Don Gullett has rolled his 18 wheels atop more than 3.4 million miles of gravel, asphalt and concrete roads without so much as a fender bender.

Now the resident of rural Lawrence is getting a new rig in recognition of his new title: 2006 Driver of the Year.

“I don’t know that it’s actually hit me yet,” Gullett said from – where else? – the highway, as he tended to deliveries Tuesday north of Kansas City, Mo. “I’ve had so many congratulations. It’s been phenomenal. …

“It’s just a great feeling – sort of like the Jayhawks winning the national championship.”

To become Driver of the Year for PacLease – the company that leases trucks to his employer, Galvmet Inc. – Gullett topped 22,000 other truckers in the U.S. and Canada.

It wasn’t easy. For the past 24 years, Gullett has hauled freight containers and, for the past nine years, galvanized sheet metal to customers throughout a region reaching 500 miles from Kansas City.

Never once during that time has he had so much as a bump, scratch or crack brought on by an accident, an official stretch of 2.9 million miles. Gullett says would be at least 3.4 million miles had all his accident-free miles been counted.

Not that he minds.

“It’s just good equipment, being alert and having a mindset of what’s around you,” he said.

Gullett shares his skills as a trainer for Galvmet, which distributes sheet metal throughout the Midwest.

Don Gullett, right, receives his Driver of the Year Award from Bob Post, director of franchise operations for PacLease. Gullett, a resident of rural Lawrence, has driven his rig more than 3 million miles during the past 24 years - all without a single accident.

“Don is an outstanding role model and a leader to our other drivers and our employees,” said Ken Moore, president and chief operating officer for Galvmet. “He’s much more than a driver. He’s a salesperson and an ambassador to our customers.”

Gullett accepted the Driver of the Year award earlier this month at PACCAR Leasing Co., commonly known as PacLease, in Bellevue, Wash. The presentation included a visit to a Kenworth plant in nearby Renton, where Gullett got his first look at the new 18-wheel truck he’ll soon be driving.

The truck will include all the features he has become accustomed to in recent years, including a place to plug in his Sirius satellite radio receiver (“I can get all the KU football and basketball games, regardless of where I’m at,” he said) and something new: a Driver of the Year logo on the side.

“I still can’t believe it,” Gullett said.