Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) has long been a leader in the transportation industry— not just because of its logistics but because of its family spirit. ODFL’s culture strives to value every driver and service center employee individually, despite a massive national footprint.

As the company grew over the years, maintaining that personal touch became an administrative hurdle. Internal teams and previous vendors struggled to keep up with the demands of recognizing a workforce of more than 23,000 people.

When ODFL began to search for a partner to help with its employee recognition efforts, it looked for a company that shared its core values of responsiveness, safety, and genuine appreciation. ODFL found that partner in C.A. Short.

THE CHALLENGE

Closing the Gap Between Logistics and Appreciation

Before partnering with C.A. Short, ODFL partnered with an employee recognition company for its Years of Service award, but found the offerings to be limiting. The other components of its employee recognition program were managed in-house, and only a few people were responsible for sending out recognition gifts, such as pens, patches, and certificates. This took too much time away from more strategic efforts. This back-office burden was compounded by a legacy vendor system that no longer met ODFL’s needs:

The previous booklet system ofrecognition gifts offered a limitedselection that failed to resonate witha diverse workforce.

There was a notable lack of quality awardoptions for women and a lack of meaningfulchoices for retirement milestones.

For a mobile workforce that spends theday on the road rather than at a desk, theabsence of a digital-first, mobile-friendlyexperience made recognition feel like anadministrative task rather than a celebration.

Without a change, there was a growing risk that an outdated, clunky experience would dilute the very culture that made ODFL special.

THE SOLUTION

A Centralized Hubfor Every Milestone

C.A. Short worked alongside ODFL to integrate the People Are Everything platform directly with Workday, ODFL’s human resources information system. This integration created a workflow in which drivers receive milestone notifications and can access a modern, intuitive shopping platform from any device.

Our platform provided a wider variety of personalized gifts and created a seamless ordering process for some of the company’s main awards:

Years of Service Milestone: Celebration of the long-term dedication and loyalty of the ODFL team

Years of Safe Driving: Dedicated recognition for the backbone of the fleet

Million-Mile Club: Exclusive honors for long-term drivers who set the industry standard for excellence

Service 2.0: Track designed to celebrate performance that goes above and beyond daily expectations

We also collaborated on custom-designed physical awards, such as high-quality plaques and the signature “Year 2” Old Dominion tumbler, ensuring that the items employees receive are pieces they are actually excited to display.

Behind the scenes, our team took over the heavy lifting of administration, managing everything from monthly file processing to proactively reactivating expired codes, so no achievement goes unnoticed.

THE IMPACT

A Culture Where People Feel Seen

The shift to a platform-enabled, personalized system has driven measurable results that extend beyond logistics. By automating fulfillment and administration, ODFL’s HR and safety leaders reclaimed a significant amount of working hours to focus on high-level culture strategy rather than manual award distribution.

Recognized 9,227 safe drivers who achieved yearly safety milestones

Celebrated 416 million-mile drivers—including retro drivers who have anchored the company for decades—who have driven accident-free for more than a million miles

Honored 403 drivers in the elite 10th of the Century club, representing the highest level of safe driving excellence in the industry

Processed recognition for 4,946 Years of Service milestones and 2,150 Service 2.0 awards for performance that went above and beyond

These results validate the partnership’s effectiveness in several areas:

Higher engagement: Redemption rates sit well above industry averages, proving that employees find genuine value in the new award selection.
Boosted morale: The modernization of the award process has led to a renewed sense of pride among drivers and service center staff members.
Stronger retention: The program reinforces ODFL’s industry-leading low turnover rates by consistently connecting safety and performance to emotional validation.

THE FUTURE

Growing Together Without Losing the Family Spirit

The partnership between ODFL and C.A. Short has led to a unified, consistent recognition experience for every employee, regardless of their location or role. Beyond the technology and logistics, ODFL has found a partner that’s genuinely easy to work with and provides a wide variety of awards and a level of responsiveness that ensures that help is always just a phone call away if something isn’t clear.

In addition to continuing the recognition services currently in place, the partnership will continue to evolve in a few areas:

Collaborating on expanded retirement awards to celebrate long-term careers with the same care given to active drivers

Ongoing proactive ideas to keep the program evolving alongside ODFL’s growth

Maintaining a culture of responsiveness in which the leaders of both companies remain aligned in the belief that every person matters

Bridging the gap between operational goals and the human experience ensures that, as ODFL moves forward, its family spirit remains a primary strength.

Ready to see how a unified recognition platform can transform your culture?

Schedule a demo to see the People Are Everything platform in action and learn how we can help you bridge the gap between your operational goals and your people’s experience.

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How C.A. Short Helped Old Dominion Freight Line Deliver Appreciation to 23,000 Employees