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Lisa Robinson
It was one carrier operating one lane that taught Lisa Robinson what was possible with Carrier 360™ by J.B. Hunt.
The driver had a dedicated lane, and he showed Lisa how it worked within the platform. She then realized how she could use Carrier 360 to help her complete her tasks. As the operations manager for a small carrier organization based near Tampa, Florida, she oversees the day-to-day needs of LaDon’s Transport Services.
The app appealed to her organizational habits and her need to keep everything moving. While she knows drivers often choose the industry for the sense of freedom a life on the road can provide, she chose it because of how it used her skill set.
“I saw organization and security in this job,” she says.
She has worked for LaDon’s since 2014. She served in various roles in the trucking industry prior to joining LaDon’s, including as an assistant to a fleet coordinator at a large carrier firm and later at a fleet organization for heavy freight.
Other employees in her organization use Carrier 360 too – she knows that several drivers have utilized the Perks program to take advantage of the Sirius XM discounts.
Meanwhile, she’s hopeful that she can use the platform to find more loads for more drivers as things return to a new sense of normal in 2022. She says the past year was tough on small organizations like hers. But as things improve, she knows exactly where she’ll turn when it’s time to add more drivers to the fleet.
Mike Popowicz
Mike Popowicz tried to ignore his family’s legacy.
His father was a driver, but Mike wanted something different. He enrolled in an engineering program. He was working as a mason for a while, too.
But it was the thought of providing for his own growing family that convinced him to climb into a cab. He was hired directly out of CDL school to work as a company driver. He started his career by running a lane from South Carolina to Texas and back again. But he was exhausted and felt like he could manage his own situation better.
Off the road for a brief quiet moment, he decided he needed more time at home.
“I was looking around with my son on my lap. ‘Something’s gotta give – I’ve got to slow down a little,’” he says.
He took matters into his own hands by investing in a truck and becoming an owner operator. And then he took the next step by signing up for Carrier 360™ by J.B. Hunt, which he uses to help him find the loads that keep him moving. He used Carrier 360 to claim the first load he ever booked for himself.
“I don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner,” he says.
He operates as Mass Express LLC, out of North Carolina. Life as an owner operator takes persistence and stability.
“You’ve got to have a good truck, and a good mechanic,” he says.
And, you’ve got to have a resource for finding freight like Carrier 360.
In addition to finding loads through the platform, Popowicz said he also uses Carrier 360 for the fuel program that provides fuel discounts at Pilot Flying J locations. He’s hopeful the program continues to grow.
Popowicz lost his father in October 2021. But he drives today knowing he continues his family legacy.
“As a kid, everyone wants to be like their dad,” Popowicz said.
And with a truck and two sons of his own, he’s more like his father than ever before.
Dona Morrison and Hector Villa
Dona Morrison admits she didn’t know much about the trucking industry. Her background was in the medical field, in fact.
But as a hobby, her husband Hector Villa built a tractor in his spare time. They didn’t want his time and investment to go to waste, so they decided to put it on the road.
“I put all this money in this truck, we better run it,” Hector told her.
She agreed, but also had to learn the rules of the road while already in motion.
Dona and Hector have been working to slowly build Morrison Trucking, operating out of a location near Phoenix, Arizona, but finding success on lanes in New York and Pennsylvania. The company has three tractors in dedicated lanes right now and Dona and Hector hope to get a fourth on the road soon.
The Morrisons are growing their business using technology provided by J.B. Hunt. Morrison started contracting with J.B. Hunt a few years ago and has gradually shifted toward using J.B. Hunt representatives and the Carrier 360™ by J.B. Hunt app exclusively.
“We were getting work from different sources,” Morrison says.
“Then, gradually, I did a few loads with J.B. Hunt and I like working with them. And, in the last couple of years, the people I’ve worked with have been great. And at this moment, we’re just working with them because they’ve been good to work with and very supportive.”
Morrison Trucking has only recently started signing up for Perks, and their cards for the fuel program that provides discounts through Pilot Flying J just arrived in the mail. Morrison says she anticipates signing up for the Goodyear tire discount soon as well.
But she still finds value and efficiency within the Carrier 360 app. She uses it to look for loads to fill in the gaps between the dedicated lanes, and for clocking loads in and out. She routinely looks for bills of lading that the app keeps for the company’s transactions.
There’s room to grow in 2022. Slowly and steadily – just as the Morrisons have continued contracting with J.B. Hunt to provide a connection to the loads and lanes her company needs.