FLEMING ISLAND – Trevor Schmidt knows exactly the last time he had an accident while driving for UPS.

“March 25, 2005,” he said.

Despite delivering packages five days a week on Fleming Island, he parlayed his exemplary driving record into the Florida Truck Driving Championship last week.

“I always thought in my own mind I was a good driver,” he said after clinching the Step Van category at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach last week.

As the top-rated Step Van driver in the state, Schmidt will join eight other class state champions at the National Championships from Aug. 16-19 in Columbus, Ohio. But until then, he plans to extend his flawless driving record one day at a time – all while delivering packages.

The state competition included a written test, pre-trip inspection and skills course. Almost immediately, he knew his final score was formidable.

“I mean, I knew it was good,” he said. “I’m not usually that person, but when you hit your marks, if you’re paying attention in the mirrors, you know it’s going to be good.

“At each obstacle, they wave a red or green flag. If it’s red, you don’t get a score. I barely missed the first obstacle because I was paying more attention to the next one. After that, all the flags I saw were green.”

Schmidt easily out-distanced FedEx driver Kristyna Crook, 364-338.

“You had to sacrifice about two hours a Saturday because we work Monday through Friday. We came in and practiced the course we thought was going to be,” he said. “We practiced the written test, and we practiced pre-tripping your truck, finding things that could go wrong while you’re on the road before you leave the building – you know, a flat tire, loose lug nuts, your mirrors don’t want to stay open or windshield wipers don’t work. Things like that. So we practiced it.”

Schmidt started with UPS in 1994. He worked part-time for 10 years and drove tractor-trailers until he settled on making deliveries.

“I just missed the people; I missed the customers,” he said. “So I came back to this. Most people look at it like they think I’m crazy for coming back. The semi trucks are air-conditioned with cruise control and radios, the whole nine yards. You don’t have to touch a box. You don’t sweat. I come back to this because I missed the people.

“Although I’m in the same area, every day, something’s different.”

Schmidt enjoys delivering packages during the Christmas season.

“Many guys probably say they don’t like Christmas time because It’s much busier,” he said. “But you know, when Amazon ships out the box, the big dollhouse, and it’s got the dollhouse pictures all on it and whatnot, I like to be the guy that goes to the door to have the parents come out first rather than just leaving it at the door for the kids to find.”

And the oddest thing Schmidt’s delivered?

“Somebody once sent a two-foot, two-by-four with nothing attached to it,” he said.

And it arrived without a scratch or splinter.