Estes

Case Study: Estes

Challenge

Estes, one of the largest privately held freight transportation companies in North America, is known for its strong commitment to service, reliability, and safety. As part of their employee safety program, Estes was looking for a unique and useful gift that could be distributed to all 23,000 employees.

They wanted something more meaningful than a typical giveaway — a product that employees would actually keep and use, while also reinforcing an important safety message. One of the key themes of the program was protecting employees’ identity and personal information, especially while traveling or carrying personal belongings.

Solution

To support this initiative, Estes chose a custom ReturnMe luggage tag.

The luggage tag was a perfect fit because it offered both real-world usefulness and an important safety benefit. Unlike traditional luggage tags that display a person’s name, phone number, and address, ReturnMe tags help protect the user’s privacy by keeping personal information confidential while still making it easy for lost items to be returned.

To make the project even more special, ReturnMe worked closely with Estes to create a beautiful custom die-cut tag shaped like one of their trucks. This gave the product a highly personalized look that connected directly to the Estes brand and made the item feel much more memorable and meaningful for employees.

Benefits

The Estes program was successful because it combined several key advantages:

• Unique and useful gift that employees could actually use

• Strong safety message tied to privacy and identity protection

• Custom truck-shaped die-cut design that reflected the Estes brand

• Confidential lost-and-found service that added real value

• High perceived quality that made the gift feel special

• Long-term brand visibility on an item employees could keep for years

The ReturnMe luggage tag helped Estes go beyond a standard promotional product by turning the gift into something functional, branded, and aligned with the company’s safety culture.

Results

The custom Estes truck-shaped luggage tag was very well received and became a hit with employees. It stood out because it was not just another branded item — it was something practical, memorable, and directly tied to the company’s safety message.

Employees appreciated that the gift was both thoughtful and useful, and the privacy-focused feature of the ReturnMe service supported the broader goal of helping protect their identity. The custom die-cut truck design also helped create excitement around the program and made the item feel especially relevant to the Estes team.

By choosing ReturnMe, Estes was able to deliver a large-scale employee gift program that was:

• On-brand

• Safety-focused

• Useful in everyday life

• Distinctive and memorable

Conclusion

For Estes, the goal was to find a gift for 23,000 employees that would support their safety program while offering real value to the people receiving it. ReturnMe helped bring that vision to life with a high-quality luggage tag and a custom die-cut truck design that reflected the company’s identity.

The end result was a unique safety-themed gift that employees genuinely appreciated — a product that helped protect their privacy, reinforced an important company message, and gave Estes a creative way to celebrate and support their workforce.