Johnnie Bryan Hunt, Sr. (February 28, 1927 – December 7, 2006), better known as J. B. Hunt, was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 entrepreneur who founded J.B. Hunt Transport Services, the largest publicly owned trucking company in the USA. His company is based in Lowell, Arkansas

Lowell, Arkansas

Lowell is a city in Benton County, Arkansas, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 7,327. It is part of the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers, AR-MO Metropolitan Statistical Area....

.

Personal background

Hunt was born in Heber Springs, Arkansas

Heber Springs, Arkansas

Heber Springs is a city in Cleburne County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 6,432 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Cleburne County.-Geography:Heber Springs is located at ....

. Growing up during the great depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 put a large strain on him.

His first job was working for his uncle in his sawmill

Sawmill

A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....

 so that the family could survive. After a brief time in the US Army, Hunt spent the 1950s as a lumber

Lumber

Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....

 salesman, auctioneer, and truck driver

Truck driver

A truck driver , is a person who earns a living as the driver of a truck, usually a semi truck, box truck, or dump truck.Truck drivers provide an essential service to...

 before starting a rice hulls

Rice hulls

Rice hulls are the hard protecting coverings of grains of rice. In addition to protecting rice during the growing season, rice hulls can be put to use as building material, fertilizer, insulation material, or fuel.-Production:...

 business with his wife Johnelle in 1961. Unfortunately his first attempt at the trucking business was not a success. He lost roughly $19,000. He returned to the trucking industry in 1969, with five tractors and seven trailers.

Hunt was known throughout his life for his generosity, and was famous for carrying around a money clip containing $100 bills, which he would hand out to people he felt could use the money.

Retirement

Hunt began to remove himself from the company when he stepped down as president in 1982, but was still a main fixture within the company and remained chairman of the board until 1995. On December 31, 2004, Hunt retired from the company that he founded over 37 years earlier, but remained its largest shareholder.

Hunt died on December 7, 2006 after sustaining a head injury during a fall in ice on December 2, 2006. He had been in critical condition for several days at a hospital in Springdale, Arkansas

Springdale, Arkansas

As of the census of 2010, there were 69,797 people, 22,805 households, and 16,640 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 64.7% White, 0.82% Black or African American, 1.8% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 5.7% Pacific Islander, 22% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more...

.

Legacy

In 2005, Springdale Public Schools opened a new elementary school named after J.B. Hunt. The Hunt family donated the land for the school, valued at over $500,000. This K-5 elementary school is located on Silent Grove Road in Springdale, Arkansas. Hunt was a frequent visitor to the school after it opened. The kids loved when J.B. came to school wearing his big cowboy hat and took time to read them a story or two.