Getting To Know - Clayton Pope - Professional Driver - Central Farm & Garden

Clayton Pope (POPC) - Professional Driver Central Farm & Garden

Orin Schumacher rode with Clayton Pope last week.  He learned that Clayton is from West Salem, OH where he lives with his wife, son, and daughter who goes to Ashland University.

Clayton enjoys working on Jeeps and classic cars when he is not committed to his job.

He demonstrates a great work ethic by covering various difficult routes for us here at Central Farm & Garden in Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and parts of Indiana. On the road, he is very cautious around heavy traffic areas and points of caution like on/off ramps and toll gates, and he is professional with all of our customers at pickups and deliveries. Clayton is very dedicated to his family and job, and I am happy to have him on our account.

Happy Anniversary Mike McGuire

Happy Anniversary to Mike McGuire as today marks his 6 year anniversary with JB Hunt!  Mike began with JBH as a professional driver during the start up of Southern States, where he had worked for the customer for over 30 years. In May of 2012, he transferred from the account into an Operations Supervisor role at Family Dollar in Morehead, KY. In April of 2014, Mike had the opportunity to transfer back over to Southern States in Winchester, KY as the Operations Supervisor, where he currently resides. We appreciate all the hard work, skill and expertise you bring to the team and company! 

Happy Anniversary Chet Gilbert

Congratulations on your 1 year anniversary with J.B Hunt! Chet has been Operations Supervisor at the Family Dollar account in Ashley, IN. Chet has thrived in the fast pace, demanding world of Family Dollar. In the past 6 months he has taken charge of safety at the account, and made it his project. Since he took the lead the culture has improved dramatically. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication.

Starting Up With The Sanson Company

 

 

 

Loading Dock

 

Facility Picture

The Sanson Company is a leading produce wholesaler based in Cleveland, OH. Founded in 1914, it has grown to be one of the largest distributors in the Midwest serving Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Sanson prides itself in providing everything you need from a produce provider. They offer:

Full-line produce availability

175,000 sq ft, modern, state-of-the-art facility

Owned and operated refrigerated truck fleet

Certified organic facility

AIB Superior Rating

 

Our Sanson Company start-up team consists of 5 Professional Drivers (Albert Brown, Earl Hopkins, Angel Malave, Tom Straughan and Mark Bennett) and Operations Supervisor Chris James. Driver Trainer Art Lowe, Operations Manager Brian Tabor, Area Maintenance Manager John Dodson, Area Risk Manager Rich Schwartz and Account Manager Sam Marcotte have all been on-site this week as well offering training and support to our driving team.

It has been an exciting week welcoming The Sanson Company to the DCS Central Region!   



ARM Rich Schwartz and OS Chris James showing us how the pros do it!

Sanson account drivers Angel Malave, Mark Bennett and Albert Brown inspect a Sanson Company reefer trailer with OM Brian Tabor, OS Chris James and ARM Rich Schwartz

Our first load of the week!

ARM Rich Schwartz demonstrating Electric pallet jack training

Our Driving Team is 2nd to none! (Pictured in order: Albert Brown, Art Lowe, Earl Hopkins and Tom Straughan)

Albert Brown

Art Lowe & Earl Hopkins

Tom Straughan
 

Getting to Know - Allan Bryson - Professional Driver - CHEP Solon

Allan Bryson - BRYA23 - Professional Driver CHEP Solon

Allan Bryson is a young yet veteran driver here at Chep Solon.

 

He has only been on the account for a little over one year, but continues to be one of the top performers week after week.

 

After his long days during the week Allan loves to play video games, go to the movies or go snowboarding.  If driving is not his career later in life then I’m sure bowling could bring is some money because he is a tough competitor is his bowling league on the weekends.

 

After this winter season is over and Allan hangs up his snowboarding equipment he plans to purchase a wave runner to fill that extreme sports void. Look out Lake Erie!

Getting to Know - Darold Van Petten - Professional Driver - CHEP Hamilton

 

Sean Maines had the pleasure of riding with Darold VanPetten.  He has been with JB Hunt since 1995.

