Happy Anniversary - Troy Smith

Happy Anniversary to Troy Smith on his 4 year anniversary with JB Hunt!  Troy is a proud graduate of The Ohio State University and holds a BA in Business Management.

Troy is our on-site Account Manager for L Brands in Reynoldsburg, OH.  Troy manages two sites (Ohio and New Jersey) that includes 30+ local and regional drivers.  Troy started his career with JB Hunt in 2013 as a DMIT.  He has held Operations Supervisor and Logistics Coordinator titles along the way at Home Depot Van Buren, OH.   

Thank you Troy for all of  your hard work!  Happy Anniversary!

Getting to Know - Dave Nieman

This week, Transportation General Manager Jeremy Stout was able to conduct a ride-along with Dave Nieman.  Dave is a local driver on the Home Depot Account in Monroe, OH.  Dave has been with JB Hunt since April 2015 and lives in Fairfield, OH.  Any time spent out on the trucks is time well spent!

 

 

Below is the write-up from Jeremy:

 

Personal Info



Dave has been a loyal local driver for the Monroe account for over 2 years since transferring from Toyota. He cut his teeth as a professional driver running over the road out of Monroe and has visited many other Home Depot RDC’s including Winchester, VA, Romeoville, IL, Westfield, MA, Breinigsville and Pittston, PA, McCalla, AL, West Columbia, SC and Lake Park, GA. He really prefers the local job this close to his home in Fairfield, OH compared to running over the road. Dave volunteered and knocked it out of the park to support Home Depot’s shuttle operations for the surge season of 2017. Dave has 2 kids at home, Zoe and Lucas, and cares about his family a great deal. Dave likes country music, camping, and spending time with his kids. He says that he stays safe on the road to go home to them every day.

Suggestions

Dave expressed that 1 thing he and his long-time girlfriend used to share was a trip over the road occasionally. Although there is a no rider policy in Monroe, I did inform Dave that with the right safety performance and tenure on the account exceptions have been made to those who have demonstrated that they can handle having a passenger and remain operating safely. We set a goal for Dave to be preventable event-free for the rest of 2017 and he could be considered. Dave admitted that he can sometimes let his mind wander as he goes about his day. I helped direct his focus by showing Dave how to send a reverse safety message to the office and asked that he do that each morning to ensure he is focused on safety before moving his truck. Dave states that moving preplans overnight can be frustrating when you show up to work and are sent in a different part of the region and recommended that we move plans as little as possible.

Getting to Know - James Lopp

 

This past week, Account Manager Rachel Knick conducted a Ride Along with one of our Professional Drivers, James Lopp.  James was recently hired on the Family Dollar Morehead Account, thus it was good for Rachel to get out on the truck and spend some quality time with our new employee.  James resides in Martinsville, VA and enjoys hanging out with is cousins in his spare time.  James has been driving CDL-A for five months with Celadon. He’s excited to join the JB Hunt & Family Dollar team. James was most interested in the Family Dollar account because of his desire to get in shape! He excited to be here, and we’re excited to have him.

 

Fun Fact: In the spring James enjoys subbing as an assistant coach at Lowell Park Middle School in Martinsville, VA.



Howard West 2 Million Mile Celebration

Congratulations to Howard West on achieving his 2 Million Safe Miles!  Recently, the Toyota Team accompanied Howard and his family to a dinner in Louisville to celebrate.  Howard has been with the company over 20 years, and had some great stories to share.  Howard and his family should be proud of this tremendous accomplishment.  Great job Howard!

 



Howard West, Jecorey Newman, and Anthony Warchol

 

2 Million Miles

Howard West and Family

Happy Anniversary Lisa Winters!

 

Please join us in congratulating Lisa Winters on her 6^th year with the Monroe Home Depot team!

 

Lisa joined JB Hunt in 2011 and has been a great asset in her support role for all operations at the Monroe account. From trip sheet organization, payroll audits prior to the submission deadline, CIL reporting, accounting for scale receipts, & keeping the office flowing with supplies, Lisa has been instrumental in helping her team accomplish their duties seamlessly. Her helpfulness and positive attitude as the primary point of contact for each dispatch that leaves the RDC helps ensure safe delivery by providing directions, pickup numbers, and extra clarity as needed for the drivers as well. Congrats on 6 wonderful years, Lisa!

Getting to Know - Anthony Coppler

This week, Logistics Coordinator Kasey Wilson did a ride along with Anthony Coppler.  Anthony is a Regional Driver based out of the Home Depot Account in Van Buren, OH.  Anthony has been with JB Hunt since August 2010 and resides in Perrysburg, OH.  Anthony has done a fantastic job in not only servicing our customer, but doing it in a safe manner.  Since 2010, he has amassed 920,000 safe miles!  It was a great experience for Kasey getting to learn and spend time with one of our best!

 

Driver Appreciation in Cloverdale VA!

This week we held our Driver Appreciation Event in Cloverdale, VA to recognize all of our professional drivers.  This fleet operates just north of Roanoke, where we have near 30 drivers that service Southern States stores and customers.  Drivers are required to assist in the unload and go above and beyond to keep our customer happy.  Thank you to all of our drivers for a job well done!

 

 

 

Getting it Done in Valdosta!

Over the last week, our team in Valdosta GA has been dealing with Hurricane Irma.  Even with hurricane force wind and rain, our team led by Lena Howard, took care of our customer in a safe manner.  We would like to thank our team for all of their hard work and efforts during this tough time!

