J.B. Hunt Executives See Salaries Rise in 2015

John Roberts III, president and CEO of J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. of Lowell, earned $1 million more in 2015 than he did in 2014.

Roberts’ total compensation was $5.38 million compared to the $4.3 million he earned in 2014, according to a proxy statement the company filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission.  Roberts’ salary was $796,132, and he received $4.3 million in stock and $225,000 in incentives in 2015.

In 2014, Roberts’ salary was $695,000 and he received $3.46 million in stock. J.B. Hunt reported income of $427.2 million in 2015 on revenue of $6.2 billion.

Each of the other named executives in the proxy report saw increases in their compensation:

• David Mee, executive vice president and CFO, earned $2.4 million that included salary of $476,846, stock awards of $1.8 million and $135,000 in incentives. Mee’s salary was an increase of almost $40,000 and his total compensation in 2014 was a little less of $1.7 million.
• Terrence Matthews, executive vice president and president of the Intermodal Division, earned $1.7 million in 2015 that included salary of $478,946, stock awards of $1 million and $135,000 in incentives. Matthews’ salary in 2014 was $442,589 and his total compensation was $1.3 million.
• Chairman Kirk Thompson earned almost $2.3 million on salary of $448,077 and stock awards of $1.8 million. Thompson’s 2014 salary was $450,000 and his total compensation was slightly less than $2.1 million.
• Shelley Simpson, the president of Integrated Capacity Solutions and Truckload divisions, earned slightly more than $2 million that included salary of $429,808, stock awards of $1.4 million and $120,000 in incentives. Simpson’s 2014 salary was $371,635 and her total compensation was $1.6 million.
• Nicholas Hobbs, president of Dedicated Contract Services, earned $1.97 million on salary of $403,846, stock awards of $1.4 million and $112,500 in incentives. His 2014 compensation was not reported.

The company announced its annual shareholders meeting will be 10 a.m. April 21 at corporate headquarters in Lowell. 

The agenda includes the re-election of its 10-member board of directors, reappointing Ernst & Young LLP as outside auditors and a shareholder’s proposal for the company to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

J.B. Hunt’s board of directors recommend against the shareholder’s proposal — submitted by Trillium Asset Management LLC of Boston — because the company said its policy already ban discrimination so the proposal is “both unwarranted and unnecessary.”