The typical truck probably costs $125,000-$130,000 anyway, he said, so the extras added for Stone’s accomplishment run it up by $30,000 or more.
Stone -- or “Stoney” as he’s called -- again thanked all his co-workers and praised wife Chela for her patience and support in his nearly 24 years as a Walmart driver who routinely logs 3,300 to 3,400 miles a week.
The typical Walmart driver among the 61 working out of the local transportation facility logs 2,400 to 2,700 miles a week, Nero noted.
But Stone makes three long trips to Menomonie, Wis., three times a week. A trip there, he said, is 556 miles each way, so the miles add up fast.
And it was at Menomonie last January that his quest for three million accident-free miles encountered some last-minute drama. Stone was 200 miles short of his goal when the schedule sent him to western Wisconsin -- in a snowstorm. When he arrived back in Greencastle there was still snow on his cab but the accident-free record was intact.
Stone, who hired on at Walmart on Oct. 18, 1993, became only the second Greencastle driver to hit three million accident-free miles. Mike Allred previously completed that achievement on July 6, 2012 and is still driving for Walmart. And just two weeks ago, on July 7, Dale Smith became the third. He can figure on receiving his customized truck sometime late this year.
Also, although the Peterbilt was referred to as Stone’s “personal truck” a couple times on Thursday, it will stay with the company whenever he retires, Nero noted.
Meanwhile, at age 67, Stone realizes getting to the four-million-mile mark and that rare red cab is highly unlikely for him.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he has said.
