J.B. Hunt - Why your company will never be this good.

I have done intermodal but not for JB. It is going to be about location. Chicago is b bad but other locations can be ok. Biggest complaint I heard from these guys was the cut in pay over past couple years and then not getting it back as things have picked up. But they seem to be good at getting you home on regular basis if not night ly.

BBB

 

I hope that was take home for NYC. I used to run manhatten, about 1k take home. So instead of 11 bux and hour I was making 14. Its not worth it for all that DAC altering trafic!

 

J.B. Hunt is not really a OTR company anymore. This is why the miles are no longer there. I drove for them from 1984 to 1991.

 

They must be really desparate for drivers. Got a robo call from them today pitching a recruiting gig. Hung up on them then began to wonder, how in the h e ll did they get my cell phone #?

 

Actually it is a marketing company they hired. There is a number of trucking companies that use them. I read a story that the ATA sells your name to them if ever you got a safe driving award and your company is an ATA member.

 

Funny thing about JB, they used to hire anyone, then they got a bad rep for drivers getting in lots of accidents. Now they want a nearly clean record fo the past 5 years. They dont really pay well, the tractors are governed to 62. What do they expect, someone with a super clean record and wants to make money is going somewhere else. I put an app in last year to see what they are about now, my mistake they dont leave me alone.

 

Like any big company they are "Safety Minded". Way too much over the shoulder stuff here. The money is good if you are on the local dedicated gig. I barely get 2000 miles a week but gross over 1,000 monday thru Friday. This is because 40% of my pay is for stuff other than driving ( Drop & hook, detention pay) I work out of the Pittston PA terminal.

 

I got to agree. I was on the OTR board for 9 years, they pretty much chased everyone off with drastic pay cuts. All the old hands like myself were put on dedicated accounts. The "regional" drivers are what used to be "OTR," and they are making around 30 cents a mile. I actually did that job for a month, about a year and a half ago, until they found a dedicated account to put me on. Nothing more enraging than putting in 3000 miles and getting a $600 paycheck. When I got on the dedicated account, they brought me back up to my of pay rate, 45 cents a mile, which I believe is top pay. My account hauls a lot of hazmat, and each hazmat load pays an extra $50. If I get 3 or 4 hazmat loads in one week, that's a hell of a bonus.

Right now they are crying for dedicated drivers out of Pennsylvania, especially in the Harrisburg area. So if you live in PA, I'm not surprised if the recruiters are hounding you.

My advice with JB Hunt, if you get it in writing that you're going to be put on a dedicated account or the rail division, it's a great place. If they put you on the "regional" board, the job stinks. The pay is low, and there's nothing "regional" about it. The month I did it, I was told I would be put on a "loop," from Columbus, Oh, to Laredo, TX for $.32 a mile. I spent the majority of that month in New Jersey.

If you find yourself on the low paying regional board, the only way off it is to call the right person. The recruitment dept, or anyone else in Lowell for that matter, isn't much help. Each dedicated account is run pretty much like a separate company. Find a driver on the account you want, and ask him for his account manager or fleet manager's phone number. The account manager is the guy (or lady) you want to talk to.

 

Being offered a job at that Pittston HD. I'd like talk to you about the job.
Thanks, Mark

 

update.. 2 weeks away from 1 year with JB, was offdered a brand new prostar 2 weeks ago, but took cascadia with 147,000 miles( and way more room inside) still getting .37 and1/2 cents a mile, avg over 2500 a week (Lansing,MI to Chicago,IL area and backhaul nightly) made almost $50,000.00 this year and only slept in the truck 2 times the whole year due to mechanical trailer issues. might not be the "perfect" job for everyone, but it is the best worst job I have found yet...