Bring Your Child to Work Day at PPG

 

Today was bring your child to work day at our PPG Account in downtown Pittsburgh.  The JB Hunt team provided a truck and trailer for the kids to experience.  Some of the children were even allowed to go inside of the truck!  Thank you to PPG for allowing us to be a part of this great event!

Happy Third Anniversary, Rhonda Thacker!

 

We are happy to congratulate, Operations Supervisor, Rhonda Thacker on her three year anniversary with the company.  Rhonda has spent her last three years at Family Dollar Morehead, KY. She is beloved by her drivers, and management team alike!  Rhonda is truly loves J.B. Hunt & looks forward to growing with the company in the coming years.  In her spare time, Rhonda enjoys camping, and spending quality time with her beautiful family, especially her grandson, Noah.

 

Thanks for all you do, Rhonda!



Justin "Bad and Boujee" Boughman MVP

There are no "breaks" when it comes to talking about injuries!

 

Family Dollar – Morehead “Castaway” Injuries

In an unfortunate snowboarding fall in 2016, Account Manager, Rachael Knick broke her scaphoid bone. Temporarily casted pre-op, the Family Dollar Morehead team took this opportunity to talk injury awareness and had each driver “Castaway” Injuries by signing Knick’s cast. 

 

“Even on the slopes you gotta aim high in steering.” Knick, admits. “Getting back to the basics isn’t something that needs to be done just driving a truck. But, at home too.” The team talked about using Smith System in the driver’s seat, during unload, or on a snowboard to prevent safety events of all types.

**No Work Comp. claims were filed in the making of this blog post.**

Blitz and Breakfast at OVACO!

The dedicated drivers in the OVACO fleet have a vibrant, if sometimes understated, safety culture. Mirroring the no-nonsense directness of OVACO’s bluegrass roots these drivers aren’t afraid to take an honest look at what they are doing and do what they need to safety deliver their loads. This pervasive grit shows in OVACO’s safety streaks, over 500 days collision free and over 1000 days injury free!  To celebrate these streaks and foster safety culture the OVACO fleet management, Area Risk Manager Dustin Hatfield, and Area Maintenance Manager Cort Duggins pitched in to cook the drivers breakfast to order along with a safety Wednesday 4/19 and Thursday, 4/20. 

 

Hatfield prepared sausage, toast, and eggs to order in the OVACO break room. He also answered many questions from drivers  and OVACO employees alike who thought to take advantage of both his expertise and the fact that the eggs on the griddle made him a captive audience. He then spent the rest of his time with Duggins and account management out on the back lot performing mock inspections on each dedicated driver pulling through.

 

The drivers really appreciated both the breakfast and the area managers’ willingness to come out here and engage with them. While not quite as tasty they also appreciated the mock DOT inspections. Duggins’ expertise was extremely informative and even the more veteran drivers learned something new.

Working Towards a Repeat!



Home Depot Monroe has laid down the challenge to any large account in the region, >30 trucks, as it is working hard toward defending its title of Large Account of the Year in 2016!  Recently, the account purchased t-shirts to commemorate the victory and celebrate with the entire driving staff!  It will be interesting to see if another account in the region wants it as bad as Monroe does in 2017!



Gold Glove Winner: Jim "Big Unit" Lewis

Gold Glove for the Week : Shelia "Sultan of SWAT" Stanford

Happy Anniversary Jeremy Stout

Please join us in congratulating Jeremy Stout on his six year anniversary with J.B. Hunt.

Jeremy joined the J.B. Hunt family in 2011 as an Operations Supervisor at Home Depot in Van Buren, OH. After moving into the Logistics Coordinator role he took on the Account Manager job at Champion Windows for a sort time. Jeremy was called back into the THD network as the TGM at Van Buren, OH where he helped to begin the turnaround for the account. Jeremy was then asked to take on the TGM role at THD – Monroe where he has been since the fall of 2015. Under Jeremy’s leadership we have seen a dramatic improvement at the account. Jeremy has helped not only turn the account around but has helped to develop multiple managers under him who have gone out to take on leadership roles within the Central Region. One of Jeremy’s biggest accomplishments was leading Monroe to win the 2016 Central Region – Large Account of the Year.

 

For those who may not know him, Jeremy has the uncanny ability to quote any movie as well as the body double for Bret Michaels at Halloween.

