C.R. England
If there’s a DNA gene for driving both trucks and the trucking business, C.R. England and family have been passing it along for more than 100 years.
One man. One truck. And a willingness to work hard: The seeds of C.R. England may seem ordinary enough, but his descendants’ dedication to cultivating the business is anything but. Who would have thought that when Chester Rodney England and his Model T truck first putt-putted out of Plain City, Utah, in 1920, hauling a few farm products to market, that this sprout would grow into one of the largest and most admired refrigerated transportation companies in North America?
As it turns out, for the C.R. England family, trucking was in their blood. And it still is.
Chester’s legacy was, above all, a love of trucks. His sons, Gene and Bill, rode alongside their father on those early long hauls, and eventually began driving themselves. Even when they left the business to serve their country during World War II, they saved their money—right down to the cents they made selling their cigarette rations—with an eye to investing in trucks when they returned home.
Their aim was true: Within weeks of returning from military service, they were back in business, helping the C.R. England company evolve from a small operation into a flourishing fleet. They pioneered reliable refrigerated service, hauling Idaho and Utah potatoes to the West Coast and returning loaded with California produce.
Among many of the company’s well-known milestones are pioneering efforts in telematics, adopting in-cab satellite communications, and electronic tracking well before digital fleet management was commonplace. To combat recurring driver shortages, the company established its own network of dedicated CDL driving schools in the early 1990s.
Over the decades that followed, the trucks, the roads, and the refrigeration have changed dramatically. What hasn’t changed is a generational commitment to the business rooted in a dedication to truck driving and trucks. Even now, a hundred years later, fourth- and fifth-generation Englands have earned their CDLs and spent time behind the wheel. Because they believe there is no better way to understand this industry—and the professional drivers who make it possible—than from the driver’s seat.
The C.R. England family are grateful to Daimler Truck North America for the important role it has played in their journey and for its continued commitment to advancing the equipment their drivers depend on every day. The technology may be worlds apart from Chester’s Model T, but this is one family for whom the feeling behind the wheel is remarkably familiar. They’re still truckers at heart, and proud of it.
