Former KCS CEO Patrick Ottensmeyer joins J.B. Hunt board

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. has elected longtime railroad executive Patrick Ottensmeyer to serve on the Lowell-based carrier’s board of directors, according to a Tuesday (Jan. 16) news release. The addition expands the board to 10 members.

Ottensmeyer, who has more than 17 years of rail industry experience, joined the board on Jan. 12. He was president and CEO of Kansas City Southern from 2015 until the completion of the merger creating Canadian Pacific Kansas City in 2023. From 2008 to 2015, he was executive vice president of sales and marketing for Kansas City Southern. He was the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer from 2006 to 2008.

From 2019 to 2023, Ottensmeyer served as U.S. chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-Mexico Economic Council. In the role, he represented business interests as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) was established from 2017 to 2020.

He serves on the board of directors for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The Greenbrier Companies and Watco Companies. He is co-chair of the Brookings Institute USMCA Initiative and chair of the Truman Library Institute. He received the North American Rail Shippers Association Edward R. Hamberger Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023 and Ingram’s Executive of the Year Award in 2022. He also won Railway Age’s Co-Railroaders of the Year Award in connection to the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern merger.

Ottensmeyer is J.B. Hunt’s third new board member since 2021 and will serve on the board’s compensation committee and nominating and governance committee. In 2023, Persio Lisboa joined the board after he retired as president and CEO of equipment manufacturer Navistar Inc. In 2021, Thad Hill, CEO of power plant operator Calpine Corp., was elected to the board.

Shares of J.B. Hunt (NASDAQ: JBHT) closed Tuesday at $190.94, down $1.14 or 0.59%. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has ranged between $163.66 and $209.21.