CR England, Inc

International Directory of Company Histories, Volume 63 (1992) by Ed Dinger

CR England, Inc.

4701 W. 2100 S. Salt Lake City, Utah 84120-1223 U.S.A. Telephone: (801) 972-2712 Fax: (801) 977-6736 Web site: http://www.crengland.com

Private Company Founded: 1920 Employees: 2,700 Sales: $500 million (2003 est.) NAIC: 484121 General Freight Trucking, Long-Distance, Truckload

CR England, Inc. is a family-owned and operated trucking company based in Salt Lake City, Utah, operating more than 2,600 trucks and 4,000 refrigerated trailers serving the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In addition, England Logistics offers transportation management services and England Transportation Consulting analyzes customers' shipping programs and helps to lower overall freight costs on a "pay for performance" basis. CR England boasts a strong safety record, supported by six driving schools located across the United States. For the past two decades the company has been in the vanguard in the trucking industry in the adoption of high technology, among the first to use computers to consolidate and track loads and deploy a satellite communications system that allows management to know the location of all trucks and, thus, be in a position to better manage assets. As a result of these and other changes, revenues have grown from $30 million in 1985 to about $500 million 20 years later.

Beginnings in 1920

The man behind the CR England name was Chester Rodney England, born on a farm in Plain City, Utah, in 1896. Shortly after marrying at the age of 20, England, a devout Mormon, departed on a mandatory church mission, promoting the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the South. When he returned home 30 months later he turned to farming, but soon realized that he was not cut out to be a farmer. In order to make a living, he bought a Model T truck in 1920 to haul farm products to the market. He found a ready demand for his service from farmers in Utah's Weber County and Cache Valley. In addition to produce, the industrious England began to haul milk for the Weber Dairy, starting his day at 4 a.m. to serve the dairy and then devote his afternoons to transporting produce to the market. England expanded the territory he served and began to add trucks and drivers. When his sons, Gene and Bill, were growing up they became immersed in the business. During the summers they joined their father on the road, riding along on weeklong runs to Wyoming. When they were old enough to drive, the boys spent their summers driving the several one- and two-ton trucks that the company owned.

After the United States entered World War II in December 1941, Gene and Bill England served in the military. During this time, their father began to buy Mexican bananas in El Paso, Texas, and sold them in Utah. His trucks would then return to Texas with loads of potatoes and pick up more bananas. The business was prosperous enough that after his sons were discharged from the service England was able to buy his first diesel truck, a used 1940 Kenworth. Shortly thereafter, he bought a 35-foot trailer with one of the new mechanical refrigeration units in it. Because the system was unreliable the company continued to utilize an older method employing ice bunkers: The trailer was kept cool by means of a fan and two feet of ice in the front of the trailer.

Coast-to-Coast Capabilities in 1950s

England was always on the lookout for new opportunities. He added more trucks and became involved in Idaho potatoes, with the company eventually operating its own packing shed and a storage facility. During the 1950s, when Mexican bananas were overtaken in popularity by Central American bananas, England switched his focus from Texas to California and Arizona and began to haul produce from these states. In the late 1950s the company made its mark by becoming the first trucking operation to offer 72-hour, coast-to-coast service. The driver of the first shipment of produce from California to Philadelphia was named Robert Gould. Because this new service proved so successful, about a year later a temporary office was set up to serve the Philadelphia area, with Gould hired as the first East Coast terminal manager. (A permanent terminal was later opened in Pennsauken, New Jersey. The East Coast office would then be relocated to Burlington, New Jersey, in 1978, but with the addition of new technology and management the company was able to close the office in 1982 and run all of the East Coast operations out of the Salt Lake terminal.)

In 1977 a third generation became involved in the business when Daniel England, the current chief executive officer, joined the company, just as the trucking industry was about to enter a period of radical change caused by deregulation initiated by the Reagan Administration. CR England like other carriers experienced a significant drop in shipping prices and had a difficult time bringing costs in line with the new reality. As a result, many trucking companies failed, and in 1985 CR England, reduced to about 175 trucks, lost money for the first time in some 60 years. Moreover, the Department of Transportation conducted a safety audit of CR England in 1985 and found it lacking. The company was fined and its status with the DOT was severely compromised. Management decided it had to take steps to aggressively address the company's economics as well as its safety record.