Congratulations to Bob Pratt on surpassing the 4,000,000 Safe Miles!

On June 15^th, Bob Pratt arrived in Louisville, KY to deliver his load from Laredo, TX.  What seemed to be just another day and another delivery, was much more than that.  On this day Bob surpassed the mark of 4,000,000 Safe Miles Driven!  When asked how did it feel to achieve this remarkable accomplishment, Bob stated, “I’ve been sweating bullets all week, but, it has been a long time coming”.  Bob is now the ONLY active 4,000,000 Mile Driver in DCS! Bob is the 5^th active J.B. Hunt driver to achieve this accomplishment!   

Bob, has been with J.B. Hunt for 29 years and his hard work, dedication, and professionalism shows every day.  He is the embodiment of who we want all our drivers to be.  Bob is always willing to help whenever and wherever he is needed without a complaint.  Moreover, his warm, cheerful attitude reflects in the way he works with customers and co-workers.  He has a friendly smile and presence that makes it hard for anyone to have a bad day after interacting with Bob.  Over the course of his career, Bob has left a lasting impression on everyone.  It is impossible to put into words how great of a driver and person Bob is!  This great accomplishment could not have been achieved by a better person!  We are extremely excited and proud for Bob!

Bob, thank you for all you do! Congratulations on such a great accomplishment!

Partnership Appreciation at Southern States Vinton VA

Vinton Mill Manager Phil Brownlow, Schuylar McGuffey, and Mill Ops Manager Bill Monroe



Earlier today, Southern States Feed Mill in Vinton VA took the time to show their appreciation for Account Manager Schuylar McGuffey.  Schuylar was recently promoted as the new Account Manager for our Goodyear startup in Lockbourne, OH.  This recent promotion will force Schuylar to move to the Columbus, OH area, thus she will only be in Vinton a few more weeks.  Schuylar has served on the Southern States Account since August 2015, and has done a fantastic job in improving all facets of the business.  Due to her hard work and dedication, Southern States presented her with a plaque to show their appreciation for the great job she has done!  Great work Schuylar!

JB Hunt joins Touch-A-Truck in Canton, OH

This past Saturday, JB Hunt took part in Buehler’s Food Market’s Touch-A-Truck program in Canton, OH.  This annual event is organized by Buehler’s very own Event Coordinating Specialist Bonnie Wheeler-McElroy.  The event features multiple vehicles including tractor/trailers, helicopters, ambulances and police cars to name just some of the participants.  The goal of the program is to allow families to view the vehicles up close and personal as well as allow children to enter the vehicles to learn more about them.     

 

This year Regional Operations Manager Brian Tabor partnered with Central Farm and Garden DCS Professional Driver Edward Yarber to run the event on behalf of JB Hunt.  Ed (Former 2016 Central Region DCS Driver of the Year) has done several of these types of events in the past and really enjoys the experience.  This showed as he helped children get in and out of his truck and explained to them what a day in the life of a JB Hunt driver looks like.  Thanks again to Buehler’s for having us.  We will definitely attend this event for many years to come!

From helicopters to trucks to construction equipment this event had it all!

 

Brian and Ed posing with event coordinator Bonnie Wheeler-McElroy

Ed talking thru what it’s like to be a JB Hunt driver to a young local boy that absolutely loved the big truck!

Happy Anniversary Mike Varty!

Congratulations to Mike Varty as today he celebrates 3 years with JB Hunt!  Mike started out with us as a DMIT in the Cleveland, OH market.  Through his hard work, he quickly promoted to Account Manager at Soft-Lite Windows in Streetsboro, OH where he currently works.  Mike is a huge Detroit sports fan and loves cheering for his Tigers, Red Wings and Lions.  Congratulations Mike!

 

Welcome Lindsie Stevens

Let’s welcome Lindsie Stevens to our J.B. Hunt family and to the Central Region! Lindsie brings a wealth transportation experience, - ten years. She will be assuming the role of Operations Administrative Assistant based out of The Home Depot account in Van Buren, OH. Lindsie will be supporting the operations with the following duties: greeting drivers at the window, payroll, bills of lading, PACE edits and trip sheets.

Lindsie is recently married. Congratulations! Lindsie is also a proud mother with three teenage girls who are involved in sports, cheerleading and band. She also loves traveling the county showing her Arabian horses.

Welcome Lindsie!

Central Region Driver of the Month for May - John Lunsford

Congratulations to John Lunsford on being selected as the Central Region Driver of the Month for May.  John is a 17 year company employee, and currently serves the PPG Global Fleet.  John was selected from over 1,000 drivers within the region.  Congratulations John!

 

Below is the write-up from the PPG Team:

John has accumulated over 500 days critical event free and has recorded zero citations in the past two calendar years. In the past 12 weeks John has a recorded 7.56 MPG and is 100% fuel compliant. In the past 13 months John has only 23 log points. In all of 2017 he has just one log point. His safe miles number currently sits at 909,633.