Finally, Jeremy is the proud dad to Maddie who is definitely a lucky little girl to have such a proud and caring dad!



Gold Glove Winner: Brandon "Wild Thing" Pendland

Phil Potter Makes the Save!

MasterBrand Celebrating its Million Mile Drivers

Recently the MasterBrand Account celebrated the great achievements of their million mile drivers Charles Youngs (Top left picture) and Pete Anaya (Top right picture).

            Charles, who has over 1 million safe miles and Pete, with over 2 million safe miles were both given plaques in recognition of their achievements.

            Being awarded the Million Mile recognition is among the most prestigious JB Hunt awards that any driver can achieve. We are extremely proud of these two men who have gone up and beyond the call of duty.

The MasterBrand account thanks both Charles & Pete for their hard work and dedication!



Gold Glove Winner - Vince "Big Papi' Griggs

Safety and Maintenance Blitz in OH

Over the past several weeks, several of our account have been busy preparing for Spring Surge.  Both Ohio Home Depot accounts along with Central Farm and Garden held Safety/Maintenance Blitz where managers, maintenance and safety staff spent time with our drivers and inspecting the equipment.  In addition to the 5 days of equipment inspections, there were 2 Driver Trainer Meetings to prepare them for the onboarding of new hires in the coming months. And last but not least, Home Depot Monroe hosted a Saturday Spring Surge meeting for the drivers and office staff to roll out expectations of things to come with surge.  Breakfast was served up along with a T-shirt give away to celebrate the Account of the Year award announced at Kick off this past January.  At the end of the day, these accounts have spent allot of time out of their normal day to day duties to ensure their fleets are ready for surge. Great job by all.



Gold Glove Winner - Mark "Big Hurt" Froelicher

Happy Anniversary - Ryan Amuso

 

Happy Anniversary to Ryan Amuso as today marks his 9 year anniversary with JB Hunt!  Ryan began in career back in April 2008 as a DMIT in Upstate, NY.  Currently Ryan is the Account of our Family Dollar Account in Rome, NY.  A graduate of Hilbert College, Ryan manages one of our most challenging accounts in the region.  Happy Anniversary Ryan and thank you for your service to the company!

Gold Glove Winner - Art "Rookie" Anderson

Welcome to DCS Central Region - Jeff Unverrich

Please help us welcome Jeff Unverrich to the DCS Central Region!  Jeff has been hired on as our new Operations Supervisor for Soft-Lite in Streetsboro, OH.  Jeff comes to us from Lowes where he was Assistant Store Manager.  Jeff grew up in the Aurora, OH area and currently lives in Streetsboro, OH.  Jeff is married to his wife Brittany and has two children (Ryan who he will be 5 in June as well as his youngest Mason who is 2).

In his free time Jeff spends a lot of time with his family and kids.  Jeff has always been interested in collecting LEGO sets since he was a kid and now that his kids enjoy doing the same thing as him when he was a kid, it’s fun to relive it & be a kid again!  Jeff is also interested in technology and loves to stay up to date with the latest & greatest in technology.  Welcome to JB Hunt Jeff!

April Injury Awareness - Gold Glove Winner

April Injury Awareness - Play of the Day

Central Region Driver of the Month for March - Kenneth Blanton

Congratulations to Ken Blanton for being selected as the Central Region Driver of the Month for March.  Ken currently serves on the Toyota Account in Owensboro, KY.  Ken stood out from the competition this month as he has worked multiple accounts and been very flexible to go where his leadership has needed him to go.  In this process, he has helped not only his home account but several others who were in need as well.  Congratulations Ken!

 

 

Below is the write-up on Ken:

 

Ken has been with Team Toyota for going on 2 years now and in that almost 2-year span, Ken has been nothing but a pleasure to work with. He always comes into the office with a positive attitude and a smile on his face ready to take on any challenge he is tasked with. He is a true team player that enjoys what he does and takes great pride in doing so.

 

Here recently with the account specific freight being down, we have had to explore different

avenues to utilize the fleet. This has called for drivers helping other DCS accounts as well as even running 3^rd party over the road freight. In this time, Ken has been nothing but helpful and very flexible. When needed, he has gladly gone to other accounts to provide support and with regards to 3^rd party freight, Ken has been nothing short of an all-star. Before switching over to DCS, Ken ran OTR with the company for several years and his experience has shown in the few months that we have had to run it. Ken has been willing to sacrifice his home time on the weekends to make trips that have kept him out 2 to even 3 weeks at a time.

