J.B. Hunt Transport Taps FedEx's Duncan

The trucking industry hasn't seen the last of Douglas G. Duncan.

Less than a month after retiring as president and CEO of FedEx Freight, Duncan is joining the board of directors at J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Lowell, Ark.

It's the second board for Duncan, who also is a director at Benchmark Electronics.

Duncan brings 30 years of experience with the less-than-truckload industry and shipper supply chains to J.B. Hunt Transport's board.

His experience with multimodal giant FedEx will be valuable for increasingly multimodal J.B. Hunt, which offers truckload, intermodal and dedicated transportation.

J.B. Hunt, like many truckload carriers, is changing its business model to cope with the aftershocks of the recession and changes in shipper supply chain networks.

The company, which launched its intermodal business in 1990, is expanding its intermodal network in the eastern United States and increasing its specialized dedicated services. To that end, it implemented a cross-dock and delivery network in 2009.

It's adding customers in areas such as retail and small-business replenishment and home delivery, the company said in its annual report, released Feb. 26.

"By mid-year 2010, we plan to manage delivery facilities or operations that will allow us to directly serve in excess of 90 percent of the U.S. population," the company said.

Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com.