[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.

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.

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.

[10] In the same year, it began a program called "Gold Rules" to shift the corporate culture to focus on the drivers' needs.

[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.

[17] That same year, CRST acquired BESL Transfer Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio, which specializes in flatbed transportation.

[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.