Braking News

Content for Drivers

Delivering Success for Over One Million Miles

When the odometer rolls over from 999,999 to the next mile traveled, where does it go?  Few of us have considered this question, and most of us will never discover the answer firsthand.  Pace contracts with a driver who has. 

Mike Forrester, an independently contracted driver working out of Pace Bessemer, passed his one-million-mile mark driving his 2001 Toyota Tacoma truck on November 8th!  Mike purchased his almost new Tacoma in 2002 prior to entering the contractor business, but his beloved truck quickly evolved into a means of growing a career as an independent contractor, driving with the Pace Logistics Carrier Network!

Early in his career, Mike worked for a florist where he gained his first delivery experiences delivering flowers.  He had a short run as an employee driver for a heating and air conditioning company before putting his Tacoma on the road as a contractor for Bearden Delivery – picking up and delivering misrouted airline luggage.  Mike found that he enjoyed being on the road making deliveries.  In 2011, he put his Tacoma to work as a contractor for Pace, driving his courier route delivering for Long Lewis Ford across Pace’s Birmingham market.

Mike acquired his Tacoma when he was driving for Bearden and needed a new truck.  A friend of Mike’s at Bearden called him excitedly one day and said, “Hey man, you need to get down to East Lake Auto!  They have an almost new Toyota Tacoma at a good price with only 6,000 miles on it.  AND… it’s GREEN!”  Well, being an avid UAB Blazers fan (whose colors are green, white, and gold), Mike couldn’t pass up the opportunity.  He went to East Lake Auto, assessed the vehicle, and made the purchase!  

Mike didn’t set out to “break the odometer” by putting over a million miles on his truck.  This million mile achievement resulted from Mike’s careful nature, his years on the road as an independent contractor, and his close attention to maintenance.  Mike drives safely and economically.  “I change the oil every 6,000 miles at Express Oil,” he explains, “so I’m at Express about every four to six weeks.  I keep the tire pressures right, and I rotate them and buy new tires when it’s time.”  For the last few years on average, according to his records, he has driven over 60,000 miles per year as a contractor for Pace.

So, how did the million miles add up?  He’s driven over 600,000 miles in his Tacoma working as a contractor for Pace.  The other 400,000 miles were on the road delivering lost luggage combined with a small amount of personal mileage.  Mike commented, “I thought maybe I’d get 200,000 to 300,000 miles on it, but the further I went, it just kept on being a good truck…At around 500,000 miles, I needed a new transmission, and after that it still was working great.  At about 800,000 miles, as I got closer and closer, I just figured I’d go for it!” Mike replied.  “Plus,” he added, “it’s great not having a truck payment.”

Mike explains what he enjoys most about being a contractor.  “Some of my jobs before I began driving had me working in a warehouse, which had me confined to one area, but I found I like being out on my own.  I like the quiet, private times behind the wheel between my stops.  I get a change of scenery, and I can listen to my sports talk radio.” He also enjoys the freedom of being a contractor, including the option to drive for other logistics providers.  
 
Mike has a great service record as a contractor for Pace, both in performance and safety.  “It may sound strange,” said Mike Spivey, Pace’s North Alabama District Manager, “but he’s one of those people that you can easily forget about because he’s so dependable…I mean that in a positive way!” says Spivey.  Pace dispatcher, Jack Dew, also describes how dependable Mike is.  “He’s there on time, five days a week, with no major accidents.  Mike just shows up at Long Lewis and does his job every day.”  Jack notes how well Mike takes care of his vehicle, stating,  “As long as you take care of your vehicle, it will take care of you.”  Jack also remarks that as the miles kept on coming, Mike eventually became “bound and determined to get to those million miles.”

Mike says that as far as his excellent safety record is concerned, “I just always keep my eyes moving, looking way ahead and watching out for the other drivers in front and behind.”  Although he has been involved in two accidents over the last eight years, he wasn’t at fault in either.  He says that always paying attention, watching for the other drivers on the road, and obeying traffic laws are the best ways to drive safely.

Mike enjoys seeing his regulars at Long Lewis and says they are great people who make his job pleasant.  When asked whether he ever had doubts about continuing in his contractor business, Mike said that just like all of us who have to drive somewhere, “Yes, every now and then, I get frustrated with the traffic.  If there’s road construction or a bridge out, it gets to me sometimes.  But then again, I can just turn on the sports talk radio.”

Mike is a Birmingham-area native.  “My parents moved around a lot, and I actually went to five different high schools,” he said.  “For a short time, they moved to Texas, so I actually graduated high school in Paris, Texas.”  He moved with his family back to Birmingham, which he considers home.  “I love living in Birmingham,” says Mike.  He currently lives twenty-three miles from his first pickup for Long Lewis, so it’s a relatively short commute before he starts his delivery mileage.

Perseverance has its rewards.  Mike exemplifies this lesson, not only in how he maintains his vehicle, but also in his safe approach to driving.  But more than that, there’s something special about the way Mike approaches his job every day.  His dependability, conscientiousness, excellent customer service, and general respect for others are prime examples of Pace’s core values and a testament to what living out these values can accomplish.   

When asked what his plans are for his Tacoma now that he has broken the million-mile mark, Mike replied,  “I’ve put a few calls in to some Toyota dealers, to see if they have any interest in it because it has a million miles.  Maybe one of them would like to check out the engine, things like that.”  Or, he might eventually buy another truck and keep the Tacoma around.  But, keeping in line with his dependable nature, Mike concludes, “Right now, I’m just driving it.”

