Mike's Book Club: JB Hunt The Long Haul to Success

Mike2633 · Feb 28, 2018

LoneCowboy said: ↑

Truckers are their own worse enemy.

And no, i don't get the lack of tools. You do this all day every day, wouldn't you invest a couple hundred dollars to save 30 minutes a day? In a year that's like an amazing amount of time (If i stopped to do math I could figure it out)
but no
nothing

BTW, I would have never lent out my 2 wheelers. it ain't coming back, if it does it will be broken or something. Buy your own you cheap bastids (to them, not you).
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One of our people spent $1000 on a pair of princess cut earings for him self, but if it came to spending $5.00 on a rag to clean his windows off, nope can't do it just going to have to drive blind I guess.

Cardfan89 · Feb 28, 2018

We had a new guy transfer in a couple of years ago and the first thing he says is wheres your gloves at all of us looked at him strange and it turns out the last terminal he was at provided all they guys with gloves.... he got a rude awakening lol he transferred back with in the year

Mike2633 · Feb 28, 2018

Cardfan89 said: ↑

We had a new guy transfer in a couple of years ago and the first thing he says is wheres your gloves at all of us looked at him strange and it turns out the last terminal he was at provided all they guys with gloves.... he got a rude awakening lol he transferred back with in the year
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Yeah were on our own for gloves hell can't even find a pen to write with at our office 99.9% of the time. Although we have plenty of staples and staplers were never short of those.

Mike2633 · Feb 28, 2018

Alright everyone it just occurred to me we have a teachable moment here:

Mike2633 · Feb 28, 2018

So as I know many of you did, you all read my post Chapter 4 Part 3.

Well, all the companies I named were companies that were around in 1991. Notice how I never said US Foods. Why is this? Because US Foods wasn't invented yet. US Foods didn't come into fruition until 1997. When S.E. Rykoff merged with John Sexston Company. And they weren't US Foods they were US Food Service.

Notice how I never mentioned McLane. Why not, because that would be blasphemous especially if were talking about 1991. McLane existed, but they weren't what they are today. Yum Brands wasn't a thing in 1991.

If I ever write my book "Off Load" A Comprehensive History of Broadline Food Service Distribution in the United States of America

I'll have an entire chapter devoted to PFS Company.

That's right PepsiCo Food Systems Company. Lost forever to history this company is almost never talked about or heard of, but they were big in there day. Had a fancy truck fleet and everything. There's only one picture of there truck fleet on the internet though and it's that link that I had in my post above.

Anyhow will talk a little bit more about them tomorrow.

To be continued...

Mike_77 · Mar 1, 2018

Mike2633 said: ↑

Chapter 4 Part III

As Mr. Stier eased out on the highway he got his rig rolling to a stead 55 miles per hour. This was where J.B. Hunt trucks achieved maximum fuel efficiency. As the truck drove on down the road towards Dallas town.

Car's wizzed by and fancy long nose chromed out Peterbuilts and Kenworth W900s flew by him at 100 miles an hour. However Mr. Stier wasn't intimidated nor afraid as he was working for the biggest company on the road. The miles clicked on by click, click, click.

The International tractor's diesel engine moaned it's same old song. Mr. Stier watched as a set of doubles got in the passing lane and pulled by him a white International conventional tractor with a big air shield that said ALLIANT FOOD SERVICE
View attachment 213724
Yes this was at the birth of modern broadline food service distribution. The other trucks would pass too, one that had the logo's of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut on the side of the trailer. The truck said Pepsi Food Service on the door. Big White GMC Day Cab truck. Pulling a fancy modern day 48' trailer with doors on the side of the trailer.
DO NOT COPY - DO NOT POST ON YouTube or Facebook or other Personal Web Sites

Another truck passed by an Orange International Cabover looked like a Schneider Truck, but it wasn't it had a stainless steel trailer and on the side of that trailer it said MBM CORPORATION ROCKY MOUNT, NORTH CAROLINA CUSTOMIZED FOOD SERVICE DISTRIBUTION.

Yes we were at the birth of something new. America was ready to enter the "Go Go 1990s".
Alicia Silverstone:
View attachment 213727

Shopping Malls with Neon Lights:

It was the birth of the 1990s and Mr.Stier and his colleagues from all the different companies were as M.S. Carriers slogan said "Delivering Your Future"

As the night grew darker Mr. Stier (33 years old at the time) decided it was time for a break his only break of the night as he had to keep moving down the road to Dallas, Texas. As he clicked on his signal a great white tractor trailer truck another cab over International 9600 but from a very different company passed him up the truck said
WAL-MART-SAM'S CLUB BENTONVILLE,ARKANSAS on the door. Mr.Sam as he was known in those days was on to something big.

As Mr.Stier eased into the flying J he found a cozy spot next to a Maroon International Conventional tractor with full condo sleeper. CANNON EXPRESS SPRINGDALE,ARKANSA is what it said on the door.

People talk about the 1970s being the golden age of trucking, but I was born a couple years less then a decade after the 1970s ended. But to me now looking back the 1990s had a magic to them the 1990s was almost like a second golden age. I know to some that might sound blasphemous, but I don't know there was some magic there.

Anyhow Mr.Stier had a nice pork chop dinner and reflected upon how the truck stops were full of danger drugs, alcohol seedy characters, all good things to stay clear of as he paid his bill and got a move on.

