J.B. Hunt Showcases ESG Advancement in New 2022 Sustainability Report
Furniture World News Desk on
8/9/2023
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. has published a report for its subsidiary J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. detailing the company’s progress toward environmental, social, and corporate governance performance.
“In 2022, we celebrated some incredible achievements by addressing challenges with energy and creativity while positioning our organization for long-term growth opportunities,” said John Roberts, CEO of J.B. Hunt. “Looking ahead, we remain eager to follow through on our commitments and goals to deliver on our mission to create the most efficient transportation network in North America.”
Reducing Carbon Emissions
One of the most significant initiatives the company announced last year was setting an ambitious goal to reduce carbon emission intensity 32% by 2034 (with a 2019 baseline). Specifically, J.B. Hunt will focus on three key areas to reach its emission-reduction target: incorporating alternative powered equipment into its fleet, expanding the use of biogenic fuels, and improving fuel economy (diesel powered miles-per-gallon “MPG”). Achieving the company’s ambitious target is dependent on significant progress with the development and availability of new industry technology and the infrastructure needed to safely enable their day-to-day use on an industry-wide scale.
J.B. Hunt also leads the industry in converting over-the-road highway freight to rail intermodal, reducing a shipment’s carbon footprint by an average of 60%. J.B. Hunt operates the largest company-owned intermodal fleet in North America with more than 116,000 53’ containers supported by company-owned chassis and tractors, with plans to expand to as many as 150,000 containers in the next two-to-four years. In 2022, the company avoided an estimated 3.6 million metric tons of CO2e emissions by converting over-the-road loads to intermodal. It also helped company drivers avoid an estimated 3.5 million empty miles through J.B. Hunt 360°®, its multimodal digital freight marketplace.
Powered by a People-Focused Culture
J.B. Hunt considers an inclusive workplace essential to fostering company growth and innovation. Throughout 2022 and 2023, J.B. Hunt has earned several national recognitions for its people-focused culture, including three from Newsweek for its efforts toadvance diversity, women, and job starters. The company hosts six overall employee resource groups (ERG), with a collective total of 5,000-plus ERG members, that provide support networks for female, LGBTQIA+, veteran, Latino, African American, and Asian American and Pacific Islander employees and promotes a sense of belonging for everyone. Fortune also named the company one of America’s Most Admired Companies for the 12th time, and J.B. Hunt moved into the top 300 on the outlet’s Fortune 500 list of largest U.S. companies.
“By continuing to invest in our people, technology and capacity, we are creating a strong company that delivers for our customers and communities,” said Shelley Simpson, president of J.B. Hunt. “Developing an inclusive culture is what fuels our innovation and positions us to best serve the diverse world in which we operate.”
Advancing Supply Chain Education
After J.B. Hunt’s five years of continuous support to the University of Arkansas, in August 2022, the Sam M. Walton College of Business Program for Supply Chain Management was named as the J.B. Hunt Transport Department of Supply Chain Management, furthering J.B. Hunt’s vision of creating the most efficient transportation network in North America. Through a new $1.5 million commitment to Sam M. Walton College, the company aims to advance innovative, supply chain-focused initiatives, studying factors such as inclusion, sustainability, thought leadership, education, and innovation. It will also support research, internships, scholarships, and case competitions in supply chain management.
In 2022, J.B. Hunt awarded a total of $250,000 in scholarships to 100 recipients as part of the company’s new scholarship program, the J.B. Hunt Scholarship Program for Families. The application-based scholarship program is available to dependent children or grandchildren of J.B. Hunt employees who currently attend or plan to attend an accredited two or four-year college, trade school or vocational school. The company continued the program in 2023, and a new class will be announced later this year.
Additional Achievements
J.B. Hunt was one of the first industry carriers to publish a Sustainability Report in 2020. Additional highlights from the latest report reflect the company’s investment in core foundation areas and include:
- Increasing usage of biogenic fuels by 6.9 million incremental gallons in company assets.
- Creating the J.B. Hunt Inclusion Office and Inclusion Council to ensure that inclusion remains a key component of creating exceptional employee experiences.
- Taking delivery of the first company-owned Class 8 electric Freightliner eCascadia truck and incorporated it into operations.
- Celebrating the second and third company drivers who achieved five million safe miles driven.
- Representing drivers at the U.S. Department of Labor Hall of Honor induction ceremony recognizing all essential workers for their dedication during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Launching the Scheduling Standards Consortium with Convoy and Uber Freight, which aims to solve transportation scheduling challenges by establishing the freight industry’s first formal set of appointment scheduling application programming interface (API) standards.
The 2022 Sustainability Report was prepared in reference to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards and in alignment with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) frameworks. In recent years, J.B. Hunt has improved efforts to transparently disclose and report ESG performance to stakeholders in its annual proxy statement, on its website, in its 2020 Sustainability Report, and its 2021 Data Supplement. J.B. Hunt also voluntarily participates in other ESG disclosures such as CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), S&P Global, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) Annual Policy Survey, EcoVadis, Corporate Equality Index, and Sustainalytics. Additional information on the company’s sustainability program is available on the J.B. Hunt website.
About J.B. Hunt
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. is on a mission to create the most efficient transportation network in North America. The company’s industry-leading solutions and mode-neutral approach generate value for customers by eliminating waste, reducing costs and enhancing supply chain visibility. Powered by one of the largest company-owned fleets in the country with more than 162,000 pieces of trailing equipment and nearly one million accessible trucks through its J.B. Hunt 360°® digital freight marketplace, J.B. Hunt can meet the unique shipping needs of any business, from first mile to final delivery, and every shipment in-between. Through disciplined investments in its people, technology and capacity, J.B. Hunt is delivering exceptional value and service that enable long-term growth for the company and its stakeholders.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. is a Fortune 500 company, an S&P 500 company and a component of the Dow Jones Transportation Average. Its stock trades on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol JBHT. J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of JBHT. The company’s services include intermodal, dedicated, refrigerated, truckload, less-than-truckload, flatbed, single source, last mile, transload and more. For more information, visit www.jbhunt.com.