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THE CR ENGLAND TRUCKING OPERATION WAS FOUNDED IN 1920 BY CHESTER RODNEY ENGLAND WITH A 1920 FORD MODEL T TRUCK OFFERING FARM TO MARKET TRANSPORT FOR FARMERS IN THE AREA AROUND PLAIN CITY, UTAH. WITHIN A FEW WEEKS HIS FLEDGLING BUSINESS HAD GROWN ENOUGH TO REQUIRE A BIGGER TRUCK. TO CALL IT A MAJOR OPERATOR IN NORTH AMERICA NOW WOULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT.
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urrently overseen by the fourth generation of England family and based in Salt Lake City, Utah, CR England advances towards its century next year, with its fleet having expanded to more than 4,700 trucks to make it one of the largest refrigerated transport companies in the world with an annual turnover of $2 billion USD. A major change occurred in 1959 when CR England offered its 72 hour coast-tocoast freight promise at a time when there was no true national highway system. More growth was made possible due to industry deregulation in 1980 through the Motor Carrier Act which removed restrictions on trucking between some of the states. Ron Hall is the Vice President of Equipment and Fuel and has been with the company for 29 years. Ron’s responsibilities extend to the purchase of vehicles, fuel, tyres and management 34
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systems such as telematics and the costs of these factors have a direct effect upon the profitability. “Driver wages are typically slightly more than 25 per cent of the company’s total expenses and fuel is typically slightly less than 25 per cent,” says Ron. “Prime mover leasing, maintenance and safety costs vary between five and ten per cent each.” The company purchased its first new Freightliner prime mover in 1985 and has purchased more than 22,000 examples of the brand since. Many of the purchase decisions back then are just as relevant now due to the current Freightliner Cascadia’s generous internal cab space and the trucks’ overall fuel efficiency. A strong relationship which extends far beyond being client and supplier has developed between the company and its Freightliner dealerships as well as with Freightliner’s head office in Portland, Oregon. This has delivered benefits for both. When CR England became aware that crosswinds
would have a detrimental effect on fuel economy, yet with little empirical data available from which to devise a solution, it took up the matter with the Portland office of Freightliner where a turntable was developed so full sized trucks could be tested for the effects of crosswinds using the wind tunnel at the Daimler Trucks North America head office. CR England’s capacity to move freight is the major component of its offering to clients. At the end of July 2019 the company fleet had 4,437 Freightliners near evenly split between day cabs and sleepers (or ‘condos’) plus 334 nonFreightliners. As a result one brand now dominates with 93 per cent of the current total. Those trucks pull 5,300 refrigerated trailers and 1,000 dry van trailers with an additional 150 flat-bed trailers on specific applications. The ‘dedicated’ division has 2,100 truck and trailer combinations hauling freight for single clients including Walmart and Hershey Chocolates.
