Recent news reported by The Gazette confirms that CRST will be closing its North American driving school. CRST is one of the country’s largest trucking companies, and they hire teams, solo drivers, flatbed, and work with owner-operators.

With a wide breadth of drivers and routes, why is this company closing its school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa? The answer is one that we’ve discussed frequently on our Class A Drivers news section…

More Than One Way to Skin a Shortage

The so-called truck driver shortage remains one of the big topics in the trucking industry. Trucking companies have tried to alleviate their lack of drivers with several tactics.

Companies have lobbied to allow 18-year-olds to drive interstate. They’ve attempted to change rules on immigration visas. And they’ve tried to expand their CDL training, in order to hire more drivers.

But CRST is learning that if they want to keep high-quality drivers, they need to dedicate resources to retaining the drivers under their employment.

Chad Brueck, the president of CRST Expedited Solutions, said, “We’ve increased wages more than we ever have over this last year and a half” to show dedicated to driver retention.

Brueck also mentioned that CRST has opened new trucking positions that allow for more home time.

CRST Still Open to Hiring New Drivers

Of course, CRST will still be open to hiring new CDL drivers. They just won’t be having their own CDL school. Instead, they’ll be working with schools that can license drivers in states across the country, and they will also keep their driver mentorship program.

Nonetheless, it’s good news for existing truck drivers that companies are looking at the reasons for high turnover in the trucking industry and trying to make life and work better for their existing employees.