Pursuing Excellence in 2024
We know that you want more than just capacity from a logistics provider. You want reliability, excellent service and customizable solutions.
Our iconic yellow scroll donned by thousands of trucks, trailers and containers across the country signifies our promise to customers that we will provide the best service possible. We are not satisfied with good enough, we want to be the best. Our pursuit of excellence comes from a clear set of ideals instilled in our company by our founders and they characterize our identity as an organization. Our company identity is comprised of our vision, mission, values and foundations.
These four cornerstones of our company identity guided us through 2024 and helped us reach new heights. There’s a lot of reasons to celebrate the year – check out what we were able to achieve in 2024!
Vision
Our vision is to create the most efficient transportation network in North America. Efficiency reduces costs and builds more sustainable supply chains as it creates added value for our customers. This year, we made great strides in making our vision a reality and making our company more sustainable.
J.B. Hunt President and CEO Shelley Simpson gave the keynote address at the ACT Expo. Shelley had been serving as our company president but took on the role of CEO in addition to her president role. In her address, Shelley outlined J.B. Hunt’s sustainability strategy and highlighted a need for more cross-industry collaboration to make the supply chain more sustainable.
In 2024, we continued to seek out and test alternative-powered vehicles. We were the first company to demo a new alternative-powered truck launched by Clean Energy Fuels Corp., the largest provider of renewable natural gas for the transportation industry. We also added 20 Nikola Tre fuel cell electric vehicles to our 200+ fleet of alternative-powered vehicles to expand sustainability solutions for our customers.
This year, we also surpassed 50,000 autonomous miles as part of a collaboration with Bridgestone Americas, a global leader in premium tires and sustainable mobility solutions, and Kodiak Robotics, Inc., a leading autonomous trucking company. Through this joint effort, we utilize Kodiak autonomous trucks to ship Bridgestone passenger vehicles between South Carolina and Dallas. Since launching in January, the autonomous route has been driven with no accidents and achieved 100% on-time pick-up and delivery, and the companies have expanded the collaboration to include additional weekly deliveries along the route. Programs like these help up test new technologies so we can provide our customers with the solutions that create the most value.
Mission
Our mission is to create long-term value for our people, customers and shareholders. One of the ways we created value for our customers this year was by investing in a strong cargo security protocol. Cargo theft is on the rise and J.B. Hunt is taking a proactive approach to address the issue. We implemented a more in-depth vetting process for carriers and created a more secure login process for the J.B. Hunt 360°® platform. We also implemented holographic badges for J.B. Hunt Final Mile Services® drivers and driver helpers to help eliminate false identification and increase safety standards industrywide.
This year, we celebrated the 35-year anniversary of one of our biggest value-creating company initiatives to date – the creation of our intermodal service offering. In November of 1989, our founder Johnnie Bryan Hunt and Mike Haverty, the president of the Santa Fe Railway at the time, met on a train to discuss a potential new mode of transportation and intermodal shipping was born.
Not only did J.B. Hunt provide a service that met the needs of our customers with intermodal, but we created one of the most sustainable ways to ship freight. Intermodal helps eliminate waste from the supply chain, helping to reduce costs and maximize efficiency. Converting a shipment to intermodal reduces its carbon footprint by an average of 65% compared to traditional over-the-road truck transportation. Over the past decade, J.B. Hunt’s intermodal service has helped avoid an estimated 30 million metric tons of CO2e emissions through intermodal conversion. Our intermodal service can even handle temp-controlled and service-sensitive highway freight.
This year, we were fortunate to be recognized by customers for our elevated service and operational excellence. We listened to our customers’ needs and created innovative supply chain solutions to address them. We received awards and recognitions like:
- Georgia-Pacific and KBX Logistics Intermodal Carrier of the Year
- P&G Constructive Disruptor Award
- L'Oreal "Going Green" Award
- Masterbrand Carrier of the Year
- Home Furnishings Association Partner of the Year
Values
In 2024, we unveiled our company values – integrity, respect, innovation, safety and excellence. Our values represent the behaviors that define who we are and highlight how each person in our organization can rise to the responsibility that they have as an individual to uphold the promise located in our scroll – whether they’re in maintenance, working at a desk, in a warehouse or a driver on the road. Here are just a few examples of how our people upheld the promise of our scroll this year:
- We reached a milestone of 5,000 drivers achieving one million safe miles.
- We recognized 54 company drivers for achieving one, two, three, four or five million miles driven without a preventable accident during our annual Million Mile celebration. The drivers were awarded a total of more than $770,000 in safe driving bonuses for their outstanding accomplishment and commitment to operational excellence.
- Jodi Edwards, a 25-year career company driver, was named Driver of the Year by the Women In Trucking Association.
- Daniel Trimble, director of site reliability engineering, was inducted into the Arkansas Academy of Computing Hall of Fame, an honor presented to those who have made significant and sustained contributions to the computing industry with ties to Arkansas.
- Five J.B. Hunt drivers and maintenance technicians placed in the 2024 Arkansas Truck Driving and Technician Championship.
Our Foundations
Our foundations are what help us in our mission and aid us in achieving our vision. All the achievements we made in 2024 are a direct result in our investments in our people, technology and capacity. It’s not just our people and customers that feel the benefits of these investments. We have been recognized by others in the industry as well:
This year, our values and foundations guided us and led us to reach new heights as a company. They will continue to be our guiding force in 2025 and beyond as we innovate new ways to create value for customers.
Want to see what J.B. Hunt can do for your business in 2025? Let's Connect.