 

He would rather watch History Channel over sports.  Darold and his wife have ten chickens.  His wife works in Home Healthcare.

 

Darold started driving after seeing an ad on TV for driving school.  Last year he earned 1 Million Safe Miles!

 

He is a NoShave November participant  (until tonight; his wife doesn't like it)

 

   

Getting to Know - Floyd Froman - Professional Driver -Tyson Corydon, IN

Floyd Froman (FROF) - Professional Driver - Tyson

 

 

Jess Caudill recently rode along with Floyd Froman.  Floyd is a recent new hire at the Tyson account in Corydon, IN. He came onboard to have more home time and weekends off and was happy to come over and do local chicken hauls for JB Hunt.This isn’t his first time with the company, he had originally started with JB Hunt back in 1989 and worked for us about 5 years OTR loads.

 

Floyd is recently engaged to Amy and her 7 year old son Conner. He talks to me about difficulties of stepping in the role of a step-father, but he is thrilled about the experience and happy to be a part of their lives and won’t change it for anything.

 

He raises horses at his house and loves to go out camping and horseback riding through the many trails around Southern Indiana.

Happy Anniversary Jeffry Story

Jeff Story started with JB Hunt in November 2008 as a professional driver with the PrimeSource fleet. Since then he has been in a management role, assisting with various locations and customers. He has filled in and assisted at accounts such as PrimeSource, Jamestown Container, and multiple Cargill locations. Thanks for 7 years of hard work and dedication, Jeff!

Getting to Know - Larry Miller - Professional Driver -Tyson Feed

Larry Miller (MILL87) - Professional Driver Tyson Feed

 

 

Larry lives in Henderson, KY with his wife and has a grown adult son.

 

He is a US Army veteran. 

 

He enjoys fishing during his free time and watching Law & Order on TV.  He has been on this account since April of 2014.

 

Earlier this year, Larry suggested a change to their daily trip sheet.  His suggestion allows drivers to fill out daily trip sheet for each load.  Before, four loads would fit on one sheet, after Larry's suggestion, the drivers can get five loads on one page.  Since the drivers average five loads a day, this has saved a significant amount of  paper.

Getting to Know - Willie Pierce - Professional Driver - Toyota Louisville

Willie Pierce(PIEW0) - Professional Driver - Toyota Louisville

 

 

Willie is a veteran that spent 12 years in the Marines and completed tours in Afghanistan, the UAE, and South East Asia. Thank you for your service to our Country!

 

Willie owns a farm and loves to play with his dog when he is not on the road and he has a collection of Star Wars screen-printed t-shirts and is not afraid to wear them.  He is an intelligent and interesting person who can describe how to make biltong (a South African recipe) in one breath and in the next explain how to examine an electronic circuit board to find out why it will not run properly. Because he is only four classes away from a degree in electrical engineering, it does not take long to understand how Willie has a wide range of knowledge about electronics.

 

Willie’s father was a truck driver and after leaving the military Willie decided to join the ranks and has been driving for three years. We are happy Willie chose to drive for JB Hunt!

Happy Anniversary Michelle Barciz

Congratulations Michelle on your 2 Year J.B. Hunt Anniversary! Michelle has been at The Home Depot account in Van Buren over the past 2 years and seen many changes. Through it all, she has been one of the few constants. She joined the team as an Administrative Assistant and is now an Operations Supervisor at one of the most challenging accounts in the region.

Honoring our Veterans - Central Region Management

The Central Region has nearly 250 Veterans serving our customers on a daily basis.  JB Hunt is consistently ranked one of the Top Military Friendly Employers year after year.  As a company, it is our goal to hire 10,000 Veterans by 2020.  Below are some of our Managers who have served this great country!