Like he has already for so many miles.

Search
Latest Braking News

The Final Mile Delivery Market

Supply chain logistics involves the movement of goods from their origin or manufacturing point to the end-user, often requiring detailed planning, and specialized transportation and

Read More »
pace drivers

Solving Logistics Together

Solving Logistics Together is a Pace passion. As we celebrate our 25-year anniversary as a preferred Logistics Service Provider (LSP) and seasoned regional carrier, renewing

Read More »

Privacy Policy

PACE takes your privacy very seriously; in general, you can visit PACE websites without telling us who you are and without revealing any information about yourself. There are times, however, when we may need information from you.

PACE does not rent, sell, or share personal information about you with other people or nonaffiliated companies except to provide products or services you’ve requested, when we have your permission, or under the following circumstances:

  1. We provide the information to trusted partners who work on behalf of or with PACE under extremely strict confidentiality agreements. These companies may use your personal information to help PACE communicate with you about offers from PACE and our marketing partners. However, these companies do not have any independent right to share this information.
  2. We have a parent’s permission to share the information if the user is a child under age 13.
  3. We respond to subpoenas, court orders, or legal process, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims.
  4. We believe it is necessary to share information in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, or as otherwise required by law.
  5. We transfer information about you if PACE is acquired by or merged with another company.

You may choose to give us personal information, such as your name and address or e-mail id that may be needed, for example, to correspond with you, to download our white papers or to provide you with a subscription. If you tell us that you do not want us to use this information as a basis for further contact with you, we will respect your wishes. We intend to protect the quality and integrity of your personally identifiable information.

We will make a sincere effort to respond in a timely manner to your requests to correct inaccuracies in your personal information. To correct inaccuracies in your personal information please return the message containing the inaccuracies to the sender with details of the correction requested.

Terms of Use

The following terms and conditions will be deemed to have been accepted by the User on usage of the website pacedelivers. You are requested to read them carefully before you use the services of this site.

  1. The term User shall refer to the user who is browsing the site. The term PACE shall refer to PACE Inc. The term Site refers to http://www.pacedelivers.com owned and monitored by PACE.
  2. By using the Site, you agree to follow and be bound by the following terms and conditions concerning your use of the Site. PACE may revise the Terms of Use at any time without notice to you. Areas of the Site may have different terms of use posted. If there is a conflict between the Terms of Use and terms of use posted for a specific area of the Site, the latter shall have precedence with respect to your use of that area of the Site.
  3. PACE may terminate User’s access at any time for any reason. The provisions regarding to disclaimer of warranty, accuracy of information and indemnification shall survive such termination. PACE may monitor access to the Site.
  4. All content present on this site is the exclusive property of PACE. The software, text, images, graphics, video and audio used on this site belong to PACE. No material from this site may be copied, modified, reproduced, republished, uploaded, transmitted, posted or distributed in any form without prior written permission from PACE. All rights not expressly granted herein are reserved. Unauthorized use of the materials appearing on this site may violate copyright, trademark and other applicable laws, and could result in criminal or civil penalties. PACE is a registered trademark of PACE Inc. This trademark may not be used in any manner without prior written consent from PACE.
  5. PACE does not make any warranties, express or implied, including, without limitation, those of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, with respect to any information, data, statements or products made available on the Site.
  6. The Site, and all content, materials, information, software, products and services provided on the Site, are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. PACE expressly disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.
  7. PACE shall have no responsibility for any damage to User’s computer system or loss of data that results from the download of any content, materials, information from the Site.
  8. PACE may change or discontinue any aspect of its website at any time, including its content or features. PACE reserves the right to change the terms and conditions applicable to the use of the Site. Such changes shall be effective immediately upon notice, which shall be placed on the Site.
  9. In no event will PACE be liable for damages of any kind, including without limitation, direct, incidental or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, damages for lost profits, business interruption and loss of programs or information) arising out of the use of or inability to use PACE’ website, or any information provided on the website, or in the Products any claim attributable to errors, omissions or other inaccuracies in the Product or interpretations thereof. Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability. Accordingly, some of the above limitations may not apply to the User.
  10. User agrees to indemnify, defend and hold PACE harmless from and against all losses, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of or relating to any misuse by the User of the content and services provided on the Site.
  11. The information contained in the Site has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. PACE disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information.
  12. PACE makes no warranty that: (a) the Site will meet your requirements; (b) the Site will be available on an uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free basis; (c) the results that may be obtained from the use of the Site or any services offered through the Site will be accurate or reliable.
  13. The User’s right to privacy is of paramount importance to PACE. Any information provided by the User will not be shared with any third party. PACE reserves the right to use the information to provide the User a more personalized online experience.
  14. The Site provides links to web sites and access to content, products and services from third parties, including users, advertisers, affiliates and sponsors of the Site. You agree that PACE is not responsible for the availability of, and content provided on, third party web sites. The User is requested to peruse the policies posted by other web sites regarding privacy and other topics before use. PACE is not responsible for third party content accessible through the Site, including opinions, advice, statements and advertisements, and User shall bear all risks associated with the use of such content. PACE is not responsible for any loss or damage of any sort User may incur from dealing with any third party.

We got your message!

Thank you – we’ll be in touch soon.

Thanks for your interest!

We will keep your information on file and let you know if an opportunity becomes available in your area.