INTERMODAL ENGINEERING AT J.B. HUNT

Associate Professor Justin Chimka completed a nine-month off-campus duty assignment working with the Intermodal Engineering group at J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc., the Fortune 500 transportation company in nearby Lowell, Arkansas, during the 2022-23 academic year.

Its intermodal segment, which is focused on moving freight by multiple modes – usually from train to truck or ship (or vice versa) – makes J.B. Hunt the largest intermodal company in the world. And its mission is “to create the most efficient transportation network in North America.”

Chimka used his expertise in engineering statistics and operations analytics to help advance projects and implement solutions for Deric Bidwell, director of Intermodal Engineering at J.B. Hunt. They worked together closely with other logistics engineers and network planners on several projects across most parts of the intermodal business. One project focused on managing the company’s immense intermodal fleet of containers, chassis and trucks. Some projects related to statistical process control for monitoring important system levels and aspects of cost. Others relied on building empirical models to learn from data and make better business decisions with respect to things like driver productivity.

The idea for this sabbatical came after years of successful collaboration between Chimka and Bidwell on research funded by the J.B. Hunt Innovation Center of Excellence, “a combined effort between the company, the College of Engineering and the Sam M. Walton College of Business to advance supply chain management efficiency through technology.” And the sabbatical itself was made possible by the support of Eric Ervin, vice president of Engineering & Technology at J.B. Hunt.

Chimka felt very much like part of the team at J.B. Hunt. He was issued a computer, email address, photo ID and keycard like every other employee and moved freely inside the Lowell corporate headquarters, where he had dedicated workspace. In addition to the day-to-day satisfaction Chimka gained from working on a team to achieve common goals, there were specific highlights that stand out. Those include presenting his work to the company’s 100-plus logistics engineers at their quarterly meeting and volunteering with team members at the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.

Chimka attended company-wide “town halls” featuring executive officers including President Shelley Simpson and enjoyed the privilege of participating in the company’s annual Million Mile celebration of drivers achieving 2-plus million safe driving miles. He was even present when co-founder Johnelle Hunt visited the corporate headquarters and shared stories about the early days of the company. According to Chimka, “working with the Intermodal Engineering team at J.B. Hunt was the professional experience of a lifetime.”