Cookout at Pet Supplies Plus



On Monday and Tuesday PSP celebrated 45 days of collision free driving with a cook out for all of the drivers. The improvement that this fleet has made in both safety and turnover has been nothing short of remarkable.  We have seen turnover go from over 100% turnover to 41% YTD all while growing the fleet to 35 drivers. The relationships that Brandon, Sheldon, and Jess have built with the drivers is probably the biggest reason for the improvement.While the turnover has decreased the safety results have improved in just about every metric (i.e. - W/C, collisions, RAIR, etc). Since the streak began, the fleet has driven 400,000+ miles while making 1,400+ stops. Hats off to the PSP and we are expecting the 90 day cook out to be even better with a finer cut of meat as promised!

Congratulations to Tony Scrip

From left, Region Ops Manager Brian Tabor, Tony Scrip, and Account Manager Grant Thurmond

Congratulations to Tony Scrip on his recent retirement from JB Hunt.  Tony has worked for JB Hunt in many capacities over the last 21 years.  These years were highlighted most recently with his invaluable support at Home Depot Monroe, OH as lead driver trainer and yard switcher. Tony finished his career with JB Hunt at the Chep - Hamilton, OH account. Tony was always a go to performer for whichever Dedicated account he was associated with and will be missed.  Best of luck to Tony as he moves into retirement!

Driver Appreciation a Week Late in Winchester KY

 



Due to traveling schedules & manager vacations, we celebrated driver appreciation this week in Winchester. All drivers received a free lunch, thank you cards, & a 50 piece ratchet set from Lowe's. The ratchets sets were the idea of Mike McGuire and have been a big hit with the fleet.

In the top picture, Randy McClain, who came over to JB Hunt from UPS in March, shows off his ratchet set. Before coming to JB Hunt, Randy worked with UPS for 10 years delivering bag loads to Southern States retail stores. Randy's older brother, Ronald, also came over from UPS and has 12 years experience delivering to Southern States retail stores. Randy & Ronald are the fleet's driver trainers & has done an excellent job showing the new drivers the ins & outs of delivering bag feed. Their familiar faces to both the mill & retail stores have made the transition much easier for management.

At the bottom pic, Tony King shows off his ratchet set & thank you card. Tony was the first permanent driver hired to the fleet and has done an outstanding job providing customer service while keeping safety his number one priority. Tony is a hard worker & is always the first to help out on his scheduled days off.

Dedicated to Our Culture in Batavia NY

Above, Account Manager of Cargill in Batavia NY Russ Newland poses in front of his new Dedicated to Culture Board!  In Batavia, NY we employ 10 drivers that deliver bulk feed to farms in Western, NY.  Russ has been with JB Hunt for 3.5 years.   Prior to coming over to JB Hunt, Russ worked for Cargill Animal Nutrition in Batavia.  Here Russ was the HAACP Coordinator for the NE Division of Cargill.  Our driving team in Batavia is top notch.  These drivers deliver in some of the harshest winter conditions in the country.  These drivers not only put up with the weather, but conditions at farms as well as volume shifts from day to day.  Our drivers deal with volume shifts of a few hundered tons a day as well as same day adds to support the local farmers.  Great job by Russ and his driving team!

Adopt a Class Winner at Niagara Sheets

Niagara Sheets driver Robert Mort and his grandaughter

The class learns how to do a pre-trip inspection

The winning class's Teacher, along with Robert Mort and Account Manager Traci Kilger



BT gets the recruiting process going at a young age

The kids get some Q &A time

Congratulations to Niagara Sheets Driver Robert Mort who recently won the Adopt a Class Contest!  Robert entered and won $1,000 that went to an Elementary School Class for his grandaughter in Niagara Falls!  Robert was joined by Regional Operations Manager Brian Tabor and Account Manager Traci Kilger in presenting this gift to the class.  JB Hunt also provided a tractor and trailer for the kids to explore!  Great job by Robert and the rest of the Niagara Sheets Team!

Dewey Gibson Highway Hero!

 

I wanted to pass along some pretty neat news about one of our own being a highway hero.

