Manager Trainee

Job Description

Manager Trainee | J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.

The Tone:
This is a full-time Manager Trainee role at J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., a prominent organization dedicated to delivering comprehensive transportation and logistics solutions across North America. This position is designed to develop future managers capable of overseeing critical operational aspects, including driver management, freight movement, and customer relations. The role is pivotal in ensuring the safe and timely delivery of goods, maintaining compliance with essential DOT regulations, and upholding the company’s commitment to best-in-class customer service. As a Manager Trainee, you will gain hands-on experience and receive training vital for accurate planning, routing, monitoring, and successful delivery of freight, directly contributing to operational excellence and client satisfaction.

The TL;DR
• Role: Early Career
• Type: Full-time
• Location: Travel required, potential for regional relocation based on account assignment
• Team: Individual contributor, learning to manage driver teams
• Mission: To acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to manage a driver count, ensure the safe and timely movement of freight, and provide excellent customer service while upholding regulatory compliance.

What You’ll Actually Do
• Develop Relationships: Learn to build and maintain strong, positive professional relationships with both internal drivers and reliable outside carriers. This includes understanding seamless new carrier set-up processes, working to minimize turnover, and maximizing ongoing productivity across the fleet.
• Optimize Operations: Become proficient in maximizing the efficiency and profitability of fleet operations. This involves making recommendations for continuous improvement, meticulously measuring key performance indicators, and creating, maintaining, and presenting customer-specific reporting and financial analyses, sometimes through face-to-face interactions.
• Manage Compliance and Safety: Gain knowledge and practical experience in maintaining the Company’s safety culture. This includes conducting daily driver safety messages, monthly driver safety briefings, quarterly driver training, annual reviews, and enforcing company policies to ensure strict DOT compliance and company safety requirements are consistently met.
• Coordinate Logistics: Master the critical tasks of assigning loads, planning optimal routes, and diligently monitoring freight movement. The objective is to provide safe, on-time service and consistently meet customer requirements, which includes proactively managing freight exceptions and adjusting driver ETA based on dynamic pick-up, delivery schedules, and environmental factors.
• Perform Administrative Duties: Learn to execute essential administrative responsibilities, such as managing payroll, overseeing the Net-Revenue budget, conducting driver counseling, reviewing accidents, meticulous filing and documenting, resolving pay issues, analyzing P&L statements, invoicing, and creating various operational or financial reports.

The Must-Haves
• Background: This entry-level position requires a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Transportation/Logistics, Supply Chain, or a closely related field.
• Experience: Alternatively, candidates possessing a High School Diploma or GED must have at least one year of experience in management, transportation/logistics, business administration, account management, or equivalent military experience.
• Skills: Demonstrated abilities include anticipating and resolving conflicts, accurately analyzing situations to make productive decisions, adapting to changing work environments, establishing and maintaining strong working relationships with various stakeholders, and effectively communicating ideas.
• Bonus: Prior experience in managing a team is considered a preferred qualification.