A Harlingen UPS driver was recognized for a significant milestone on Tuesday. Pablo Sanchez has driven nearly 2 million miles without a single blemish on his driving record.

Sanchez has been delivered packages across the Rio Grande Valley for the last 49 years and was even one of the original eight employees hired when UPS first came to the Valley.

“We were responsible for everything,” he recalls. “Washing the trucks, filling them up, unloading the trailers, loading the trucks, [and] delivering all day. Now we’ve got different people for different jobs.”

While he said, a lot has changed, from how the job works to the places he delivers to around Willacy County, every day of the near half-century is enjoyable.

But Sanchez’s work ethic and personality made a strong impression on his supervisors, co-workers, and regular customers; he said the secret to his success is his love for people.

“I like to talk with people,” he says. “Although, you know, in a hurried way because we are doing a job.”

While his wife retired eight years ago, 70-year-old Sanchez says he doesn’t see himself following suit anytime soon.

“She was ready to retire,” Sanchez said. “I’m not quite there yet.”