 

 One part of the account that Ken loves the most is that it gives him the opportunity to travel all across the nation. This works well with Ken because he has family spread all throughout the country. Just recently he was able to deliver a load of frames that went all the way out to Washington state, which Ken was thrilled to do because this afforded him the chance to visit his daughter over the weekend in Spokane, WA. Living so far away, Ken does not get to see her all that often. He was very appreciative that the account helped make a visit possible. You could tell when he walked in the office the following week that he had a great visit, and on a more work related side, Ken made all of his delivers on time, if not a little early.  



April Injury Free Challenge - Gold Glove Winner

April Injury Free Challenge - Big Play of the Day

Getting To Know - Scott Gibbs

 

This week, Molly Lawson of The Home Depot in Monroe OH was fortunate to catch a ride with Scott Gibbs.  Scott has been with JB Hunt since February 2016, and is a Regional Driver on the Home Depot Account in Monroe. 

 

Scott is a family man. He has 2 young girls (a 3-year-old and a 2-year-old) and is expecting a third girl in June. Scott has 2 dogs who are also female. Needless to say, Scott is quite the ladies’ man. Scott enjoys anything that involves being outdoors. He regularly goes camping with his family and also takes his four wheeler out. Scott is also quite into electronics and anything that involves technology; however, prefers a country home life. He used to have some goats, but after moving to his new home he no longer does. Scott is also very interested in home improvement. He even made his new front door. Overall, Scott enjoys anything that is hands on and involves nice weather with the family.

 

Scott’s main concerns centered around Navigo and office operations. He stated that it would be nice if the routing included the next few turns on the side. You can access while stopped, but not while moving. Scott states sometimes the Navigo will have you going down somewhere and last second tell you to take a left or right. If the next few steps were available to see, you could judge where to go from there. Scott also was unsure of how his calls looked on this side of the operation. I informed him how the process goes on this side. He asked a few questions and I answered them; with this, Scott is not as frustrated with some of the things he sees knowing what’s actually going on behind the scenes.

 



Happy Anniversary - Richard Biven

Happy Anniversary to Richard Biven as today marks his one year anniversary with JB Hunt!  Prior to coming to JB Hunt, Richard worked for UPS in a variety of capacities in Louisville, KY.  Richard was integral in the transition of new business with Southern States over the past year.  In addition, Richard has done a fantastic job in supporting the Kentucky region through several new business and management transitions.  Happy Anniversary Richard!

OVACO Dedicated Account Celebrates 500 days Collision Free

All of us in J.B. Hunt’s Dedicated Carrier Services take safety seriously. As drivers we constantly keep the Smith System keys in our minds as we deliver our customer’s loads quickly and efficiently. As managers we set an example, bring relevant safety topics to the forefront of drivers’ minds, and when necessary step in to address behavior that may be unsafe. All this conversation, effort, and intention forms a strong safety culture at J.B. Hunt; this is one of the major areas in which we stand out from our competitors.

As with each DCS account the OVACO dedicated fleet faces its own unique set of challenges.  These 26 drivers deliver heavy loads of aluminum logs and billet to extrusion companies throughout the Midwest. These delivery sites are not simple or easy. Stacks of billet obstruct the yards, loose scrap threatens tires and shins, and tight docks fraught with poorly parked scrap trailers tighten these drivers’ already narrow margins of error. Throughout all the challenges these drivers remain committed to their safety culture. They look ahead, scanning the delivery sites as they pull in. They get out and look before backing as many times as they need to ensure their safety. They keep their eyes moving, always ready to immediately stop if something changes. They choose the maneuver that affords them the most space, even breaking out cones if they need to reinforce the boundaries of that space. They use their hazard lights and flashers to ensure everyone around them is aware of their maneuver.

 

On April 3^rd 2017 this care and attention to detail lead to a significant safety milestone:

500 days’ preventable collision free!

 

 

The Central Region Cup

 

Fresh out of the engraving shop, the Central Region Cup stopped by the Toyota Account in Louisville KY this week.  Team Warchol took home the cup at this years' 2017 Annual Kickoff in Columbus.  Just like years in the past, the cup has all of the members of Team Warchol on the cup.  Congratulations team!