TEMPLE, Texas — A Walmart driver out of the Temple Distribution Center is making history!
Al Pringle is crossing the 3-million-mile mark without a single accident or driving blemish on his record.
On Oct. 24, Walmart employees, family, friends and the Texas Department of Public Safety rolled out the red carpet for him, celebrating all his hard work and dedication to keeping the community safe.
Pringle has been driving for the company for around 25 years but started his trucking journey back in 1985.
"Next year will be 40 years," Pringle told 6 News.
Pringle's been all over the country as an OTR driver, spending weeks on the road at a time.
"I've been in a lot of close calls, especially in the bad weather sliding around, in ice, in the mountains in Colorado," Pringle said.
He's driven a total of three million with a perfect driving record for Walmart.
"That truck is not going to do anything that I'm not going to allow it to do because I'm behind the wheel of it," Pringle explained. "When I came to Texas with no snow and ice and no mountains, it was a piece of cake."
On Thursday, employees honored this accomplishment.
"When you think about three million miles safe, think about the folks that actually drive three million miles in their lifetime," Warren Hine, General Manager in Transportation, said. " He's done it safe behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler coming home safe to his family each week, coming safe to us each week."
It's people like Pringle who make our community safer.
"Everything he does, when he stops, he checks his entire equipment out," Hine added. "When he picks up each trailer, he checks the entire trailer. When he's out on the road, he's a defensive driver."
Pringle says it's all because he loves what he does.
"I had heard stories of this but being in the spotlight is a whole different thing," Pringle said. "It's totally different. I'm going to remember this the rest of my life. You gotta love what you're doing. You really do."