What have you heard or experience with J.B. Hunt . . .

My husband is suppose to head to Lowell, AR for orientation starting Tuesday with JB Hunt. Now he is being hired on as a dedicated driver for one of their other companies. But after reading all of the poor things everyone is saying about them I am getting a little nervous about it. He is working for another large freight company now, however its casual work and we need FT with benefits.

Is there anyone that has had a GOOD experience with JB? Man I hope so, I can't afford for us to NOT get paid.

 

You don't want anything to do with J.B.H. Read some of the hundreds of complaints in this Forum. They are as cutthroat as can be. Lies, Lies,LIES! I'm sick of these companies. Respond and I'll tell you MY horror story. Peace.

 

c r a p.....sucked into a 2 year old thread, by not reading the dates

 

I realize the original post is 2 yrs old but I'll reply anyway.

I worked on the PPG account for 9 months then transferred to another dedicated account in hopes of better pay and more hometime. I have recently requested to return to PPG and will be back on the PPG account 11/16/09.

PPG is a pretty good gig. 38 cents/mi to start (increases at 3mos and 6mos) no touch freight, 3 days off after 11 days out. You take the truck home and they even pay you the miles to your house as well as from your house to your next dispatch.

For a while I absolutely loved this job. I had a great fleet manager and aside from getting a little fewer miles than I would've liked (2200-2400/wk) life was good.

Then my FM transferred off the account and my next FM was a half moron that was allowing me to get MT with no preplan often. I was making less money and I got frustrated knowing how things could be if my new FM would just do his job better.

Anyhow I transferred to a small regional account that offered hometime every weekend and most weeknights 41 cents/mi as well as stop pay and detention pay. Anyway it involved a good bit of NYC and delivery locations more suitable for a compact car than an 18 wheeler. On top of that my current FM is a hothead with a short fuse.

I recently found out PPG is hiring in my state and the FM that I had who shorted me on miles is no longer there. So I'm headed back there with great anticipation.

Finally I'd like to say something about JBH as a place to work. JB Hunt is a very large company and has more dedicated fleets than any other trucking company. The various different accounts have different working environments, different pay structures, often are dispatched by their own individual departments and often have little in common with the OTR division. Some accounts pay better, some accounts pay worse, some offer nightly hometime and others may keep you out a month. The same variation can be said about dispatch and how much satisfaction you get from your job.

YOU CANNOT PAINT THE ENTIRE COMPANY WITH A BROAD BRUSH.

There are some driving jobs that pay excellent and are gravy and you can expect good treatment. Unfortunately there are others that are far less rewarding that you're better off avoiding. As a whole I would say it is a better company than it is portrayed here. Benefits are good and the pay is above average. They place a higher priority on safety than the majority of companies in my view. But as I said your mileage may vary depending on the division, region and what dispatch you answer to.

 

Driver's I've been thinking about going to school for J.B. Hunt. If you know anything about JB I would appreciate the advice. Thanks

 

If you like to hang out at truck stops and tell strories, then you got your wish. On the other hand, if you like to make MONEY, look somewhere else. Pre-plan is a fairy tail.

 

They are not training students, and when they did - it was limited to family members of current drivers - they are not a "student" company.

They are dumping most of their otr fleet in favor of lease purchase - and yes the take those with limited experience on to lease now - don't do it.

"Dedicated" is a term they use loosely, and if you ever had true dedicated lanes in the past - this is nothing like those.

Brokered back hauls, few "pre-plans" (unless you luck out and get one of their few good FM's).

Running all over the country on many of those, not knowing where you'll be next week (sounds like otr to me for less pay)... still sound good?

Handling freight, and all the best parts of otr for less pay since it's "dedicated".

Bottom line is if you are in an area and they need a load moved - you'll move it.

They call every load a "pre-plan", they're not - preplans are received B4 you deliver.

They just use the term "Summary of tentative preplan" and this can and often will be pulled is something else comes up more urgent.

 

Hello Guys, today I got 2 phone calls from JB hunt and schneider companies I believe they are interested in me and they are expecting me to call back but I'd appreciate if you anyone knows about them before doing anything. I mean which one I should go for. thanks

 

If you live in or around Columbus, Oh. and have at least one year of driving experience there are way better companies to work for other than J.B. or Schneider. If you are interested please feel free to contact me and I will steer you in a better direction.