Andrew Ferguson - Marco's Pizza - US Navy

Chet Gilbert - FD Ashley - US Army

Corey Palmer - Cargill Liverpool - US Air Force



Jeff Holle - ARM Seymour, IN - US Marines

Brian Welsh - PPG Pittsburgh - US Army

Kyle George - FD Ashley - US Air Force

David Atkins - Ohio Valley Aluminum - US Navy

Chris Person - Rochester, NY - US Marines

Ryan Odell - PPG Pittsburgh - US Army

Jason Craig - JMC Richmond, IN - US Army

Austin Eckert - DMIT OH - US Army

Jeremy Starry - Falcon Packaging Covington, OH - US Army

Brandon Oreglia - HD Van Buren - US Army

Lisa Winters - HD Monroe, OH - US Air Force



Honoring our Veterans - Central Farm & Garden

Above is a banner that our Management Team at Central Farm & Garden put up at their Account to honor their three Veteran Drivers.  Thank you Ed Yarber, Don McCarty, and Victor Price!

Honoring our Veterans - Carl Vicknovac

 

Above is a picture sent in by Account Manager Dana Crosby for one of his drivers, Carl Vicknovac.  Carl is one of our drivers on the Ellwood City Forge Account in Ellwood City, PA.  Below is Dana's write-up on Carl:

 

Carl served in the Air Force from August 1976 thru 1980.  He went through basic training and tech school in Lackland, Texas.  After that, Carl went to North Dakota where he was an MP, 91st security police squad.  There he served for 3 almost 4 years.  That beautiful German Shepherd name is Folly. Folly was able to do it all, tracking, vehicle searches, open field searches.  Carl gained a lot from his time served in the military, you can see that same dedication in his day to day work ethic. Shows up to work daily without any questions.  He was hired in April 2012. Carl has NEVER had a collision NOR has he had a WC injury.  We here at the Ellwood City Forge account appreciate everything Carl does!

 

 



Getting to Know - Tom Arthur - Professional Driver - Southern States

Tom Arthur (AART3) - Professional Driver for Southern States

 

Tom is the middle child of a large family of seven siblings and he himself, has a large family of two step-sons, and two daughters.

 

A fun fact that Tom shared with me is that his mother actually used to drive race cars on dirt track courses and was even able to drive tractor trailers when he was younger.

 

Tom has been “Mr. Utility” in helping out with various jobs at the Southern States account in Park City, KY but he’s also pulled for OVACO and our former Dollar General account.

 

Something that stood out to me during our ride along is that Tom is a very friendly and very professional driver for our fleet. He took the time to talk and joke with the customer at the delivery site as well as offer solutions and suggestions for how to best get all of the grain unloaded from the truck. I’d imagine this left quite the positive impression on the customer.

Welcome Joseph Strater - DMIT Indianapolis

Joseph Strater - DMIT Indianapolis

Let's extend a  welcome Joseph Strater to the Central Region.

 He joins us as a DMIT in the Indianapolis area. Joe is a veteran of the U.S Army where in his 4 years was stationed at Fort Gordon in Georgia and Fort Meade in Maryland. As well as the army, he is a member of the Indiana Army National Guard. He currently holds the rank of 1st Lieutenant.

Joe has been married to his wife, Beckie, for 9 years, and they have a son named Ben that is 14 months old. Other members of the family are their dog Jim and cat Heidi.

Joe's hobbies include anything to do with the outdoors. He especially likes to hike, camp, and shoot competitively. He is also a active member of the American Legion and the Reserve Officer's association. Welcome to the region and J.B Hunt.

We are glad to have you on our team!

Happy Anniversary Terry Galyon

Congratulations to Terry Galyon as today marks his six year anniversary with JB Hunt. Terry began his career with JB Hunt back in 2009 holding multiple roles on the operations side. Terry is currently the Region Safety Manager for the Central Region residing in Columbus, OH with his wife and two daughters. Happy Anniversary Terry!

Happy Anniversary Andrew Lickfeld

Happy Anniversary, Andy! November 5th marked his 3 year anniversary with J.B. Hunt.  Prior to JBH, Andy received his Bachelors in Business Management from Canisius College. He is currently an Operations Supervisor at the Niagara Sheets & Goya Foods accounts in North Tonawanda, NY. Thanks for all your hard work, Andy!

