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In Memory of
J. B. Hunt Sr.
the trucker who founded a
trucking dynasty
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J. B. Hunt Sr.,
79,
passed away
December 7, 2006 after head injuries received from a fall on ice.
He
was a former truck driver who founded one of the nation’s largest
trucking companies. An Arkansas sharecropper's son born in
1927, he began J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. in 1969 with five
tractors and seven trailers. Throughout his life, he was
involved in numerous business ventures but there has so far been no
mention of his connection with the puppy mill magnate.
Arkansas based Wal-Mart
Stores Inc. eventually became Hunt's largest customer. All of Hunt's
workers were non-union and still are. It is said he saved on fuel
costs by giving bonuses to drivers who drove 55 mph. He is credited
with being the first to install computers in the big rigs, thus
saving time and money on long distance payphone calls between
truckers and dispatch.
The trucker commentary is respectful but not
affectionate and seems centered on company policy which changed
after Hunt stepped down as the company's senior chairman in 2004.
Many truckers allege that he had long before lost control of the
board. He is said to have been a generous man who carried $100
bills to give to anyone he perceived to be in genuine need. The
company is a billion-dollar business with over 16,000 employees and
a fleet of 11,000 trucks.
Johnnie Bryan Hunt was
married for 54 years to his wife, Johnelle, who, along with their
son, Bryan, remains on the J.B. Hunt board.
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