CRST subsidiaries Malone Freight Lines and 3i are getting a new name: CRST Flatbed.

CRST International purchased Malone in 1984 and 3i in 1981, but the companies have continued to operate under their existing names until now. As of January 1, 2002, Malone Freight Lines, a national flatbed company located in Birmingham, Ala., and 3i, a regional flatbed service in Eldridge, Iowa, will be known as CRST Flatbed Inc.
The name change is part of a corporate, company-wide transition initiated in 1997. At that time, the company was restructured from five separate entities (CRST, Malone Freight Lines, 3i Truck Lines, CRST Logistics and CML) into one.
"A primary goal of gathering the attributes of five companies into one is to build a stronger, more identifiable presence in the trucking industry," says John Smith, CEO, CRST International. "When our customers and potential customers think of CRST International, we want them to think of us as the transportation company with all the answers…flatbed, van and logistics."
Smith goes on to explain that achieving this goal is a difficult task when some of its divisions, through their names, give customers the impression that they function independent of any relationship to CRST International. "As part of our strategy to solidify our identity, we are renaming Malone and 3i as CRST Flatbed," he says.
Larry Fry, president of CRST Flatbed, wants to assure its drivers, all owner-operators, that while the name has changed, the services have not. "We will remain an owner-operator company," he says. "Our drivers will not be competing with company trucks for freight and our lanes remain the same."