Happy Anniversary Andrew Vincent

Happy Anniversary to Drew Vincent as today marks his 1 year anniversary with JB Hunt!  Drew is a graduate of Murray State University and began his career with JB Hunt as an Operations Supervisor at the Soft Lite account in Streetsboro, OH. In May of 2014 he took on the challenge of Account Manager for Central Farm and Garden’s start up in Wooster, OH. Happy Anniversary, Drew!

Central Region Promotion Announcement - Adam Stampfer

 

 

 

Congratulations to Adam Stampfer on his promotion to Region Operations Manager for the Central Region.

 

Adam is a 2004 graduate of The Ohio State University where he majored in Operations Management. He started with J.B. Hunt in August of 2004 as a DMIT at PPG and Archway Cookies in Ohio.  After taking on Operations Supervisor roles at Archway Cookies and Royal Appliance, he became Account Manager at Home Depot Lumber in Solon, OH, Office Depot in Grove City, OH, and Aurora Parts in Lebanon, IN.  In 2009, he moved to Louisville, KY where he served as the Regional Operations Manager for Kentucky, Indiana, and SW Ohio for 3.5 years.  Adam transitioned to Final Mile to run our Louisville, KY location in 2012.  After spending a year in FMS, he came back to the Central Region in a support role to help with Account transitions, training and development, and operations audits.  Adam will continue to reside in Louisville, KY with his wife Taylor and their son Thomas.

Congratulations Adam!

 

Happy Anniversary Corey Palmer

Happy Anniversary to Corey Palmer as today marks his 1 year anniversary with JB Hunt!! Corey joined the DCS C Region team as Account Manager of Cargill Liverpool, brining over  20 years of Transportation experience with him. Corey is a proud member of the Air Force Reserves and has an Associates in Aviation. Congratulations, Corey!

Welcome Anthony Hale

The Monroe Home Depot welcomes Anthony Hales to the Operations Supervisor team in Monroe, OH. Anthony is a family man. He has a wife and two young daughters (8 & 3). He joins the team from his previous job at Miller-Coors where he worked security and processed orders for the drivers.

Anthony completed his Bachelors Degree from Wright State while working at the brewery . He has a degree in psychology, but while he can't legally charge for counseling his coworkers/drivers, tips are always accepted. Just kidding (the going rate is $40 an hour for professional services). But seriously, Anthony has great listening skills, can relate well to people, and is excited for the opportunity at Home Depot Monroe. As far as hobbies go, he loves hunting, fishing, or pretty much anything on the water!

Welcome to the Team Anthony! 

Welcome Jimmy Verdon

The Monroe Home Depot welcomes Jimmy Verdon to the team as the newest OS. Jimmy played professional football for 5 years with the Saints, Bengals, Sea Devils NFL Europa and the Rough Riders CFL. He was also a college coach at Eastern Michigan for three years. Most recently he worked as an operations supervisor for 4 years at Universal Industrial Supply.

Jimmy enjoys coaching and training kids in his spare time when he isn't chasing around his own kids (3 boys & 1 girl). He has been happily married to his self-proclaimed 'keeper' for 12 years. One interesting thing about Jimmy is that he has been to Michael Jackson's Never Land. In Jimmy's first few weeks on the account, he has enjoyed the fast pace environment and that there is something new to learn everyday. 

Happy Anniversary Mark Passantino

Happy Anniversary to Mark Passantino as yesterday marked his 13 year anniversary with JB Hunt!  Mark graduated from Canisius College and currently serves as Account Manager of our Len-Co Lumber Account in Buffalo, NY! Happy Anniversary, Mark!! Pictured below at Kickoff 2015, Len-Co receiving Account of Year award.

From Left to Right: Brian Tabor, Brian Sayles, Mark Passantino, Andrew DeBlock.

