J.B. Hunt appointed Shelley Simpson as president of the company, effective Aug. 1. 

Over Simpson’s 28-year career at J.B. Hunt, she has served 15 years in executive leadership roles, most recently as chief commercial officer and executive vice president of people and human resources, in addition to leading international services and corporate marketing.

John Roberts III will remain CEO and a member of J.B. Hunt's board, a new management structure for the company.

“Over her tenure at J.B. Hunt, Shelley has worn multiple hats across our business, bringing a data-driven, experienced-based approach to every area she has led,” Roberts said in a press release. “If you look at the most disruptive areas of our company, from new technologies to global commercialization to investments in our people, Shelley’s innovative leadership has always guided us toward positive results.”

Simpson will take charge of oversight of all management duties and performance for all company business units, emerging technology, developing services and human resources.

In 2007, Simpson was named president of Integrated Capacity Solutions, a business unit she helped to create. She assumed sales and marketing executive responsibilities in 2011 as chief marketing officer. She took on additional leadership in 2014 as president of J.B. Hunt’s truckload business segment. Simpson was named chief commercial officer and president of highway services in 2017 and led the strategic direction and launch of J.B. Hunt 360. In 2020, Simpson added responsibilities for people and human resources.

“We have an exceptional executive leadership team in place with an average tenure of more than 25 years at the company," Simpson said. "As I take on this new role, I remain committed to empowering our people to continue to disrupt, adapt and accelerate and fiercely focused on driving value for our customers, with financial discipline and dedication to our mission to create the most efficient transportation network in North America."

In addition to these changes, Brad Hicks will continue as president of highway services and will take on additional responsibilities as EVP of people. Hicks has been at the company for 26 years and has served in executive roles since 2017. Spencer Frazier will assume the role of EVP of sales and marketing. Frazier has been with the company for 21 years, most recently serving as senior vice president of sales, a role he has held for the past 11 years.