At 20-Year Mark, Simpson Still Trucking at J.B. Hunt

Shelley Simpson has a lot of responsibility at J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.

Simpson is the company’s chief marketing officer, and is also president of two of its four business segments — Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS) and Truck.

But the Russellville native said the diversity of the job helps her draw a lot of enjoyment from working at the $3 billion trucking and transportation company headquartered in Lowell.

“I love the variety, but it’s working with people that I love the most,” she said. “We’re fairly innovative, so our customers are constantly asking us to come up with new solutions and we work with our people internally to come up with those. So, it’s a lot of fun.”

Simpson, who is also an executive vice president of the parent company, recently celebrated 20 years with J.B. Hunt, and on Aug. 19 at the Embassy Suites in Rogers she will be the keynote speaker at the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s 18th annual Forty Under 40 luncheon. She is the first Forty Under 40 alum to be the featured speaker at the publication’s annual event.

Simpson’s career at J.B. Hunt has included positions in various divisions, starting with her first job as a customer service representative after graduating with a marketing degree from the University of Arkansas.

As one of Northwest Arkansas’ top female executives, her philosophy on business mirrors that of her employer.

“Our whole company is huge on integrity, so we’re big on doing what you say,” she explained. “I just try to do things that, I think, ethically stand up. We work hard and try to innovate every day.”

Simpson was 37 when honored as a Forty Under 40 class member in 2009, while president of the ICS unit. The division began in 2007 with 18 employees providing truck brokerage services for the company.

The unit today has 540 employees, with record revenue in 2013 of more than $535 million, a 182-percent increase over revenues of more than $200 million in 2008

In 2011, Simpson was tapped to lead the company’s sales and marketing efforts, and just this year she assumed the position of president of the company’s truck division, which has fallen behind recently as more long-haul traffic is converted from highway transport to rail intermodal, which accounts for about 60 percent of J.B. Hunt’s business.

“Customers are really migrating to that,” Simpson said. “Certainly, J.B. Hunt is a leader in that space and it’s been a major shift in our business.”

All of that experience has helped Simpson develop a keen insight into the trucking industry, which she said is facing a complex hurdle with the lack of qualified drivers.

A story published Aug. 9 in The New York Times noted a report by the American Truckers Association that said there was a shortage of 30,000 qualified drivers earlier this year, a number on-track to rise to 200,000 over the next decade.

The most tangible effect for trucking companies is they are having to turn down business for lack of drivers.

“It’s a significant issue,” Simpson said. “The wages have not kept up with what the job really is. It’s a hard job. That and the length of haul inside the country has gone down, so the ability for drivers to run the amount of miles needed to make a proper W-2 [form] is going down.”

When she isn’t working, Simpson said most of her hobbies involve family. She and her husband of 17 years, David, live in Rogers with their three children.

Simpson leads a small group of seventh-grade girls at Cross Church at Pinnacle Hills, and also serves on the board of WorkMatters, a Rogers-based nonprofit devoted to causes related to promoting women in the workplace.

And where does Simpson see herself in 10 years?

“We’ll have three kids in college, so I’ll be an empty-nester,” she joked. “I really haven’t thought about it specifically, other than just keeping my priorities in line, and I am pretty clear on those — faith, family and then work. I try to do the very best I can at blooming all of those.”