 

Account Manager Lena Howard

 

Below is the write-up from Southern States:

 

To All,

I would like to thank and congratulate Lena and the entire JB Hunt team for the exceptional job done through the hurricane Irma hardships. JB Hunt has re- routed trucks, adjusted to the ever- changing scheduled, hauled inbound raw ingredient loads, and never complained. Hunt is a vital part of our business here in Valdosta and we are fortunate to have them on our team. To All... Thank You!  

Kem Bell

Southern States Feedmill

Valdosta,Ga



Driver Appreciation at CHEP Hamilton

On Thursday, CHEP Hamilton hosted the center piece of their driver appreciation week celebration and catered in Chick-Fil-A for the driving team.  It has been a fun week at the Hamilton site as the account management team has went out of their way to show the driving team how much they mean to them.  The week has been highlighted by hand written thank you cards, lunch coolers and ball caps for every driver on the fleet.  Thank you to all of our CHEP Hamilton drivers!

 

The Hamilton account management team enjoying some time with their driving team.  Pictured Left to Right: Administrative Assistant Kristi McQuiston, Professional Drivers: Darold Vanpetten, Robert Smith, Bob Klink and Account Manager Sean Maines

 

 

The Hamilton driving team really enjoyed the Chick-Fil-A breakfast spread

Driver Appreciation Week - CHEP Indy

This Wednesday, the account management team at our CHEP Indianapolis site hosted a driver appreciation cookout!  It is the centerpiece of their driver appreciation week where they are giving out gifts to our driving team as well as having a cookout.  Thank you to our Chep Indianapolis drivers for all of their hard work, we truly appreciate it!

Driver Appreciation banner looking good

 

Operations Supervisor Mike Johnson manned the grill while Account Manager Jerry White helped serve our driving team food.  Pictured left to right: Mike Johnson, David Patterson, Eugene Hopkins and Jerry White

Central Region Driver of the Month for August - Marty Broaddus

Congratulations to Marty Broaddus for being selected Central Region Driver of the Month for August!  Marty is a regional driver for our Southern States Account in Cloverdale, VA.  Marty joined the Southern States Cloverdale account in April 2017 when our account with Southern States in Louisville shut down.  Marty is a dedicated driver who will help out on last minute loads, not just for Cloverdale but other accounts as well.  He always comes into the office with a great attitude and never complains about his loads. Marty goes above and beyond with his loads and if possible will deliver them early.  Marty goes above and beyond with his loads and if possible will deliver them early.  He gets along with all the stores he visits and the other drivers as well.  We appreciate Marty as a hard worker who gives 100% to the account!

Happy Anniversary Mike Jackson!

Congratulations to Michael Jackson on his 12th anniversary with JB Hunt.

Mike started his JB Hunt career with our PPG DCS fleet in Delaware, OH as an Operations Supervisor. When PPG moved to Pittsburgh, PA Mike was an extremely valuable asset to the region helping out at various FMS sites as well as Home Depot Van Buren, OH. From there, Mike found a home in Reynoldsburg, OH where he is our current Operations Supervisor for Limited Logistics.

Mike is a Army vet and has 3 children (Anthony, Demarcus and Mikey). In his spare time, you can find him in the gym working out or traveling. Another thing you can always count on from Mike is to be cheering for his Pittsburgh Steelers.  Congrats on 12 years Mike!

The Ohio State Career Fair

 

This week kicks off fall recruiting.  This is a hectic time of year where we look to line up December and May graduates to fill our future growth needs.  This week, Jacqueline Buckles, Matt Burns, and Scott Tully visited The Ohio State University.  The Ohio State University has been good to JB Hunt over the years, and we have established a great partnership with this university.  We look forward to meeting with all of the great candidates and bringing on future talent to the Central Region!

Kimball International Startup

 

This week, JB Hunt DCS started its partnership with Kimball International in Jasper, IN.  DCS assumed a 41 driver private fleet from Kimball.  Kimball International ships office furniture throughout the country, where our drivers assist in the unloading.  Anytime we get new business, it takes a tremendous amount of hours and support to get the business off the ground.  We appreciate all of the operations, maintenance, HR, and safety support that has assisted over the last 6 weeks!

 

 



Getting to Know - James Yates

This past week, Sam Djung of the Home Depot Account in Van Buren, OH was fortunate to do a ride along with James Yates.  James is a Regional Driver on the account and has been a valuable contributor to the team since he was hired back in July 2014.  We appreciate James and all of his hard work!

 

 

Below is the write-up from the RATLA:

 

Jim is a proud husband and father of seven children. His children range from 12 to 26 years old. Born in Indiana, raise in Akron and currently lives in Lima. His family is big into music. They have a family band that can sing, play guitar, drums and keyboard. They made their own album. His dream is to make it big in the music industry with his family band. Another fun fact is Jim also likes to DJ at Church, Birthdays and parties. He loves anything music related.

 

Jim listed off some of the things he likes about the job. Scale App – extremely convenient. He doesn’t have to worry getting out of his truck to get scale receipt nor worry about getting reimbursed. Also like the JB App even though you can’t see what you your next load assignment is. As far as PeopleNet is concerned, he almost quit over it, but now loves it as it helps manage his hours of service.  Overall, he likes the job, because it is easy. In the future, he wants to slow down and become a local driver. For right now, he prefers regional so he can maximize his time while here on the account.



 

 

Congratulations Michael Johnson and Family!

Congratulations to the Johnson family on the birth of their daughter Madison Assata Johnson!  Michael is an Operations Supervisor for our CHEP Account in Indianapolis, IN.  Madison arrived Wednesday evening weighing in at 6 lbs and 15 oz.  Mom and Madison are doing great!