Happy Anniversary Todd Zoretic

 

Happy Anniversary to Todd Zoretic as Sunday marked his 5 year anniversary with JB Hunt! Todd began his career with JB Hunt at our Corporate office in Lowell, AR working within the PCS group. He joined the Central Region in 2013 and managed the Tyson account in Robards, KY for almost two years. He currently oversees the Southern States account in Vinton, VA. Happy Anniversary, Todd!

Happy Anniversary Traci Kilger

Congratulations to Traci Kilger as Saturday marked her 10 year anniversary with JB Hunt! Traci is a graduate of Niagara University, she joined the Central region in 2005 with Joann Stores. From there she was promoted to Account Manager at the Aurora Parts start up in 2007. In June of 2008 she moved to Buffalo, NY to take on the Niagara Sheets start up. This is where she currently resides; she additionally manages the Goya Foods account. Happy Anniversary, Traci! We appreciate your hard work!

Welcome Michael Green

We would like to welcome Mike Green to the Central Region! Mike will be doing an internship with us in the Indianapolis, IN area. He will soon be graduating from IUPUI with a degree in Supply Chain Management from the Kelly School of Business. Mike comes to us with many years of experience in the restaurant industry. His hobbies include golfing and cooking. He and his wife Sharon of 23 years live in McCordsville, IN. Mike is excited to be joining the DCS team, and is looking forward to being fully functional. Welcome aboard, Mike!!!

MPD Hits One Year Collision Free!

Congratulations to our team at Marco's Pizza in Maumee, OH for hitting one year collision free!  This is a tremendous accomplishment for a group that delivers 53ft refrigerated trailers nightly to some of the toughest delivery locations around.  In addition, this account has seen growth over the past year.  In addition to our senior drivers being safe, the new drivers that we have interviewed and onboarded have performed flawlessly as well.  Great job team!

Hiring Our Heroes Cleveland

July 10^th JB Hunt attended a Hiring Our Heroes Fair hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Hiring Our Heroes is a nationwide initiative to help veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses find meaningful employment opportunities. We had a great team representing the company and our opportunities both driver and non-driver.

From Left to Right:  Dan Byers - Professional Driver OTR, Megan Perez – C Region HR Manager, Rachel Rowe – CDP Military Program Coordinator, Jason Bittle – CDP Military Program Coordinator & US Army Veteran, Greg Goodrum – FMS Operations Manager

Dan was given front row parking in his Military Wrapped truck at the Cleveland Convention Center downtown for the event. He is a proud veteran of the Navy and has been with JB Hunt for 15 years. He’s currently a member of the OTR Midwest team within the Truck Division and has achieved 2 Million Safe Miles. Thank you for your service, Dan!

Bosses Day at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station - Jerry Hoban Edition

On Friday July 17th I was able to attend Bosses Day at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station. I was sponsored by our Cargill Liverpool Account Manager, Corey Palmer. Bosses Day is held every year to educate employers on operations, deployments and tasks reservists perform, and to thank those employers for their support of our Reservists, Guardsmen, and Veterans.

 

This year, Bosses Day fell on an air show weekend. The best part of this was that I was able to take a flight in a C-130 with Corey as the Flight Engineer. The C-130 Hercules, or "Herc", is a turboprop military transport aircraft built by Lockheed Martin. It's capable of operating from rough strips and is the prime transport for paradropping troops and equipment into hostile territory.

After meeting some of the folks who put the whole event together, we were sent out to the strip and to the impressive aircraft:

 

 

We were strapped in and given safety guidelines (don't unbuckle your belt, don't jump out of the plane, if you're going to throw up, do it in a bag). We then took off. Once we got to cruising altitude, they lowered the ramp, opened the cargo door and gave us a unique view of Niagara Falls and surrounding areas:

 



The flight was a blast, and Corey gets bonus points in my book for not crashing the plane. After the flight we were treated to the pre-show, where we were able to see some stunt planes and even the Thunderbirds perform. Saturday was the full air show. Corey's family and my fiance joined us, and he gave us a full narrated walk through of the C-130. Here's me pretending to be a copilot:

Overall is was a fantastic, unique experience. JB Hunt continues to be a strong supporter of our military and employs many veterans and reservists (for more information, visit https://www.jbhunt.com/jobs/office/military/). I was honored to take part in this event and hope to be able to do it again one day. Me and Corey on Saturday in front of a C-130:
  

Lastly, a photo of an F-16... just because. If you've never seen the USAF Thunderbirds, I highly recommend going to an air show soon. Absolutely incredible to watch.

