J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. of Lowell announced Thursday that Kirk Thompson will step down from his role as the company’s president and CEO on Dec. 31.
The board of directors elected John N. Roberts III, 46, president and chief executive officer effective Jan. 1, 2011, and elected him to the board effective immediately. Roberts has been with the company for 21 years and currently is president of Dedicated Contract Services. J.B. Hunt said in a news release that Roberts had led DCS "from revenue of $150 million in 1997 to an enterprise that will soon surpass $1.0 billion in revenues as a separate business segment."
Thompson was elected chairman of the board effective Jan. 1, 2011, replacing Wayne Garrison, who will remain a director. Thompson has been with the company for 37 years and has served as CEO since 1987. He has worked with the board on this transition for several years, the company said.
J.B. Hunt said that Thompson "oversaw the company’s growth from revenue of $286 million in 1987 to a projected $3.8 billion in 2010. Over his tenure, the company successfully transitioned from a truckload carrier to a multi-faceted transportation services company. The company’s market capitalization has grown from $500 million to over $4.4 billion during the same time frame."
"With the company’s strategic positioning well established and operational execution at such a high level, this is the right time for me to step back from the day-to-day operations," Thompson said in the announcement. "We have an outstanding team of leaders that is both wide and deep. They are more than capable of taking the company to even greater heights in the future. I couldn’t be more confident in both the direction of the company and the leadership in place."
"John and I have worked together closely for the last 13 years after he was drafted to lead DCS in a ‘battlefield promotion.’ His response to that challenge and the challenges of growing a start-up business to almost $1.0 billion has been nothing short of outstanding. The Board and I are confident he will do a similarly outstanding job as the 4th CEO in J.B. Hunt Transport Services’ history. I look forward to continuing to be a part of this highly respected team of transportation and logistics professionals," Thompson said.
Garrison said, "The company has never been in better shape fundamentally. With the management team in place, I am completely confident the future will yield even greater success."
The news release quoted Roberts as saying, "J.B. Hunt is uniquely positioned in today’s dynamic transportation services marketplace. We owe a debt of gratitude to Kirk for his leadership and vision which guided us here. Our executive team is as strong as ever and we have all worked well together for many years. We are fortunate to have such a strong, people-centric culture. Enriching that culture and building on our successes through innovation will drive our priorities forward. I am honored to have been chosen as CEO from a short list of very qualified people. I am particularly thankful to have Kirk staying close at hand as our chairman."
In addition Nick Hobbs has been promoted to president of DCS, effective Jan. 1, to assume Roberts’ position. Hobbs has been with the company for more than 26 years. He has been senior vice president of operations for DCS for the last 12 years.
Just two weeks ago, J.B. Hunt announced third-quarter net earnings of $52.2 million, or diluted earnings per share of 41 cents, compared with third-quarter 2009 earnings of $40 million, or 31 cents per diluted share.
The board on Thursday also announced a regular quarterly dividend on its common stock of 12 cents per common share payable to stockholders of record on Nov. 15, 2010. The dividend will be paid on Dec. 2, 2010.
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