CRST

History

CRST was founded in 1955 by Herald and Miriam Smith. They bought a chicken coop for $125 and with no trucks or customers, started their company. Herald Smith saw his opportunity when he noticed truck drivers hauling livestock to Chicago and returning empty. He convinced Chicago firms he could save them money, and he loaded those empty trucks with steel on their return to Cedar Rapids. Cedar Rapids Steel Transport, as it was then known, was born. Herald Smith did eventually purchase his own trucks, and also expanded beyond the Chicago to Cedar Rapids route. By 1963, CRST had reached its first milestone of $1 million in revenue.

Hitting many more milestones along the way, Herald’s son, John, eventually took over as President in 1983. John received his Masters of Business from Cornell University and worked his way up the ranks of CRST for a decade.

Under John’s leadership, CRST began acquiring niche carriers. The most significant purchase was Malone Freight Lines, Inc. out of Trussville, Alabama, which allowed CRST to expand its territory into the Southeast of the United States.

In 1997, with revenues topping $300 million, John Smith purchased CRST from his family.

In 2010, David Rusch moved into the position of President and CEO, and John moved on to become Chairman of the Board.

CRST entered a phase of mergers and acquisitions in the 2010s. CRST acquired Specialized Transportation Inc. out of Fort Wayne, Indiana in 2011. It went on to purchase the Special Products Division of Allied Van Lines in 2013. That same year, CRST acquired BESL Transport of Cincinnati, Ohio, which specializes in short haul flatbed. In 2015, CRST purchased Pegasus Transportation which is a high security, temperature controlled freight company out of Louisville, KY.

In 2014, CRST began building a new office building in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It will be the first office building of size built in downtown Cedar Rapids since the late 1990s.

Founder Herald Smith died in 2015.

CRST began a program in 2014 called "Gold Rules". Its purpose was to shift the corporate culture to focus on the drivers needs.

Criticisms

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.

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. It is assigned to Judge Percy Anderson in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The lawsuit indicates that in the trucking industry, CRST jokingly stands for "Constantly Raping Student Truckers".

CRST will head 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 claims they do not owe CRST these fees since the merit of the lawsuit never received a ruling.