J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced a new trailer pool and drop-and-hook service, J.B. Hunt 360box, designed to improve the efficiency of freight operations for businesses and carriers.

Launching in the summer, 360box will introduce a pool of 500 additional 54-foot trailers that can be reserved for drop trailer purposes. As demand grows, J.B. Hunt plans to accelerate the available units.

Carriers can make offers to transport the trailers using Carrier 360 by J.B. Hunt, the company’s digital freight matching platform.

Freeing fleets from the immediate need to load and unload trailers, 360box can prevent productivity losses from dock door wait and detention. Drivers simply drop the trailer in a designated area and go on to their next load. The service offers shippers flexibility with freight management, increases capacity and provides access to a base of power-only carriers.

For carriers, the service reduces the operational costs of maintaining trailers and improves driver productivity.

360box trailers will be equipped with technology that provides end-to-end load tracking and monitoring. The company completed installation of tracking technology on all 100,000-plus company trailers and containers in 2018.

“As much as one-third of a driver’s day includes idle time and empty miles,” said Shelley Simpson, executive vice president and chief commercial officer of J.B. Hunt. “When considering there are 3.5 million drivers, that’s a lot of waste. 360box is designed to transform that inefficiency into productivity, keeping drivers on the move with full trailers."