John has proven to be the gold standard for reliability on the PPG Fleet and his communication with management is second to none. Each manager here has the utmost respect for John and the work that he does for us. He is consistently on-time or early and the customers he visits consistently never have a bad word to say about him. John displays a professionalism that cannot be matched; he is always polite and communicates efficiently when there are any possible issues with equipment or appointments.

As John nears his 1,000,000 safe miles, he has never gotten complacent with his driving and can be counted on to do anything that is asked of him. John can be counted on in all scenarios and manages his clock and logs with the precision of an engineer. All of us here at PPG are very fortunate to have John as a part of our fleet.

When John is home he enjoys spending time with his wife and his dogs. Weather permitting, he also enjoys taking rides on his Harley.

Happy Anniversary Rich Schwartz!

Happy Anniversary to Rich Schwartz as today marks his 9th year with JB Hunt!  Rich is an Area Risk Manager based out of Cleveland, OH.  Rich started his career in operations, running several accounts in the Central Region.  From there he progressed through the ranks and has been in safety the last 2 plus years.  Thank you for all of your hard work Rich!

Family Dollar Morehead "Aims High for a Pie" and May Safety Blitz

At the end of May Family Dollar Morehead, KY proudly hit 30 days collision free, 60 days injury free. To celebrate and encourage the hard work and dedication these drivers put in the account held a “World’s Famous Pop’s BBQ” lunch in conjunction with a safety blitz to knock out quarterly training and prepare for the 2017 Roadcheck.  Although early in the month of June both of those streaks were ended –

the team has not lost the dedication to once again, hit and exceed those goals.

To give a little extra motivation to reach another Safety Goal – the drivers that go to August 1^st with no preventable safety events can pie a manager of their choosing, with the “Aim High for a Pie” program.

“I’m lovin’ it” – Senior Driver Rob Hines and two Million Miler Michael Paluso converse about how much they love the Family Dollar Account.  

“IFTA with a Side of Mac” – Operations Supervisor, Ashley Haney does a thorough permit book inspection.

“Sharing is Caring”— Family Dollar was honored to have MasterBrand, Driver Trainer Byron Cooper visiting assisting with second quarter training and proper pretrip inspections.

Congratulations Galyon Family!

Congratulations to the Galyon Family on the birth of their son Layne Reo.  Layne arrived Wednesday afternoon, weighing in at 8lbs, 3 oz, and 21.5".  Mom and Layne are doing great.  Congratulations Galyon Family!

Promotion Announcement: Simon Chen - Operations Supervisor

Please join us in congratulating  Simon Chen on his promotion to Operations Supervisor for the Home Depot Account in Van Buren, OH!  Simon joined the company as an Operations Intern at Van Buren. He has quickly demonstrated his ability to pick up the various shifts and responsibilities at Home Depot Van Buren.  Simon has also done a fabulous job on getting to know each one of our drivers.  Congratulation Simon on a well-earned promotion!

 

Welcome Drake Garcia!

We are excited to welcome Drake Garcia as our Dedicated Manager In Training. He will backfill the vacated position, due to Simon Chen’s promotion. Drake is a recent graduate from The Ohio State University with a degree in economics. Drake is proud to never have missed a Home game during his time at Ohio State. Drake’s fun fact is that he was a professional gamer for about six years with the game, League of Legends. Drake was our Operations Intern at the Limited Brands account, so he will hit the ground running as our DMIT at The Home Depot in Van Buren. Welcome aboard Drake!

Welcome Dillon White!

Please join us in welcoming recent Spring graduate from The Ohio State University, Dillon White, to the Monroe Home Depot family. Dillon studied logistics and supply chain management and interned at Firestone for nearly a year before taking his talents south. He is an avid Cleveland sports fan and from the Medina, OH area. In his free time, Dillon enjoys hunting deer, turkey, rabbit, and pheasant. His most notable adversary was a wild boar on a hunt in Tennessee in which he was able to bag the big game and come out without any injuries. We look forward to Dillon’s future contribution as he progresses as a Manager Trainee with us.

Central Region Roundtable

From left, Terry Galyon, Ed Yarber, Jim Thompson, Al Skarya, Bob Pratt, Rob Starkey, Orville Gregory, Andrew DeBlock

 

Today, we were fortunate to host a few of our senior drivers from within the Central Region at our DCS Office in Columbus.  In attendance were the following drivers:

 

 

Our plan for this roundtable was to get valuable insight, from some of our top professional drivers on how we can improve the safety culture within our region.  We also setup a local videographer to record this roundtable so the responses could be used for future training.  These individuals have years of safe driving, and millions of miles behind the wheel.  Their success has not been by luck, but from the hard work they have put in at perfecting their craft.  Each one provided valuable feedback on what they feel works, and what they feel doesn't in regards to what we are doing from a safety standpoint both within the company and within our region.  We appreciate them coming out and helping us improve our safety results!