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CRST, The Transportation Solution

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CRST International
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryTransportation
Founded1955; 69 years ago (1955)
FoundersHerald and Miriam Smith
Headquarters
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
,
United States
Key people
Mike Gannon, CRST President & CEO (August 2024 – present)[1][2]
Hugh Ekberg, former CRST President & CEO (September 2018 – August 2024)[3]
Websitewww.crst.com

CRST The Transportation Solution, Inc. (formerly CRST International) is an American freight company based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.[4]

Founded in 1955 by Herald and Miriam Smith, it is a privately held company with a current fleet of more than 30,000 transportation service providers, 6,000 drivers,[5] and annual revenues of $1.5 billion.[6][7]

History

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CRST was founded as Cedar Rapids Steel Transport in 1955[8] by Herald "Smitty" and Miriam Smith. They bought a chicken coop for $125 and with no trucks or customers, started their company. Herald saw his opportunity when he noticed truck drivers hauling livestock to Chicago and returning empty. He convinced Chicago firms he could save them money by loading those empty trucks with steel on their return to Cedar Rapids, hence the name of the company. Smith later purchased his own trucks, and expanded beyond the Chicago to Cedar Rapids route. By 1963, CRST had reached $1 million in revenue.[citation needed]

Herald's son, John Smith, took over as president in 1983. Under John's leadership, CRST began acquiring niche carriers. The most notable was the acquisition of Malone Freight Lines, Inc. of Trussville, Alabama, which allowed CRST to expand its territory into the Southeast of the United States. In 1997, revenues were $300 million and John bought out the rest of his family's holdings in CRST.[9]

In 2010, David Rusch became president and CEO of the company, with John moving on to become chairman of the board.[7]

In 2014, CRST began building its company headquarters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.[10] In the same year, it began a program called "Gold Rules" to shift the corporate culture to focus on the drivers' needs.[11] Founder Herald Smith died in 2015.[12]

On December 31, 2022, CRST closed its Cedar Rapids-based North American Driver Training Academy (NADTA) facility after the last group of trainees completed the program.[13]

CRST consolidated into four business units: Capacity Solutions, Dedicated Solutions, Home Solutions, and Specialized Solutions.[14][15]

Acquisitions

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CRST entered a phase of mergers and acquisitions in the 2010s. It acquired Specialized Transportation Inc. of Fort Wayne, Indiana in 2011.[16] It later purchased the Special Products Division of Allied Van Lines in 2013.[17] That same year, CRST acquired BESL Transfer Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio, which specializes in flatbed transportation.[18] In 2015, CRST purchased Pegasus Transportation which is a high security, temperature-controlled freight company of Louisville, KY.[7] In 2016, CRST acquired Gardner Trucking out of Ontario, California.[19]

In March 2020, CRST acquired NAL Group, a logistics company out of New Jersey.[20] In November 2023, CRST acquired BCB Transport, a truckload carrier based in Texas.[21][22]

Criticisms

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In 2011, the company lost a sexual harassment lawsuit in California's San Bernardino County Superior Court and was ordered to pay $1.5 million to the defendant, who stated she was sexually harassed by her managing driver. An appeal by the company was denied in 2015.[23][24][25]

Another lawsuit, involving 67 plaintiffs who sued the company over sexual abuse and harassment beginning in 1999, began in 2007 and was lost for failing to meet pre-suit obligations. The lawsuit was re-filed with three plaintiffs in 2015.[26][27][28] CRST took the case to the US Supreme Court to claim reimbursement of legal fees by the EEOC due to their failure to investigate many of the cases brought against CRST. The EEOC claimed they do not owe CRST these fees, however,[29] following the Supreme Court's decision in CRST's favor, the matter was remanded to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and back to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa for further proceedings. In December 2017, the District Court ordered the EEOC to pay CRST $3.3 million in attorney fees. The EEOC appealed this order to the Eighth Circuit, which affirmed the fee award to CRST, paid by EEOC in 2020.[30]

In 2016, a group of CRST drivers sued the company with claims that they were not paid a minimum wage for the number of hours worked due to the fact that CRST did not pay drivers while they were in the sleeper berth.[31] In December 2023, a federal court ruled that drivers must be paid while in the sleeper berth over eight hours.[32]

Awards

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Year Award Ref.
2023 CRST was named Carrier of the Year by The Home Depot. [33]
CRST Driver Ondrae Meyers won 2nd place in the 2023 Transition Trucking Award. [34]
CRST driver Brian Sheehan won American Trucking Associations’ America’s Road Team Captain. [35]
2024 CRST received the EPA’s 2024 SmartWay Excellence Award. [36][37]
CRST won the 2024 IMTA Image Award. [38]
CRST was named Carrier of the Year by The Home Depot. [33]
CRST was named 2024 Carrier of the Year by C.H. Robinson [39]

