Hugh Ekberg, President and CEO of CRST International said, “The acquisition of NAL Group complements CRST’s service offerings through expertise in final mile logistics and complex in-home installation and assembly services. CRST’s profitable growth has been built with the successful acquisition and integration of quality companies, and CRST is now one of the most diverse and complete transportation service providers in the industry. We are thrilled to be working with Matt Riordan at NAL Group, and his team on this acquisition as it will improve our capacity and capability in this strategic growth market segment and allow us to better serve our customers to accelerate our growth,” added Ekberg. Matt Riordan, previous President and CEO of NAL Group, will continue overseeing sales and operations.  Riordan stated, “The NAL Group team looks forward to joining the growing CRST International organization.  With NAL Group’s strong reputation and specialized service offerings, we are excited to offer our collective customers a wider range of services in more locations.” “NAL Group will allow CRST to enter the complex in-home installation and assembly market with existing customers as well as with an expanded customer base in the U.S. and Canada,” said Ekberg. “For CRST and NAL Group customers, it means new niche service offerings and scalable capacity not previously available. Bringing these two businesses together will deliver significant benefits to the combined customer base as well as provide rewarding career opportunities for all employees in the growing CRST enterprise.” The NAL Group acquisition fulfills a key element of the CRST strategic growth plan. In the past several years, CRST has acquired Specialized Transportation, Inc., Allied Special Products (the specialized division of North American Van Lines), BESL Transfer Company, Pegasus Transportation, and Gardner Trucking, Inc.

Matt Riordan (left), previous president and CEO of NAL Group, who will continue overseeing sales and operations for CRST’s NAL Group operating company is pictured with Hugh Ekberg (right), president and CEO of CRST International.

About CRST International, Inc. Cedar Rapids, Iowa–based CRST International, Inc. is one of the largest privately held transportation companies in the United States. CRST provides a broad array of transportation solutions, including team expedited, flatbed, dedicated services, truckload capacity solutions, transportation management, high-value product white-glove services and big and bulky home delivery. For more information, visit www.crst.com or call (800) 736-CRST (2778).

“I love this company. I love what I do every day. I’m engaged with the people that we work with — our contractors and customers. I want to grow with the company and always have different experiences at CRST,” Maria said.

Lots to Do and Making a Big Impact

As a pricing manager, she oversees new business opportunities that come to the company from different customers. She reviews those opportunities and prices them, optimizing the overall transportation network to benefit contractors while also helping CRST contractors earn a livelihood. “You have to take a lot into consideration with this job. It’s not just about pricing things, winning new customers and completing bids. When hard deadlines come along and a bid isn’t turned in on time, you could potentially forget about seeing that business again. It can be busy and overwhelming at times when big tasks come through,” Maria said. Maria successfully juggles a lot in her role. She creates dedicated freight lanes for contractors. She works contracts back and forth between legal departments and customers. When it comes to pricing, she considers layover time, detention, cargo liability, driving and loading time, whether the load is legal or over-dimensional in size and protection of the company and contractors hauling the loads. “At the end of the day, you’re affecting the business and people’s livelihood. If we can win the bid and execute the business, it is a very satisfying feeling, and I know my job has been done right,” Maria said. It excites Maria to see the impact her job has on the entire company and drivers. “Our department affects so many other departments at CRST. I get to assist in training people in operations and customer service. I get to touch a lot of departments because of the knowledge I have and what I do for CRST’s customers. The more I know, the more I can help people learn and grow," she said. She wants the best for drivers and cares deeply about everyone’s well-being. “It’s exciting that I am able to help, not only myself, give opportunities for growth, but also be valuable to the company. CRST allows me to do that,” Maria said.

Making a Difference in Multiple Ways

Volunteering is a large part of Maria’s life — both at church and at work. Each year, CRST participates in a fundraising campaign for United Way. Maria enjoys being one of the driving forces of the campaign and urging her coworkers to donate for the greater good. She said in 2018, Flatbed Solutions raised $8,065 and increased that by 10% in 2019. Their efforts are then matched by CRST Chairman John Smith. Every day at work is different, Maria said. Logistics continually change and challenges are met, including the challenges women face in trucking. The mentorship and support of other women is the key, Maria said. “The women that I have seen be successful in this industry stand behind each other and mentor each other. They help each other learn and be successful,” Maria said. A good dose of confidence doesn’t hurt, either. “Mistakes will be made, whether you are a man or a woman, but don’t take things personally. Stand behind your decisions, learn as much as you can, call on other women within trucking and logistics to ask for their advice or help, and do not be afraid to ask questions,” Maria said.

I’m proud to share an outcome of those efforts: in December we launched a Women Safe initiative (starting initially with new female drivers with our Expedited Solutions team driving fleet). The Women Safe initiative is a supplemental orientation session, conducted by one of CRST’s HR professionals. All of the content was generated by our female driving partners who participated in the Focus Group meetings last year. Examples of some topics covered include:

• Street Smarts: Safety Best Practices on the Road
• Advice from Your Fellow Female Drivers
• Having a Successful Driving Experience
• Recommendations for a Safety App called Red Panic Button
• Reminders about ‘who to call’ to ask for help
• Self Defense Videos
• Bystander Training

Some of the advice shared by our female driving partners: “Put your head on a ‘swivel’ – Always be looking side to side” “Don’t walk with your head down – Give off an air of confidence” “Don’t wear ear buds and leave your phone in the truck – have ALL of your senses available to sense danger” “Walk In – Walk Out – Take care of your business at truck stops and fueling stations and get back in the truck” “Be smart, use common sense – Most bad situations are avoidable” “Rather than yell ‘help’ if it’s needed, yell ‘FIRE’ – it draws more attention to the request” Our female driving partners have shared many great stories, feedback, life lessons and best practices with us. We are looking forward to continuing the ongoing feedback and will continue to keep you updated on next steps with this new initiative. Brooke Willey, VP – Human Resources