Cedar Rapids-based CRST announced this week it planned to “redeploy” a portion of its Over The Road (OTR) fleet and cut over 300 of the company’s drivers nationwide.
According to a post on the trucking company’s website, the company is shifting 100 of its trucks to other parts of the business and removing an estimated 200 trucks from its total fleet of 4,300 trucks.
The change represents less than 4% of the company’s total logistics portfolio, the company said.
“This decision is intended to strengthen our ability to serve customers through the solutions that drive the most value, reliability and long-term stability,” the company said in its website post.
The move will result in headcount reductions of more than 300 drivers nationwide, the company said.
“We provided a 60-day notice to those affected, a large portion of whom are our drivers,” the website post said. “Our goal is to work with them to provide alternative driving opportunities within our other fleets.”
It’s not clear how many of those employees, if any, are located in Iowa.
The company also noted in its post that a report from industry publication FreightWaves had erroneously indicated that CRST was shutting down its entire OTR operation.
“This couldn’t be further from the truth,” the company said, noting that it had contacted FreightWaves regarding their report and that “the site has retracted the story and issued an apology.”
CRST provides a wide range of transportation and logistics services, including dedicated solutions, capacity solutions, specialized freight, project logistics, warehousing, order fulfillment, and final mile delivery.The firm has been named the CBJ’s Largest Privately Held firm every time the award has been given — in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2023 and 2025.
The company says it recently marked its most successful quarter since 2022. However, CRST’s revenue has declined nearly 25%, from $2 billion in 2022 to $1.536 billion in 2024 — a result of a historically challenging period in a trucking industry that’s been buffeted by a host of headwinds.
