CRST has clarified an anonymous report that it is reducing some OTR haulage operations.
The outage was first reported by a source associated with the company, and CRST confirmed and clarified the news in an email to FreightWaves on Wednesday night.
“In response to the challenging off-road market, CRST announced today that it plans to distribute the majority of its OTR fleet operations to other business units. This will result in the reduction of nearly 200 trucks from this fleet and the redeployment of approximately 100 trucks to other growing regions, customers and commercial brokerage portfolios,” the company said.
CRST is shutting down its over-the-road (OTR) operations, an unnamed source close to the company told FreightWaves.
The move would be a big change for one of the country’s largest transportation providers. According to the Federal Transportation Safety Administration, CRST employs 4,082 drivers and 4,362 truckers. The company also employs approximately 2,000 independent contractors.
The Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based trucking company’s portfolio includes express, flatbed, dedicated contract shipping, truckload capacity solutions and transportation management.
CRST did not immediately respond to FreightWaves’ request for comment.
The closure of its OTR division also destroys part of CRST’s recent expansion strategy. In late 2023, the company acquired Texas-based BCB Transport and added more than 300 trucks, growing CRST’s fleet by about 10%, according to CEO Hugh Ekberg.
Related: CRST, back in acquisition game, buys BCB Transport
At the time, CRST said BCB would be integrated into its Capacity Solutions division, which provides OTR dry, refrigerated and one-way flatbed van capacity – a service that has now reportedly been discontinued.
In August, CRST laid off several employees at its Cedar Rapids headquarters, according to KCRG.
A CRST spokesman said: “We have taken these measures to ensure our staffing levels are in line with the current transport market which continues to be depressed.”
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