David Barnes
| Senior CorrespondentJ.B. Hunt Says Hours Plan Will Cost Them $250M
J.B. Hunt Transportation estimated its costs will increase $250 million annually if the federal hours-of-service proposal is implemented.
Officials of the Arkansas-based carrier, which is the largest publicly-owned truckload carrier in the United States, said at a July 6 hearing that the carrier’s miles driven would fall by 8.85% if it did not add any drivers. It would need 13.22% more drivers to move the same number of loads and the same amount of trucks.
When administrative staff necessary to support the larger driver force is added in, Hunt’s wage and benefit costs would increase by 24%, according to the company’s analysis.
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Hunt would have to increase its pay by 9.71% for its drivers to maintain their current pay levels. DOT estimates carriers would have to raise salaries by 0.39%to attract drivers.
For the full story, see the July 17 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.