Besides group charters, Indian Trails also offers daily scheduled runs throughout Michigan and beyond. We’re delighted to announce that two more of our route drivers have become members of a very elite club.
Mike Pelto and Bill Wilson have joined 27 other Indian Trails drivers as recipients of our “Million Mile Award” for going the distance without an avoidable accident. It’s an award program we began in the late 1980s.
Pelto and Wilson both achieved their records in 10 years. Both joined Indian Trails in 2007, operating scheduled routes in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Wilson’s starts at St. Ignace and takes him to Milwaukee, Wis., and back again with stops along the way. Pelto begins his route in Houghton/Hancock, then heads to Duluth, Minn., and back.
Hitting the million-mile mark is even more noteworthy considering the special challenges they face.
“Driving through northern Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, presents risks that most other drivers don’t have to face as often,” says Jeremy Rugenstein, Indian Trails Safety and Driver Education Manager. “Their routes are over 400 miles each way, typically in the dark, when statistics show commercial vehicle accident rates are at their highest. They have to dodge wildlife of all sorts, and deal with longer, harsher winters that bring snow, ice and high winds. So these are remarkable achievements.”
Pelto was a school bus driver when he answered an Indian Trails want ad for drivers. A native of Hancock, he grew up in Calumet and is accustomed to its weather and roads. He enjoys his route, driving at night, the regular passengers he ferries to their destinations, and the new ones he gets to meet.
After 10 years with us, Pelto thought he might be nearing the million mile mark. “I’d heard about it when I first started and remember thinking that’s quite the accomplishment, so I’m pleased I made it.”
Wilson was also drawn to Indian Trails by an advertisement for drivers. He’d been with the U.S. Navy for 22 years and was working as a security guard. “This just popped up,” he says. “I never dreamed I’d be driving a bus.”
A native of Onaway, MI, Wilson is also accustomed to life in northern Michigan. Like Pelto, he works six days on and three days off, and enjoys hunting and fishing during his down time. Both also enjoy working for a “family” company (Indian Trails has been family-owned since it was founded in 1910).
“It’s a good company,” says Wilson. “They honestly care about you as an employee. And even though they’re in Owosso and we’re remote, they send a supervisor up here to see how we’re doing.”
Like Pelto, Wilson enjoys his route and his passengers. “Because I drive at night, a lot of passengers rest,” he says. “But we have some talkative ones, too. I had a passenger who sat down behind me the other night in Green Bay and chatted all the way to Escanaba. It was great.”
As for his Million Mile Award, he says, “I felt pretty good about it.”