References

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  1. ^ "Mike Gannon Appointed CRST CEO and President | CRST". crst.com. 2024-08-23. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  2. ^ Barton, Tom (2024-08-26). "Cedar Rapids trucking company names new CEO". www.thegazette.com. Archived from the original on 2024-10-24. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  3. ^ "CRST's Dave Rusch to Retire Dec. 31; Hugh Ekberg Named President & CEO, Effective October 1". crst.com. 2018-09-27. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  4. ^ Miller, Eric (2021-04-28). "Carriers, Contractors Voice Support for Keeping DOL Rule". Transport Topics.
  5. ^ "Capacity Shipping Solutions in Cedar Rapids, IA | CRST". crst.com. 2023-11-07. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  6. ^ "CRST International, Inc. Celebrates 60th Anniversary". 30 March 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  7. ^ a b c "About Us - CRST International". Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  8. ^ Gravelle, Steve (2023-05-08). "The Corridor's largest privately held companies: CRST International Inc". Corridor Business Journal. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  9. ^ Rodengen, Jeffrey (2005). In It for the Long Haul: The Story of CRST. Fort Lauderdale, FL: Write Stuff Enterprises, Inc. p. 77. ISBN 1-932022-09-0.
  10. ^ "CRST takes steps for downtown". The Gazette. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
  11. ^ "CRST implements second pay increase as part of "culture change"". fleetowner.com. 13 March 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  12. ^ "CRST founder Herald Smith dies". The Gazette. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
  13. ^ Miskimen, Gage (2022-11-08). "CRST to close its truck driver training school this year". www.thegazette.com. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  14. ^ "Transportation Solutions in Cedar Rapids, IA | CRST". crst.com. 2023-11-07. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  15. ^ Kingston, John (2023-11-02). "CRST, back in the acquisition game, buys Larkin's BCB Transport". Yahoo!Finance. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  16. ^ Staff, FreightWaves (2011-08-01). "CRST acquires STI". FreightWaves. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  17. ^ "CRST Buys Allied's Special Products Division". Transport Topics. 2013-05-02. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  18. ^ "CRST Buys Shorthaul Carrier". Transport Topics. 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  19. ^ "CRST buys California-based Gardner Trucking". www.thegazette.com. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  20. ^ Maiden, Todd (2020-03-02). "CRST acquires final-mile logistics provider NAL Group". FreightWaves. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  21. ^ Kingston, John (2023-11-02). "CRST, back in the acquisition game, buys Larkin's BCB Transport". FreightWaves. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  22. ^ "CRST acquiring BCB Transport". Commercial Carrier Journal. 2023-11-08. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  23. ^ "Female driver wins $1.5 million harassment judgment against CRST Expedited". The Gazette (Cedar Rapids). Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  24. ^ "Shank v. CRST Van Expedited CA" (PDF). Retrieved 21 August 2015. In August 2006, plaintiff filed this action, alleging causes of action for breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unlawful sex discrimination, failure to maintain an environment free from harassment against all defendants, wrongful termination against CRST, and assault and battery against Wilson.
  25. ^ "Unhappy Trails: Female Truckers Say They Faced Rape and Abuse in Troubled Training Program". Jezebel. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  26. ^ "CRST driver harassment claims resurface". Corridor Business Journal. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  27. ^ Cathy Sellars et al. v. CRST Expedited, Inc. (Docket Report), C.D.C.A., 18 May 2015, no. 5:15-cv-00969, retrieved 21 August 2015 – via Recap (PACER current viewPaid subscription required)
  28. ^ "Gender Discrimination In Silicon Valley Is Bad. Gender Discrimination In Trucking Is Way Worse". Fast Company. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  29. ^ "Justices Agree To Hear Trucking Co.'s EEOC $5M Fee Fight - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  30. ^ Oxyer, Alex (December 13, 2019). "End of the Road: Eighth Circuit Upholds $3.3 Million Fee Award Against The EEOC For Frivolous Claims". JD Supra.
  31. ^ "Trucking Service Must Pay Drivers Waiting in Sleeper Berths". www.shrm.org. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
  32. ^ "Court says sleeper berth time over 8 hours is compensable". Commercial Carrier Journal. 2024-01-03. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
  33. ^ a b "CRST named Carrier of the Year by The Home Depot". Corridor Business Journal. 2024-02-29. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  34. ^ "Finalists Announced for 2023 Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence Award". Fleet News Daily. 2023-10-09. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  35. ^ "America's Road Team finalists include some of nation's safest truck drivers". FleetOwner. 2023-10-31. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  36. ^ US EPA, OAR (2016-04-29). "SmartWay Excellence Awardees". www.epa.gov. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  37. ^ "ATA congratulates members for receiving SmartWay Excellence Awards". FleetOwner. 2024-10-03. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  38. ^ "CRST Wins 2024 IMTA Image Award | CRST". crst.com. 2024-09-10. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  39. ^ "CRST named 2024 Carrier of the Year by C.H. Robinson". www.thegazette.com. 2024-09-15. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
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