AN EDITORIAL : He kept on truckin’
Posted on Friday, December 8, 2006
ARKANSAS lost another of its business giants
yesterday, when trucking magnate J. B. Hunt
died—though he was such a no-airs kind of guy, “trucking magnate” just doesn’t sound right. He was more like a good friend and helper—to a whole state. Mr. Hunt died after a weekend injury suffered when he slipped and fell on ice. The sad news came after several hopeful days when family, friends and those who only knew him by reputation had prayed for his recovery.
J. B. Hunt’s death at the age of 79 ends another of those legendary Arkansas business stories. His stature as an Arkansas original—and business success—was comparable to that of Sam Walton of Bentonville, who parlayed a family-owned store into the world’s biggest retailer.
J. B. Hunt built a small trucking company, which he started in 1969, into the present-day J. B. Hunt Transport, the country’s largest publicly traded truckload carrier. The company’s trucks, with their familiar logos, are common sights on the nation’s highways. Based in Lowell, J. B. Hunt Transport has more than 16, 000 employees and a fleet of some 11, 000 trucks. Not bad for the son of Depression-era sharecroppers. Or for a seventh-grade drop-out who started his first business by collecting and distributing rice hulls to be used in the poultry industry.
A native of Heber Springs, young Hunt worked for years as a truck driver before starting J. B. Hunt Transport. His earlier business ventures often took him through Northwest Arkansas, where he and his family moved in 1972 just as his trucking business was taking off.
His trucking company now has annual sales of more than $ 1 billion. The company reported a quarterly profit of $ 57. 83 million, or 39 cents a share, for the period that ended in September.
J. B. Hunt Transport would become a pioneer in rail-to-truck transportation. In 1989, the company made a deal with what is now the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation. The result: J. B. Hunt Transport’s rail-to-truck division continues to register double-digit growth. Most recently it recorded an 18 percent increase in operating income for the third quarter, bringing in a total of $ 46. 4 million for the quarter.
But the trucking company was only a part of J. B. Hunt’s business career. While remaining on the company’s board until 2004, he retired from active service in 1995 and devoted himself to other ventures. He was a tireless promoter of growth in Northwest Arkansas, which translated into growth for the entire state.
In later years, Mr. Hunt became deeply involved in real estate, construction and development. He was instrumental in several major development projects in Northwest Arkansas. For example, he was part of the Pinnacle Group of investors, which has just opened the Pinnacle Hills Promenade—a 1-million-square-foot retail and office center in Rogers.
J. B. Hunt made business fun. (Among his interests were expensive jets and racehorses. )
In a 1999 interview, Mr. Hunt spoke about his faith, and said he prayed and read the Bible every day for 30 minutes in his search for spiritual wisdom. “God gives everybody at least one gift,” he said of his business success. “If you pursue that gift, you become good at it without effort.”
J. B. Hunt didn’t think of himself as rich. In another interview, he said that money had nothing to do with real wealth. His take: “(T ) here are a lot of rich people who are poor and a lot of poor people who are rich.” He said he thought of himself as maybe the happiest rich man in the country.
The secret of his success ? Mr. Hunt said it was his wife of 54 years, Johnelle Hunt.
Like others who have achieved so much, the Hunts were generous with their good fortune. Just last year, they gave $ 5 million to the University of Arkansas. The gift was among the largest the university has ever received. At the time the Hunts made the donation, it pushed the university past its goal of $ 900 million to support academic and athletic programs.
For all his impact on his home state, Mr. Hunt stayed in touch with his rural roots. He described himself and his wife as just folks, and was most comfortable in cowboy boots and hat. He once said that if he had to do it all over again, he’d get an education, though he was proof that a formal education isn’t required to be financially successful.
J. B. Hunt used that success to make a positive difference in Arkansas for so many of us. As giants go, they don’t get any bigger than that.
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