As Mr.Stier entered the city limits of Dallas Town, it was dark night. The directions he had all they said was 7th. Well sure enough he found him self in a residential neighborhood lost as all get out.
He carefully navigated the truck into a Hospital Parking lot shut the truck off and did some looking on foot.

Nowhere, near where he needed to be. Time for a phone call. Mr.Stier called the Little Rock, JB Hunt Terminal and was transferred to the Dallas Terminal where he poke to a dispatcher who couldn't have given lesser of a crap what happened to him or the load. So after accomplishing nothing calling the company.

Mr.Stier walked over to the local 711 store where a city of Dallas Police Man was sitting in his patrol car, a big new 1991 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1:

Mr.Stier struck up a conversation with the police man the police man pulled out a map of the city and said that Mr.Stier probably wanted 7th street which was an industrial area down town. Mr. Stier was on 7th avenue which was an upper middle class residential area.

Mr.Stier thanked the police man and went on his way.
He pulled into the industrial park and found the Ben E. Keith warehouse. He was the first truck in line. It was late at night, but he had arrived on time and would be there early in the morning for unloading of his 26,000lbs of cereal.

Mr. Stier shut his truck down and climbed into the sleeper cab in the back and went to sleep and went to bed.

In the morning he would be unloaded and then he would be sent to a paper factory where he would wait in line half the day to be loaded with 3 other J.B. Hunt drivers. Then he would be on his way to his home in Lousiana where he would spend the night at home with his wife Candy. Along the way he would call dispatch and tease his dispatcher about a big load headed to California boy would that be nice all those good miles.

Mr.Stier would switch out trailers with another J.B. Hunt driver and head back to the Little Rock, terminal in hopes of getting that big load to California or trading loads to get to California.

This was life on the road at J.B.Hunt in 1991. While the trucks and technology has changed many things haven't.

Grocery Warehouses are still grocery warehouses and all the usual OTR Tom Foolery still exists.

End Chapter 4. Next Chapter is J.B. Hunts Operations Department.
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Another company that probably passed JB Hunts Mr Stier would have been their dry van competitor from Tennessee US Xpress/Southwest Motor Freight. The video below is from the 1990's, back when US Xpress put a little effort into customizing their tractors. I always like how they painted the normally grey FLD120 bumpers red to match the cab. If memory serves me most of the US Xpress FLD's had the tractor side skirts painted red as well? I always liked the look of a FLD when the skirts and the bumper matched the cab. I forgot they had Classic XL's back then until I watched the video.

Mike_77 · Mar 1, 2018

LoneCowboy said: ↑

Thomas Guides were awesome (before i was truck driving, but not driving driving). I finally threw the last of mine out for LA just a couple years ago. (not that we do any new road construction). Ahhh, the young, they are so screwed when their phones die. Not a one of them can read a map.
and I loved Convoy (movie and song). As a little kid and now as a little (old) kid. Corny yeah, but ya know.
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Those Thomas Guides were especially handy for LA area deliveries and pickups due to the fact that there was a good chance no one spoke English if I did call for directions ,this was especially true for deliverys anywhere off I-710.

Mike_77 · Mar 1, 2018

Mike2633 said: ↑

Silverstone's great I have fun putting her into these posts she's almost like a meme that I pop in for fun. Keep's everyone interested! She's a good sport about it, not that she's bothered to actually tell me one way or the other. I don't know how busy she is researching trucking history in North America.

Although I bet I bet any money that movies she was in when they were made on VHS tape (remember those? I actually have a hooked up and working VCR it was made in 1998! All part of the fun now!) were probably shipped in a J.B. Hunt truck from the VHS tape plant to Suncoast Motion Picture Company Distribution Center's across the country. Then distributed via LTL truck or UPS, FedEx whoever to the local shopping malls. So you see Silverstone was an indirect consumer of Mr. Hunts service.
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Lol. I think Clueless is the quintessential 90's movie.

Mike2633 · Mar 1, 2018

Mike_77 said: ↑

View attachment 213884

Another company that probably passed JB Hunts Mr Stier would have been their dry van competitor from Tennessee US Xpress/Southwest Motor Freight. The video below is from the 1990's, back when US Xpress put a little effort into customizing their tractors. I always like how they painted the normally grey FLD120 bumpers red to match the cab. If memory serves me most of the US Xpress FLD's had the tractor side skirts painted red as well? I always liked the look of a FLD when the skirts and the bumper matched the cab. I forgot they had Classic XL's back then until I watched the video.

Click to expand...

Cool video on USX. I wonder how many people in this video are still there at the company

Mike2633 · Mar 1, 2018

Mike_77 said: ↑

View attachment 213884

Another company that probably passed JB Hunts Mr Stier would have been their dry van competitor from Tennessee US Xpress/Southwest Motor Freight. The video below is from the 1990's, back when US Xpress put a little effort into customizing their tractors. I always like how they painted the normally grey FLD120 bumpers red to match the cab. If memory serves me most of the US Xpress FLD's had the tractor side skirts painted red as well? I always liked the look of a FLD when the skirts and the bumper matched the cab. I forgot they had Classic XL's back then until I watched the video.

Click to expand...

I like those FLD120"s. Good looking trucks. It looks like US Xpress did indeed paint some of there tractors side skirts. I almost went to work for US Xpress a couple years ago.

In fact tomorrow is my 3 year anniversary with GFS.

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