Happy Anniversary Jason Butler

Happy Anniversary to Jason Butler as yesterday marked his 2 year anniversary with JB Hunt! Jason started his career within the Home Depot network, as an Operations Supervisor in Van Buren, OH. He has held a number of roles and responsibilities including Logistics Coordinator and his most recent promotion to the Account Manager for Home Depot Monroe, OH. Happy Anniversary, Jason!

Congratulations Jeremy Messing

Congratulations Jeremy Messing on your promotion to Logistics Coordinator at The Home Depot account in Van Buren. Jeremy will assume the responsibilities and duties of ensuring we execute on service and coordinating the daily operations for all outbound and inbound freight.

A Michigan native, Jeremy enjoys hockey, baseball, golf and brewing beer during his spare time.

Jeremy joined the J.B. Hunt family in February of 2014 after graduating from Western Michigan University with a degree in Integrated Supply Chain Management. He started as a DMIT at The Home Depot Account in Monroe and since then served as Operations Supervisor at both Monroe and Van Buren. Jeremy's flexibility and dedication in getting the job done is unmatched. We expect to see the continued excellence in his new role as Logistics Coordinator. Thank you Jeremy and Congratulations.

Congratulations DJ Beyer

 

David (DJ) Beyer started with the PPG account January 5th 2015. DJ came to JB Hunt with 5 years experience with GE and DJ quickly filled the role for the customer as a Freight Planner. DJ had great success and established himself as a pivotal trainer for PPG then moved over to the operations side with the account. DJ recently was promoted to an Operations Supervisor taking over a board of 25 drivers.

Congratulations Brian Welsh

Brian Welsh started with the PPG account January 20th 2014. Brian came to JB Hunt with 10 years military experience and his potential quickly became apparent with his success in the Operations Supervisor Role managing 25+ drivers. Brian contributed to great safety and utilization results since he has started with the account. With Brian's promotion to the Logistics Coordinator role, Brian will be responsible for planning the Global and the Cleveland Ohio Regional Fleet totaling nearly 100 trucks.

Welcome Justin Schloesser

Please help us welcome Justin Schloesser to the DCS Central Region! Justin is a new Operations Supervisor at Limited Logistics in Reynoldsburg, OH. Justin comes to us from The Ohio State University where he graduated in 2013. At OSU, Justin majored in History and received his BS. Justin also brings to us leadership skills from his miliary experience. He is currently an Officer (1st Lieutenant) in the Ohio Army National Guard.

In his free time, Justin enjoys shooting firearms and gets to the shooting range whenever he gets the chance. Welcome aboard Justin! 

Happy Anniversary John Goodwin

Happy Anniversary to John Goodwin who recently passed 4 years of service with JB Hunt. John is a graduate of Bowling Green State University. He began his career with JB Hunt within the Integrated Capacity Solutions division. Just over two years ago, he transitioned into Operations at MBM within the Central Region. John is now the Account Manager of Limited Logistics in Reynoldsburg, OH. We appreciate you, John!

Get to know Scott Neeley

RTLA (Tierra Isaac at CHEP Lima)

Scott grew up in the Lima, Ohio area where he raised a Daughter and Son.  His Daughter has a happy family of her own and his Son serves in the U.S. Army, already serving two tours in Iraq.  On the weekends, he and his wife of 4 years like to ride their new Harley Davidson motorcycles and lounge around with their English bulldogs.

