Manager Trainee – Transportation Operations

Job Description

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

The Tone:
This is a full-time role at J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., a prominent transportation services provider. This position is central to the company’s commitment to operational excellence, focusing on the safe and timely movement of freight while upholding best-in-class customer service. The Manager Trainee will learn foundational management skills, contributing directly to driver compliance, efficient load assignment, and overall fleet profitability. This role is designed to equip individuals with the knowledge and experience to manage crucial aspects of logistics operations.

The TL;DR
• Role: Early Career
• Type: Full-time
• Location: In-person, regional relocation required

• Team: Manages a small driver count and/or non-traditional shifts, ensuring compliance and working with internal/external contacts.
• Mission: To learn the management of driver operations, freight movement, customer service, and compliance to ensure safe, timely, and efficient transportation services.

What You’ll Actually Do
• Driver & Carrier Engagement: Learn to build and maintain positive professional relationships with drivers and safe, reliable outside carriers to ensure seamless new carrier set-up, minimize turnover, and maximize ongoing productivity; also, fill in for absent or unavailable personnel and work on special projects related to optimizing fleet operations.
• Fleet Operations & Profitability: Become proficient in maximizing the efficiency of fleet operations and profitability, making recommendations for continuous improvement, and managing inventory, assets, customer pools, and/or assignment of drivers to balance equipment in market.
• Logistics & Customer Service Management: Gain knowledge in assigning loads, planning, routing, and monitoring freight movement to provide safe, on-time service and meet customer requirements, including managing freight exceptions and driver ETA adjustments, while resolving service, routing, mechanical, and pay-related issues with drivers, customers, and company personnel.
• Safety & Compliance Oversight: Learn to maintain the Company’s safety culture, including daily driver safety messages, monthly driver safety briefings, quarterly driver training, and annual reviews, and enforce company policies to ensure DOT compliance and company safety requirements are being met.
• Administrative & Financial Reporting: Master administrative duties such as payroll, management of the Net-Revenue budget, driver counseling, accident reviews, filing and documenting, resolving pay issues, analyzing P&L statements, invoicing, and/or creating operational or financial reports.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Transportation/Logistics, Supply Chain, or a related field; OR a High School Diploma/GED coupled with 1 year of experience in management, transportation/logistics, business administration, account management, or a related field, and/or equivalent military experience.
• Experience: Willingness to travel to account, customer, and company event locations when applicable; ability to work across multiple shifts, including nights and/or weekends if needed; and a willingness to regionally relocate dependent on account assignment.
• Skills: Ability to anticipate, recognize, and deal effectively with existing or potential conflicts at the individual, group, or situation level; ability to accurately analyze situations and reach productive decisions based on informed judgment; ability to adapt to changing environments and establish and maintain healthy working relationships with clients, vendors, and peers.
• Bonus: Experience managing a team; ability to meet or exceed team/driver needs and expectations and provide excellent service; ability to effectively transmit, receive, and accurately interpret ideas through various mediums; and the ability to recognize, anticipate, and resolve organizational, operational, or process problems.