CRST The Transportation Solution, Inc. is one of the nation’s largest privately held transportation companies. Powered by the expertise of our Solutions centers, we provide a broad array of transportation and logistics solutions.

 

Our Roots

In 1955, Herald and Miriam Smith started Cedar Rapids Steel Transport out of a refurbished chicken coop they bought for $125.

At the time, they had no trucks and no customers, but Herald, known as “Smitty,” convinced firms he could save them money. He contracted with owner/operators who were hauling livestock to Chicago to return to the Cedar Rapids area with loads of steel instead of empty trucks. Family-owned to this day, CRST has evolved from a trucking firm to one of the nation’s leading providers of transportation solutions.

1974
Cedar Rapids Steel Transport renamed as CRST.
1984
CRST Acquires Malone Freight Lines, Inc.
1985
Organizes CRST, Inc. to integrate all companies.
1986
Identifies several niche acquisitions and merges the companies into - CRST, Inc., Three I Truck Line, Inc. & Malone Freight Lines, Inc.
1991
CRST Launches Logistics Solutions.
1993
CRST Establishes Dedicated Solutions.
2001
CRST moves to #10 in the national ranking for largest dry van truckload carriers.
2004
Revenue tops $600 million and CRST moves to new HQ in Cedar Rapids.
2011
CRST Acquires Specialized Transportation, Inc.
2014
CRST Acquires BESL.
2015
CRST Acquires Pegasus Transportation , Inc. Celebrates 60 years and reaches $1.2 billion.
2016
CRST Acquires Gardner Trucking, and moves into new corporate HQ.
2020
CRST Acquires NAL Group.

We’re proud to be active members of our communities and industry