My Apology to CRST: I Got It Wrong

I screwed up.

Yesterday, the FreightWaves team was informed by a source we considered credible that CRST was shutting down a significant portion of its operations—what we understood to be its entire over-the-road (OTR) division. Unfortunately, the article was written in a way that made it easy to misinterpret as the entire company closing. That’s exactly what happened to me.

I had spent Wednesday in an all-day off-site meeting with no cell service. When I finally left in the evening, I was in an Uber headed to the airport when a team member—not involved in the original story—alerted me to the article and misinterpreted its meaning. Standing in the TSA line, I skimmed the piece quickly and tweeted a screenshot of the headline about CRST, with a caption that strongly implied the entire company was shutting down.

I soon received a statement from CRST that set the record straight:

The company had simply shifted about 200 trucks out of its irregular-route OTR operation into other profitable and successful divisions. For a fleet with 4,500 power units, this is a minor adjustment—essentially a routine operational decision. CRST also clarified that it is moving unprofitable assets into more successful units, which is standard practice for a carrier of its size and scale.

CRST remains strong and healthy.

In a story of this potential impact, we should have made it crystal clear from the very first sentence that this fleet shift represented only a tiny fraction of CRST’s overall operation.

I especially regret my role in amplifying the confusion. In my rush—at the airport, distracted, and operating on a misreading of our own story—I posted a misleading tweet to a large audience. That was sloppy, beneath the standard I hold myself to, and unfair to CRST.

CRST is a high-quality carrier that consistently delivers exceptional service. When I was at U.S. Xpress, we competed against them regularly and always respected their professionalism, profitability, and ethical reputation.

I sincerely apologize to CRST’s employees, leadership, and customers for my failure to ensure the facts were communicated with absolute clarity and accuracy.

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