Dewey Gibson (Armour-Eckrich driver) was on his way to Fairview, PA for his delivery on I-70 near Beaver, OH when he saw another driver flagging him down. Not sure what was going on, Dewey started to slow and immediately saw that the Fed Ex truck was on fire. Quickly, Dewey got pulled over and began to help the Fed Ex driver extinguish the flames before the tractor became completely engulfed in flames. Thanks Dewey for your quick thinking to help a fellow driver out!

Congratulations Jim Thompson on 2 Million Safe Miles!

Jim Thompson is center, pictured in black shirt

Congratulations to Jim Thompson for recently hitting 2 Million Safe Miles with JB Hunt!  Jim Thompson drives the shuttle route for JMC and has been with JB Hunt for 21 years. Jim started driving when he went through the JBH driving school and attributes his success to the trainers that he had. One of Jim's trainers was Tracy Clark and hopes that he not only made her proud but all of the others that he had. Jim and his wife Cindy told many stories of his days of being over the road for the many years and the many adventures they had around his pick ups out of the Chicago terminal. As you could imagine, Jim has been a huge addition to the JMC fleet and every stop along the way in his JB Hunt career.  Great work Jim!

CHEP Hamilton, OH

Culture Board done right

Account Manager Grant Thurmond and RBM Adam Kleeh



 

In DCS, when we are onsite at our customers we are housed wherever they need us to be.  At CHEP in Hamilton, OH Grant Thurmond calls a former broom closet his home.  Even though it has no window or natural light, Grant has made the most of his space.  In Hamilton, we employ 8 Professional Drivers that deliver pallets throughout Southern OH.  We have seen recent growth with this customer and this site is one of four CHEP sites in the Central Region.  Across all four sites we employ almost 40 drivers!  At our site in Hamilton, our drivers have gone 2,237 days since their last DOT Collision, 64 days since their last collision, and 651 days since their last injury!  This exceptional performance has occurred while it had been managed offsite for the last 3 years!  With Grant on-site now we expect our customer service and safety results to be even better.  Great job by the Chep Hamilton Team!

 



 

Welcome Eric Holman!

 

 

Eric is from Dayton, OH and was recently Honorably Discharged from the U.S. Army after serving our country for 6 years. He served overseas as a Gunner in Iraq and a Logistical Supervisor in Korea. Eric also attended Colorado Tech University earning a Bachelors Degree in Business with a Major in Management and Minor in Health Care Management. Eric will be the Night Supervisor at The Home Depot account in Monroe, OH while he pursues his MBA in Logistics Management.

Eric, Thank you for your service to our country and welcome to the J.B. Hunt DCS Central Region Team!



Driver Appreciation in Flowery Branch GA

 

 

For Driver Appreciation Week in Flowery Branch, GA, Account Manager Jonathan Brand took our two drivers, Ronald "Bunk" Free and Russ Mcgee to breakfast at The Cracker Barrel.  In Flowery Branch, our two drivers haul bulk feed for Southern States.  Considering this site is managed from Park City, it is even more critical to have two top notch drivers who are handling the business on a day to day basis.  We are very fortunate to have Bunk and Russ, who prior to coming over to JB Hunt a few years ago worked for Southern States at that same mill.  These two guys handle not only all of the outbound bulk deliveries, but take care of servicing both the farmers and the plant as well as keeping up on the maintenance of the equipment.  They do all this while operating safely.  Thank you Russ and Bunk for your service!!

Driver Appreciation Week Continues

From left, Joe Schultz, Steve Morrell, and Mike Hulsey take a few minutes to enjoy their gifts

Steve Morrell gets his new road Atlas though we did not provide the lessons on how to actually read it

2 Million Miler Joe Schultz stops by Louisville Office to collect his gifts and grab a cup of coffee!

 

 



More Driver Appreciation from Toyota

 

Driver Appreciation Week continues in Louisville KY where Cornelius Woodard and Mike Hulsey took home the rand gift drawings!  Above, Cornelius sports the new DCS Central Region uniform we are piloting!  Below, Mike Hulsey shows off his prize!