Happy Anniversary Michael Cohen

Congratulations to Mike Cohen as November 3rd marked his 1 year anniversary with J.B. Hunt! Mike is a graduate of SUNY College at Buffalo who started his career as a DMIT in Buffalo, NY. He is currently an Operations Supervisor at the Niagara Sheets account in North Tonawanda, NY. Happy Anniversary, Mike!

Central Region October Driver of the Month - Ed Yarber

 

Congratulations to Ed Yarber on being selected the Driver of the Month for the Central Region for October.  Ed is a 14 year JB Hunt employee, all with DCS, and currently runs on the Central Farm & Garden Account out of Wooster, OH.  Ed is without a doubt one of the most safety conscious, service oriented, and professional drivers we have in the region. Congratulations Ed!

 

Below is the write-up from AM Andrew Vincent:

 

Ed is the type of driver every account wishes they had! Ed is known through out the DCS Central Region as a driver who is willing to step up and help out other accounts and being a top notch trainer. With this reputation Ed was selected to come to Central Farm & Garden in January of this year (transferring over from Intigral). Central Farm & Garden had a turnover issue in 2014 and didn't have a true "lead driver". Ed has since filled that role and done an amazing job!

The Central Farm & Garden account averaged nearly 2 collisions per month in 2014. They also ended the year with over 100% turnover. Since Ed's arrival in January, here are the 2015 numbers as of September:

 

• 2 W.C. in first 4 months of start up at $72,500

• 0 W.C. since Ed identified as driver trainer

• Collisions reduced by nearly 50%

• Currently 395 days injury free

• Streaks of over 40 days collision free

• Driver Turnover reduced to 14%

Ed's influence on new hires has been flat out amazing. He helps us ensure our safety culture is alive and well at Central Farm and Garden. Ed is currently over 986,000 safe miles and is on pace to his 1 million safe miles later this year! Congratulations Ed on Driver Of The Month! You have definitely earned it!

 



Southern States Park City Hits Safety Milestone!

The Park City Bulk fleet celebrated two years collision free and four years injury free streak this morning at Cracker Barrel. This is a remarkable accomplished by this group of guys. They currently sit at 750 days collision free and 1,464 days injury free. Congratulations to Tom Arthur, Wilson King, Marcus Morgan, Charlie Short, and Lloyd Wilhoite.

They were joined by their sister fleet in the celebration who were celebrating an impressive streak of their own, 337 days collision & injury free. This dates all the way back to December 2014 when the fleet was created. Congratulations to Bill Benningfield, Mike Kaufman, and Josh Orr.

What a great accomplishment by everyone involved.  

Getting to Know - Paul Sparks - Professional Driver - MasterBrand Cabinets

Paul Sparks (SPAP1) - Professional Driver - Masterbrand Cabinets

Paul is an Indiana native, born and raised. He recently bought a mini farm in Marengo, IN.

 

He is happily married to his wife, Cassandra. They have been married for 21 years and have two children, Tim & Dakota.

 

One of Paul’s most notable accomplishments is time serving his country in the United States Special Forces.

 

After his time in Special Forces he trained soldiers for battle in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Paul enjoys farming, fishing and hunting as well as spending time with his loved ones

Welcome Hannah Church - DMIT - Southern States - Vinton, VA

 

 

Hannah Church - DMIT - Southern States - Vinton, VA

 

 

We would like to welcome Hannah Church to the Central Region DCS team.

 

She is joining us as a DMIT and will be based at our Southern States account in Vinton, VA.

 

Hannah is a 2014 graduate of Virginia Tech with a Bachelor's degree in Animal and Poultry Sciences with an emphasis in equines. For the past year and a half, she has worked at a veterinary clinic as a veterinary assistant and receptionist as well as being a part time drug testing technician on equine show grounds for USEF. She enjoys horse back riding, spending time with friends and family, and relaxing at home with her dog, Jade. She looks forward to her future with J.B. Hunt.

Happy Halloween - the celebration continues

The Kleeh Family

Lillie Simpson

Richie Schwartz - Oompa Loompa (check out the green hair!)

Adalynn Grace Galyon - Pinkie Pie 

Chef Thomas Stampfer