Happy Anniversary Matt Stark

Happy Anniversary to Matt Stark as today represents his 3 year anniversary with JB Hunt! Matt is a graduate of University of Central Arkansas who started his career with JB Hunt at our Corporate office in Lowell, AR working within the PCS group. He has been a part of the Central Region for just over one year and is currently an Operations Supervisor at Family Dollar in Morehead, KY. Happy Anniversary, Matt!

Central Region June Driver of the Month - David Jackson

 

 

Congratulations to David Jackson of C&S Wholesale in Yorktown, IN for winning the Central Region June Driver of the Month.  David has been with JB Hunt since August 2012.  David was hired when we started up C&S in Yorktown and has been there ever since.  David has won DOM for Yorktown Account multiple times in his tenure but this is the first time he has won the Region Driver of the Month.  David was picked over 1,000 other drivers in the region.  This is a tremendous accomplishment.  Congratulations David! 

 

Below is the write-up for David's nomination:

 

Dave is one of the two remaining drivers from the startup of the C&S account in Yorktown, IN.  During his 3 year tenure with the company, he has spent the entire time with DCS and our account.  Dave has been to every Kmart location that we deliver to, and they all know him by name when he comes in. 

When it comes to outsourced accounts, Dave has pretty much been to them all.  He really likes Aurora Parts and Soft-Lite.  Here are some testimonials from those Account Managers:

 

Here is a testimonial from George Vera at Aurora Parts: "Dave was very flexible and willing to work with me when he encountered some equipment issues. He also communicated well when because of those issues his load wasn't going to make it on time."

 

And, here is another testimonial from Michael Varty at Soft-Lite Windows:

"Dave pulled a load for Soft-Lite windows, doing something he had never done before, Dave stepped up and did a fantastic job making sure he was at customers in a timely manner. He made the deliveries with no issues."

As you can see, Dave goes above and beyond to deliver for us, no matter the situation!

Dave has been a staple on the C&S account since startup and is a very safe and reliable driver. Logging is never a problem with Dave - he has a total of 18 points in RAIR since January 1st!

Dave works under the mentality of safety and dependability. He has never said no to anything we ask him to do, and that is saying a lot since Dave has been outsourced to over 10 accounts in the Central Region.

With his safe driving record and 25 years of driving experience, Dave is a very valuable asset to the account and we look forward to many more years with him!

  



Happy Anniversary Sheldon Williams

Happy Anniversary to Sheldon Williams as today marks his 2 year anniversary with JB Hunt! Sheldon is a graduate of Indiana University with a bachelors in Criminal Justice. He began his career as an Operations Supervisor at Pet Supplies Plus in Seymour, IN. Sheldon has recently transitioned over to Team Toyota in Louisville, KY. Congratulations, Sheldon!

Welcome Brandon Oreglia

 

Brandon joined the J.B. Hunt team in June 2014 from Bluffton University. He is a proud member of the Ohio Army National Guard and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 for a year. During Brandon's spare time he is raising his 3 year old son, Zane and enjoys watching/playing any kind of sport. It keeps him young and fit. Welcome aboard Brandon, we are glad to have you!



Welcome Daniel Mays

Dan is a graduate of Marquette University, where he majored in supply chain management. Dan is an avid golfer and a huge fan of Marquette basketball. Dan also enjoys camping and eating at local restaurants. He is currently a DMIT at The Home Depot Account in Van Buren. Welcome to the DCS Central Region, Dan!　

Get to Know John Cox

 

We made the decision a few months back to require all managers to do a RATLA every six months in lieu of doing monthly observations.  There were multiple reasons for this change.  Not only had our observation program become stale and ineffective, but we felt there was more value in spending quality time with our drivers.  There is no greater use of time then spending time in a truck with our drivers.  When doing a ride along, it takes us out of our comfort zone and puts us in the drivers comfort zone.  We can see what it is like for them when we pull them into the office to sign a safety briefing or a log letter.  It brings to light how little we know in regards to the key elements of our business.  Not only does it allow us to make sure our drivers are operating safely out there, but it allows us to build relationships.

