J.B. Hunt Employee Review

I worked at J.B. Hunt full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – The pros of JBHT ? Well it was a job and paid the bills for a few years early in my career...It taught me how to handle stressful situations, how *not* to lead/manage people, and has in some arenas (where folks are familiar with how difficult an environment this organization was) reflected well on a resume. To be balanced and fair, while it was by far the exception rather than the norm, I did meet some great individuals and experience personal development while there. Company stock has outperformed, and Intermodal/DCS business units are solid to the portfolio and remain in a growth stage.

To what extent this place served as a solid start for my career is still yet to be determined - thus far I can only say it set me back professionally a few years and I'm still trying to make up that ground. Hopefully one day I'll look back and see it differently.

Cons – Where do I start ? I suppose the #1 issue JBHT had at its core was compensation. A good pay check covers many sins/ills, and much of the poor culture and bizarre managerial practices could be better tolerated if you were making money. Sadly, almost NOBODY makes any money at this company. Honestly, I rare encountered anyone who made $50K salary which is a fairly humble figure at most mid-cap to large companies. The company operated in the stone age when it came to HR practices - there were no pay bands, compensation was a very taboo topic, every time a budget cut was necessary employees salary/benefits were the first thing to go. Bonuses, even when metrics were achieved, were often times not granted due to a variety of lame reasons. I could write book about the "cons", but in general, there was little development of employees or fair compensation.

Advice to Senior Management – Promote integrity, fairness, and employee benefits. In other words: transform the culture. If you do this, they'll take care of you! This is being strategic and focusing more on the long term...Be slower to hire, vetting candidates thoroughly,and then develop/promote those individuals to encourage retention.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company