The leaders of J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. have cut their 2025 capital spending plans by $200 million as part of an ongoing push to rein in costs and improve margins.
Speaking to analysts and investors on April 15, CFO John Kuhlow said Arkansas-based J.B. Hunt’s executives now expect to spend between $500 million and $700 million this year on equipment and real estate. The midpoint of that guidance range is 25% lower than the range of $700 million to $900 million that the J.B. Hunt team had said in January it planned to undertake this year.
J.B. Hunt, No. 4 on the FleetOwner 500 list of largest U.S. for-hire carriers, had net capital spending of $674 million last year, down significantly from 2023’s $1.6 billion.
In January, Kuhlow said the company spends $600 million to $700 million on replacements in a typical year. This week, he reiterated that the capital being set aside this year will primarily go to replacing equipment, with investment in dedicated capacity second, as J.B. Hunt wins new business in that group.
The lower 2025 target range fits with broader cost-cutting plans—President and CEO Shelley Simpson noted that this freight recession has been different from past downturns because expenses haven’t fallen along with revenues—that Kuhlow said include $200 million of personnel costs that have been trimmed over the past two years. But other cost categories, including insurance, have been rising and have offset some of those savings, Kuhlow said.
It’s possible J.B. Hunt will push through other expense cuts, Simpson said on the conference call. An uncertain economic picture where the situation is “changing by the day or the tweet or the moment,” she said, means the company needs to remain flexible.
“Our overall strategy and focus as an organization remain the same,” she said. “That said, our executive team has explored various options […] to more aggressively eliminate costs […] We will stay informed by our internal data, customer feedback, and outlook and make decisions as needed to maximize long-term value for our shareholders.”
Simpson and her team said customer activity in the first quarter generally followed typical seasonal patterns, although severe weather early in the year and a shift in the Lunar New Year influenced activity somewhat. Looking to the current uncertainty around tariffs, EVP Spencer Frazier said most of the carrier’s customers “are waiting for the dust to settle” while exploring alternatives around elements of their supply chain and purchasing networks.
“But these changes will be part of a much longer decision process,” Frazier added.
In the first three months of this year, J.B. Hunt booked a net profit of nearly $118 million on total operating revenues (excluding fuel surcharges) of $2.56 billion. In early 2024, those figures were $104 million and $2.55 billion, respectively. Operating profits slipped to $179 million from $194 million, however, as fuel surcharge revenue fell by $30 million while insurance and claims costs climbed nearly $10 million.
The company’s intermodal business grew revenues by more than 5% to $1.47 billion in the first quarter, spurred by a 13% rise in loads across its eastern network. But revenue per load (ex-fuel) slipped 1% year over year. Revenue from dedicated services fell 4% to $822 million as the group’s average truck count dropped 5%. J.B. Hunt’s truckload division saw revenues excluding surcharges fall 4% despite 2% growth in load volume.
Shares of J.B. Hunt (Ticker: JBHT) fell 6% to $127 in after-hours trading following the earnings report. They have given up more than 20% of their value over the past six months, a move that has cut the company’s market capitalization to about $13.5 billion.
