JB hunt intermodal chicago

I was a dispatcher out of the Chicago terminal for intermodal. I have since moved and am no longer employed at JB Hunt. Out of the Chicago terminal you can run Iowa ded., Wisconsin ded. (which I dont recommend), dedicated toyota (sweet deal if you can get it), or regular OTR (which is really more like midwest regional). JB Hunt pays decent and has great benefits. The equipment is in great shape and does not go down very much. If you need maintenance try and get it dun somewhere else than Chicago. That shop is simply too busy. They still run 58" sleeper Freightliner centuries although they are replacing them with International Pro Star 53" sleepers running Maxxforce 13 and 10 speed trans. As far as I know electronic logs are still in the testing phase but as time goes on I'm sure they will be wide spread. Chicago Terminal has decent facilities although the yard can get VERY crowded and noisy.

As far as miles and such it is a good gig. The only thing I suggest is don't go Wisc. dedicated. Those drivers are always pissed and rightfully so. Any other fleet and you are good to go. I left in 2010 and while there it was pretty steady for most guys to get 2400. If you don't get at least 2200 your manager will be calling you asking why you aren't running more miles. Anything less than 450 miles driven per day JB loses money on that truck. They have an incentive to get you at least 2200 miles otherwise they catch it from their boss. Most load planning is done based on your ETA and available hours. Always keep that updated and you will get a load. I say most because sometimes when we have something important we may look for certain drivers. So always be professional and have good communication to earn that kind of reputation.

Most freight is drop and hook. Normally it is not a big deal to find an empty container to move on your next load. The pools are managed fairly well. To get an empty chassis at the rail yards is easy. JB Hunt has dedicated chassis pools that other companies do not.

I see bad stuff about JB all the time but I have the chance I would love to work for them as a dispatcher and if I were a driver I would want to work for them. JB Hunt in my opinion has their act together and is always looking to add customers. They are not dependent on any big accounts like smaller companies are.

 

I'm not what the experience requirements are anymore but if you can go local that is also a nice gig. All the drivers I met in local loved it. I would want the day shift though. The traffic sucks and the day shift guys that work there aren't the best to work with. Night shift is much more laid back . Some of them would tell me how much they make and I was blown away . You can make more money doing local for less work than driving as a road driver.

 

Yea, well, ...that also depends on you, and how good you are a runner/driver..