I was fortunate enough to ride along with one of our drivers from Marco’s, John Cox.  I left it up to Marco’s Management to decide who I rode with.  I’m glad that they didn’t pick a veteran driver or a past DOM winner.  John is relatively new, been with us only a few months.  John’s past was very interesting.  He lives in Adrian, MI not far from the Account.  He actually used to work in the explosives industry.  He was responsible for hauling explosives to construction sites.  His most recent job prior to coming to Hunt was working for another carrier In the Toledo area.  He ran an automotive lane from Toledo to Canada every night.  He mentioned how none of the other drivers wanted this lane but that he loved it.  He mentioned how he got very proficient in the border crossings and with his desire to go to Canada he became very valuable to this carrier.  His reason for leaving was due to unfulfilled promises.  He mentioned that he gave them a year and half to come through with a raise that he was promised shortly after he started.  When they didn’t come through and didn’t keep their word, he left.

When he came to Marco’s he had no prior Food Service experience.  In fact he had no driver unload experience.  What he did have was the ability to drive the equipment safely and his customer service skills.  In addition, John had been unhappy about his weight for some time.  He wanted a job that was going to keep him active so he could shed pounds.  John has lost 25lbs since joining the account and has a goal to lose another 15.  I think we talked about health and fitness for 85% of the ride.  He actually corrected me on my lifting technique about three different times as well.  This job works out well for John, as his wife works 3^rd shift at the prison.  It was great to hear John go on about how much he loved his job.  He even mentioned trying to get his brother in law on the account.  He had nothing but positives to say about our management team.  The other great thing with this account is how involved the customer is with our drivers.  Our contact Tony knows all of our drivers.  With some customers this can be a negative, but if handled the right way by the customers this is a big key to retention.  Our drivers are the ambassadors for our customers.  Sure they are our employees but having a customer that is engaged and appreciative of our drivers goes a long way.  Another thing that impressed me was how our management team and customer worked to proactively make this job better for our drivers.  The bol packets were clean and easy to navigate through.  The keys and alarm codes organized.  Directions with watch outs for every store.  This wasn’t always the case here, but Marco’s came to the realization that by aiding in making the drivers job easier they were helping themselves as well.  Lower turnover not only impacts their service to their customers, but lowers their cost as well. 

We left out around 8:45 pm.  On this night we had the box truck run.  John runs both Refrigerated Straight and Sleeper during the week.  On this night we had a local run in Toledo and then down to Mansfield.  It was my goal this night to do as much as I could to help him.  While he unloaded much faster than I could, by moving as much freight as I could for him this night I hoped I could give him somewhat of a breather. 

Though we were running a 28ft box truck, these deliveries still were not easy to get in and out of.  It just shows the skill level of our drivers to be able to get 53’s in to some of these places.  The unload on this account is a bear.  Between the 50lb bags of flour, cheese, pizza boxes, ramp delivery, rotating stock, clearing alarm codes and letting ourselves in after hours it amazes me how these guys do this night in and night out.  John mentioned he was sore for the first month.  He also mentioned he was advised by other drivers on the fleet that he needs to line up a chiropractor regularly to be able to deal with the ongoing back soreness from the account.  On our fourth stop, Perrysburg John was worried that a car across the street was watching us.  We have had multiple drivers on this fleet robbed in the past and John mentioned that this is an ongoing concern.  John believes that many would be thieves believe that the Marco’s drivers carry cash which isn’t true.  As difficult as this delivery was, it was 75 degrees out.  I can’t imagine the difficulty when the winter comes.  These guys face iced up ramps, snow behind stores, and unloading in sub 0 degrees.  We deliver all the way up into Wisconsin. 

I challenge everyone to spend as much time on the trucks as you possibly can.  If you got anything out of your RATLA, hopefully it was a renewed appreciation for our drivers and the daily obstacles they encounter.  The time, compassion, and understanding you show on a daily basis is the difference between retaining them or not.