J.B. Hunt

The $387 billion U.S. truckload sector is still stuck in a three-year freight recession, with soft demand, rising bankruptcies, and tariff-driven volatility continuing to weigh on carriers. Yet, amid mergers, bankruptcies, and shifting global trade, leading operators like J.B. Hunt, Knight-Swift, and Werner are adapting business models, pursuing cross-border growth, and investing in efficiencies to weather the downturn.

AI-driven digital freight matching platforms are transforming the brokerage landscape, helping shippers and carriers automate workflows, boost utilization, and navigate the lingering freight recession. Industry leaders say technology adoption is now table stakes, with consolidation, predictive pricing, and hybrid human-tech models driving the next wave of growth and efficiency.

A trio of freight transportation service providers—J.B. Hunt Transport Services, a subsidiary of Lowell, Ark.-based trucking and intermodal services bellwether J.B. Hunt, Fort Worth, Texas-based Class I railroad carrier BNSF Railway, and Mexico-based rail services provider GMXT—rolled out a new intermodal service focusing on the Mexican market.

This endeavor, which kicked off in January, is comprised of Kodiak’s autonomous trucks hauling Bridgestone’s passenger car tires between South Carolina and Dallas, according to the companies. And they added that over this period there have been no accidents, while having hit 100% on-time pick-up and delivery, coupled with the three companies also expanding efforts in the form of more weekly deliveries on the route.

The best fleets, buffeted by higher costs and now increasing environmental mandates, manage to stay ahead of competition through vision, strategy, and execution. But in the end, executives say it’s their people who make the biggest difference.

The company announced today that Shelley Simpson, JBH president, has been appointed as chief executive officer, in addition to her duties as president, coupled with her nomination for election to the company’s Board of Directors.

J.B. Hunt Transport signed a multiyear deal with global retail giant Walmart, with a key component of the deal being its acquisition of Walmart’s intermodal assets, including its operational intermodal container and chassis fleets.  

The companies said that the new service, entitled Quantum, accommodates what they called the service-sensitive highway freight needs of customer supply chains. And they added that the main objective of the service is on providing the consistency, agility, and speed required to move sensitive freight via rail, with a specific customer focus on service expectations, transit requirements, and operational procedures.

Truckload market waits for “freight recession” to end

While there is often a lot of talk about things like the need for, or even potential, for more standardized processes, when it comes to keeping truck wheels rolling and staying on schedule to meet tight deadlines, there is much more than meets the eye required to take that from a concept to a reality.

Three household names in freight transportation and logistics announced they are partnering up in the name of standardization by establishing what they said is the first set of freight-focused appointment scheduling application programming interface (API) standards.

While rail freight and intermodal volumes waver, service stays steady.

Company officials said that this facility, which it said is strategically located, will support the Los Angeles and Long Beach area, with various services, including port drayage and transloading, coupled with “quick access” to both outbound rail and highway transport, and also work in tandem with its recently rolled out plan to help shippers expedite overseas freight delivery in a long-term multi-vessel service agreement.

Hunt officials said the purchase price was approximately $87 million, adding that when this acquisition is made official, J.B. Hunt and Bassett will enter into a long-term master services agreement whereby J.B. Hunt will continue to provide the exceptional service Zenith has performed for Bassett for almost 50 years.

Lowell, Ark.-based trucking and intermodal services bellwether J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. announced that its subsidiary, J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. has partnered up with autonomous driving technology developer Waymo, in an initiative focused on an intra-Texas test run movement of freight for a leading J.B. Hunt shipper customer.