For the 119 industry veterans who received this year’s TRSA Service Awards, the recognition offers a unique distinction. Quite simply, the reason is that these employees—including two who this year are marking their 70th year in the business—have overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. Their longevity underscores their determination that got them through the worst crisis to hit the industry in recent memory. Now their focus is on shifting back to growing their companies amid an array of challenges, ranging from inflation and recession to staff- and supply-chain shortages.

For many of these employees, from hourly production staff to engineers, route service ...