Driver Safety at J.B. Hunt
We know that safety is a top priority for you as a driver, and it’s a top priority for us, too. At J.B. Hunt, we believe that cultivating a culture of safety is one of the most important ways we can show our employees how much we care, because working toward safety together means working toward each of our people getting home safely to what matters most.
Our drivers take great pride in doing their job well and in doing it safely, and we recognize their pride in safe driving with awards and – most importantly – a culture that empowers them to make the safest decisions they can while out on the road. Continued training, certifications and safety milestone recognitions are just a few ways we support our drivers and uphold our safety culture!
Our Commitment to Safety
Few people at J.B. Hunt represent our company values better than our drivers: integrity, respect, innovation, safety and excellence. Our values, along with our focus on safety and taking care of our people, were instilled from the very beginning by Johnnie Bryan Hunt, the driver who founded our company.
Driven for You™
Everything we do is with drivers in mind. Our drivers help shape our culture and our success by taking pride in their work, putting safety first and sharing their experience with new drivers.
James has been a driver with J.B. Hunt Intermodal since it first launched 35 years ago and has been awarded for more than three million safe driving miles. He has trained countless drivers over his career and says that his passion for excellence and safety comes from meeting Mr. Hunt and seeing his legacy in our company culture.
"Mr. Hunt said to treat the equipment right. Treat people right. If there's something wrong with the equipment, you get it fixed. It’s all about the drivers,” said James. “And so that's how I represent the company ... everything J.B. Hunt instilled in me, I instill that in the drivers that I train.”
James says that it’s important to him to teach about safety, because his priority will always be to get home to his family.
“Safety is the priority and number one, because I need to get back home to my wife and daughter,” he said. “I tell them often I am coming back home. And in order to get back home, you have to be safe.”
Our Safety Culture
It takes every one of us to maintain our safety culture, but we do more than stick to the status quo. With drivers like James pushing us forward, and the rest of the company supporting our drivers by chasing excellence in their roles, we’ve had two back-to-back years of record-breaking safety performance. That includes Preventable DOT Collisions, maintenance shop safety and everything in between. For one intermodal ramp in Iowa, that meant one million hours of accident-free work at our onsite maintenance shop.
With more than 20,000 company drivers alone, we are incredibly proud of our people for these achievements. We work hard to provide the tools, training and recognition it takes to support our drivers in their safety goals. In addition to ongoing safety training throughout the year, we make sure all our drivers and driver managers stay up to date on Smith System® certifications as part of our company-wide commitment to safety.
Rewarding safe driving is important and is something we strive to do throughout the year as our drivers reach new safety milestones, with our largest safety celebration being our Million Mile event.
To James, being recognized for his safety throughout his career and coming to experience his Million Mile celebration with his family took his breath away.
“It meant a whole lot to me. It meant a whole lot to even see the smile on their faces, my wife's face, my daughter's face,” he said. “I don't know of anybody that's doing anything like this nowadays ... It shows that J.B. Hunt appreciates even family to come and experience this as well.”
Let’s Get Started
We love our drivers, and a big way we show that is taking their safety on the road seriously. If you’re ready to drive with a say-do company that shows up for their drivers, we think we have the job for you. Give us a call at 1-877-791-9458 or fill out our short form to take the next step today.