 



Marco's Driver Appreciation

 

 

JB Hunt DCS wants to be an extension of our customer's business.  While our Drivers work for JB Hunt, they are the faces our customers.  Our difference between success and failure comes down to the quality of drivers we employ and how well they service our customers.  No customer can appreciate this more then Marco's Pizza.  At our Marco's Account in Maumee, OH, our drivers deliver supplies to Marco's Franchisees every evening.  The majority of the time our drivers are required to clear an alarm code, as well use a key to get into an unattended delivery.  So if the delivery wasn't hard enough, delivering in the late hours of the evening as well as going into inner city strip malls, our drivers also have to be savvy enough to keep alarm codes and keys for each of their deliveries.  From there, they have to wheel in every piece of product into the back of the store.  They have to rotate stock as well so the franchisees can focus on their business, making pizza.

 

Marco's is a great partner, and recognized our drivers this week by giving them tshirts and hand written thank you notes on boxes of pizza!  

College Recruiting Update

We're ramping up our College Recruiting efforts this fall to increase brand recognition and create a pipeline to help support the region, as we continue to grow.  In the last week and a half, we've attended 4 events within the Region and there are more to come!

The Ohio State - Logistics Association Career Fair

The Ohio State - Fisher College of Business Career Fair

Indiana University - Kelly School of Business at Bloomington Supply Chain fair

Wright State University - All Majors Career Fair



 

 

Above, Wright State Grad Dustin Hatfield talks opportunities with a potential candidate

Driver Dedicated

Driver Appreciation at CHEP Indianapolis

This week we celebrated driver appreciation week by handing out cleaning supplies for the trucks, a thank you card with a gift card, a flash light and 6 in 1 screwdriver. The CHEP team has worked very hard to improve the On-Time Service for the account and this led to a renewal of the contract with CHEP!  Great job team!

Driver Appreciation Week in Youngstown, OH

 

 

This week our team at Toys R Us in Youngstown, OH celebrated Driver Appreciation Week.  Special thanks to Operations Sue Mateo for helping put all of this together.  Drivers were treated to a lunch as well as given Tshirts stating, "I Appreciate Truck Drivers"!

 

 

Driver Appreciation Week in Park City KY

Our team at Southern States in Park City, KY celebrated Driver Appreciation Week with a good ole fashion breakfast at Cracker Barrel!  In addition, all driver received gift cards and flashlights in appreciation for their hard work!



Charlie Short shows off his new flashlight and gift card!

Nothing like a Cracker Barrel breakfast. 

(Starting from the very back on the left hand side) Wilson King, Charlie Short, Tom Arthur, Karl Cuff

(Starting from the very back on the right hand side) Alan Harris, Marcus Morgan, & Lloyd Wilhoite.

 



Driver Appreciation Week at CHEP Columbus OH

 

 

CHEP Columbus celebrated Driver Appreciation with a Pizza Party from Columbus's own Donatos!  Above, one of our best, Rome Carter gets ready to dig in!  

Driver Appreciation at Central Farm and Garden



Our team at Central Farm and Garden celebrated Driver Appreciation Week by handing out Road Atlas's as well as Gift Cards and Letters of Appreciation to all drivers.  While this is a relatively new account for JB Hunt, it is a very difficult one.  Our drivers here deliver palletized farm supplies via manual pallet jacks to CFG customers.  This is a very labor intensive, and customer service intenstive account.  Our Driving Team here has done a fantastic job since startup!

Driver Appreciation in Robards KY!

 

 

 For Driver Appreciation Week, our team at Tyson in Robards, KY celebrated by putting on a barbeque lunch for our drivers.  It should come as no suprise that the entree of choice was chicken!  Our drivers here haul bulk feed from a feed mill to chicken houses near Robards, KY.  In addition, our drivers also haul live chickens from the houses to the processing plants.  If the driving job wasn't hard enough, our drivers are also responsible for loading their own trucks at the plant prior to departure.  This takes a true professional and we are thankful for the team we have!



Driver Dedicated Week Continues in Hebron, KY!

 

 

Driver Dedicated Week in Hebron, KY continues as Account Manager Naomi Eaton hands out an Atlas and Goodie Bag to John Estes.  John has been with JB Hunt since February 2008 and is one of the best drivers in the region.  Thank you for your service John!

Driver Appreciation in Cleveland NC!

 



Drivers enjoyed a Bojangles lunch and all the fixings and a choice of either a Stanley Fat Max tool bag or rechargeable LED spotlight. Handwritten Thank you cards were dropped in the mail this morning with a personal message for each driver expressing our appreciation for all that they do for us day in and day out.