Truck Driver Honored for Exceptional Road Stewardship

    HIGH POINT, N.C., March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Drive from Los Angeles to New
 York City 37 times per year for the next 50 years, and you'll cover 5,200,000
 miles, or the same mileage that many over-the-road drivers accumulate in that
 same half century.  Up the ante, and drive those five+ million miles --
 accident free -- in an 80,000-pound 18-wheeler with a load that aches to
 shift.  Now, there's a cause to celebrate the safe driving habits of a career
 truck driver.
     Not much has happened in Cornell Brenson's life; no accidents in the last
 47 years of his 51-year truck driving career.  He was just a husband and
 father, making a living so that his boys could grow up in a decent community
 and get a good college education.  But because nothing happened is precisely
 why the North Carolina Trucking Association recently honored Mr. Brenson with
 a safe driver award and named him "North Carolina State Truck Driver" for the
 year 2000.  Now, he is one of many
 Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (Nasdaq-NM: ODFL) safe drivers who over the
 past 20 years have received an annual safe driving bonus.
     "NCTA is extremely proud of Mr. Brenson's exemplary career.  He sets a
 high standard that other truck drivers should try to emulate," said Charlie
 Diehl, president, North Carolina Trucking Association.  "The NCTA Safety
 Management Council's primary goal is to promote and enhance highway safety."
 NCTA members meet regularly to exchange safety ideas.  The organization
 sponsors the North Carolina Road Team and its group of safety-oriented truck
 driver speakers and conducts the annual NC truck driving championships.  One
 segment of NCTA's full safety program is to select and honor the best truck
 drivers.
     In a recent interview, Mr. Brenson shared his secret to accident-free
 driving.
     "Patience," he said.  "You've got to have patience, plenty of sleep and
 enough rest before starting your work day.  This allows your mind to be clean
 and sharp."  Brenson said his calm temperament is what keeps him out of
 accidents.
     Brenson experienced first-hand those drivers who are not well rested.  He
 avoided running his truck into a woman who stopped her car in the middle of
 the Interstate after she drove passed an exit.  Then there was the man driving
 a van filled with family members who swerved across the road.  Brenson
 recognized the signs of fatigue and honked until the driver pulled over to the
 side of the road.  Then Brenson pulled in behind the van to make sure the
 driver wasn't experiencing medical difficulties.
     "Mr. Brenson is a distinguished gentleman and a role model for other
 professional drivers," said Christopher Hartley, N.C. state director, Federal
 Motor Carriers Safety Administration.  "We're fortunate to have drivers like
 him in North Carolina working to keep the roads a safe place for all motor
 vehicles.  Mr. Brenson's uneventful driving record has kept other drivers --
 who share the road with him -- alive."
     Brian Stoddard, VP Safety & Personnel at Old Dominion Freight Line, said
 Brenson is one of hundreds of drivers attending the company's monthly safety
 meetings.  During the last 11 years, Old Dominion Freight Line has improved
 its accident frequency ratio from a high of 12.45 accidents per million miles
 in 1989, to a low of 7.23 accidents per million miles in 1999.  Old Dominion
 has paid out $3.7 million dollars in safe driving bonuses to its drivers since
 1987, with a record year payout of $557,328 for year ending 2000.
     Brenson's wife, Corelus, a retired nurse, hopes he will retire soon and
 take her on a trip to Hawaii.  But Brenson isn't sure how they'll get there in
 an 18-wheeler.
     Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. is a Super-Regional carrier, providing
 inter-regional and regional less-than-truckload shipping of general
 commodities, such as consumer goods, textiles and capital goods to a
 diversified customer base.  The company provides direct service to 37 states &
 the District of Columbia in the Southeast, South Central, Northeast, Midwest
 and Pacific Mountain regions of the country.
 
 

SOURCE  Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc.