POST FALLS - Jeff Pastras doesn't like attention. He doesn't care for the spotlight. He probably won't like this story.

But it's happening, anyway, because Jeff Pastras sometimes does the amazing and there sometimes has to be attention that goes along with such feats.

"I'd like to be more known as a humble guy who doesn't like to boast about it," he said. "That's the way I live my life."

Good enough. Still, the 44-year-old earned bragging rights.

The Post Falls man, a professional truck driver for Con-way Freight in Spokane, recently topped one million miles of safe driving without an accident.

The streak stretches back 14 years. No fender benders, no scrapes, no dents, no slideoffs. Nothing.

Pastras shrugs it off. Just part of the job.

"I'd like to think I work hard and smart," he said. "It's nothing really special."

But his employers say otherwise.

"Jeff's impressive accomplishment highlights the personal and professional commitment to safety of those of our employees who go behind the wheel of a truck every day, and who make it their business to demonstrate superior safety performance on the highways, in our service centers and at our customers' facilities," said Douglas W. Stotlar, president and CEO, Con-way Inc. "Safety is one of our core values, and we congratulate Jeff for his extraordinary achievement."

Pastras has worked for Con-way Freight since 1997, when his safety run started, and has been a professional truck driver for 19 years. He has been previously recognized by the company for one, three, five and 10 years of safe driving.

Pastras typically drives about 135 miles per shift, and his route takes him from Spokane to Tekoa, Wash.

Over the company's 28-year history, more than 1,500 Con-way Freight driver sales representatives have reached the one-million-mile safe driving milestone, while more than 100 have driven two million miles accident-free.

Pastras, who served three years in the Army and studied pharmacy in college, explains his success is simple: Pay attention. Always.

Whether driving a truck, car or bike, watch what others are doing. Anticipate their actions.

"I don't speed," he said.

There have been close calls, especially come winter when the roads are slick and wet, which leads to slipping and sliding. And there are those drivers who occasionally cut-off Pastras and almost cause him to lose his saint-like patience.

"When it's my control, it's good," he said.

He has done more than drive safely. He has been a hero, too.

Once, he saw an empty car rolling backward down an incline toward other parked cars. He stopped, leaped from his truck and hopped behind the wheel of the car and hit the brakes. No damage, no injuries.

Pastras chuckles over the phone that others, again, made too big a deal of it and he received too much attention for just doing what needed to be done.

"I never heard the end of it," he said.

Truck driving has taken him through the landscapes of Eastern Washington and given him a front-row seat to the antics of the area's wildlife.

"That's cool," he said.

Most important, though, is that it's been a good job that has provided for his family well. Pastras has been married for 20 years to his wife, Marlo, and has three children. His hobbies include fishing and riding his motorcycle.

He believes he has got another million miles of safe driving in him, but he doesn't want to talk about it too much. That would be bragging.

"Yeah, I think so - but things happen," he said. "If it's in my control, yeah."