A loving marriage between founder Johnnie Bryan Hunt and his wife Johnelle was the foundation that J.B. Hunt’s success was built upon. When Mr. Hunt decided to pursue his dreams and start his own transportation business, Mrs. Hunt rolled up her sleeves and together they built one of the largest transportation companies to date.
J.B. and Johnelle Hunt
A match made in heaven, J.B., a dreamer, and Johnelle, a realist, started off as many trucking families do. Mr. Hunt was an over the road truck driver and Mrs. Hunt took care of all things off the road. For their first 20 years of marriage, they would spend precious few days together before Mr. Hunt would be back on the road. Mrs. Hunt’s advice for the spouses of long haul drivers, “It’s not the time that they’re away from home, it’s how you use your time when they are home.”
With big dreams and an impeccable work ethic, the two combined their skills to create the largest rice hull company in the country. The Hunts wouldn’t stop there. The pair then moved into the transportation sector and with just five trucks, seven trailers and big dreams, they created a trucking empire.
Of the dream team, Sr. VP of Sales Paul Bingham said, “Mr. Hunt came up with the ideas, some might have been wild and crazy, and Mrs. Hunt always added that little dose of reality. That’s what made it work so well.”
The love J.B. and Johnelle shared is one of the greatest foundations of J.B. Hunt. Love, big dreams, dedication and hard work were things they knew were important in their relationship and their business. We’re happy to carry on that legacy.
Our founders started a great tradition of power couples. Many couples have found successful careers with J.B. Hunt and enjoy the benefits and stability created by Mr. and Mrs. Hunt and expanded upon for the last 60 years.
Anneka and T-Bone
One of those couples is J.B. Hunt driver, Anneka, and her husband, T-Bone, a retired J.B. Hunt driver. T-Bone and Anneka met during a SMITH system class where T-Bone was the instructor and Anneka was a driver attendee. A friend of Anneka’s had gone to class the day before and encouraged her to be in T-Bone’s group. The rest is history. Married now for seven years, they will always have J.B. Hunt to thank for their chance meeting.
Amber and Chris
Some J.B. Hunt couples have encouraged the other to join after they had a rewarding experience here. After Chris began working here in 2018, his wife, Amber, looked for jobs that would fit her expertise and interests. She craved the stability that J.B. Hunt brought Chris and wanted that in her job, as well.
When it comes to working, Chris and Amber believe it helps them support each other’s careers, “Being part of the same organization and culture allows us to have a real understanding of each other’s career goals and aspirations. Which in turn, allows us to take our support for each other to a greater level.”
Something very important to them was the family support that J.B. Hunt provided, “We welcomed our daughter in June of 2019 and working at J.B. Hunt allows us to make sure all of her needs are met. Family comes first at J.B. Hunt and that kind of support is amazing.”
Foster and Jake
Foster and Jake met in college and both had different plans for what their future careers would look like. Looking back, they are glad that they changed courses and landed at J.B. Hunt!
“When we tell people we both work for J.B. Hunt, they always ask ‘How do you guys work together?’ They never realize how many different departments J.B. Hunt really has. As we continue to grow within our careers here, we are both extremely thankful our original plans didn’t work out,” Foster said.
Emily and Joe
Emily and Joe both work at corporate but in very different departments. This allows them to communicate and see each other during the day, while bringing different skills and services to our company. “We have very different jobs within the company, so it’s also fun to discuss work at the end of the day and learn more about how we each serve the company through our different departments and jobs,” Emily said.
When asked how Mr. and Mrs. Hunt inspired them as a couple, they said, “Mr. and Mrs. Hunt provided a great example of hard work and dedication, as well as the confidence to dream big and never stop pursuing those dreams. Their story gives us the courage and drive to think big and chase the dreams we have for our own family and future.”
The love that built J.B. Hunt has never stopped with the Hunts or the many couples that have built their lives with us, but it extends to every driver, customer, custodian and the thousands of people that make J.B. Hunt what it is. We are proud to go beyond just saying we love our J.B. Hunt family, by showing it through great benefits, mental health services, celebrations, recognition and growth opportunities.
We would LOVE for you to join us! Please call 1-877-791-9458 or pre-qualify to learn about our driving jobs or for office job openings, visit jbhunt.jobs!