For more than 100 years, C.R. England (CCJ Top 250, No. 29) has focused on continuous improvement. One of those areas is fuel economy and sustainability efforts that not only help the company's profitability but also help the environment.
It’s quite a milestone to thrive as a trucking company for more than 100 years; trucking through two World Wars, the Great Depression, the building of the Interstate Highway System, the Great Recession, the COVID-19 pandemic, and so much more — including a mountain of regulations on everything from drivers’ hours of service to emissions reductions.
Through it all C.R. England, a refrigerated carrier transporting foods and medical supplies with 4,100 trucks and 5,400 trailers, has operated a family-owned business in Salt Lake City, which travelled 368,000,000 miles in 2022.
From the beginning the company has focused on improvement because it is vital to long-term success.
“Trucking works on small margins and fuel is the second largest single cost we have behind driver wages," Ron Hall, the carrier's vice president of equipment and fuel said of the company’s philosophy. "For us, it is critically important that we take advantage of whatever technology is in the marketplace that allows us to manage our fuel expenses. At the same time, this helps the environment, which is important to our company and its sustainability goals.”
He is quick to add that any investment in sustainability has to be cost neutral or beneficial and that the three inputs that go into an equipment spec'ing decision are “fuel economy, driver satisfaction and durability.”
The company specs 455 hp engines on its tractors because the feedback it received from its drivers on 400 hp engines was too negative. “There are some decisions that we defer from a fuel economy standpoint, even though we’re a leading fuel economy fleet. Fuel economy is a core tenant of our business, but so is driver quality of life and equipment durability.”
