The deal also includes JB Hunt acquiring all of the intermodal assets owned by Walmart, primarily 53ft North American domestic containers and chassis.

In a statement, the two parties said that “the strategic service agreement increases the companies’ respective current volume and capacity commitments and enables the development of comprehensive intermodal solutions to drive long-term value for both organisations”.

The new deal follows many decades of cooperation between JB Hunt and Walmart. “Mr. Hunt [now deceased, founder of the company] always said ‘Good partners attract good partners,’” said Spencer Frazier, executive VP of sales and marketing at JB Hunt. “Our customers trust us to develop solutions that scale and drive efficiencies across their ever-changing supply chains. Today’s announcement is a testament to the mutual trust and shared vision our companies have developed over time, and innovative arrangements like this one demonstrate JB Hunt’s disciplined approach to strategically allocating capital to advance our mission of driving long-term value for our people, customers and shareholders.”

It was a view shared by Fernando Cortes, senior VP of transportation at Walmart. “Walmart’s long history of working with JB Hunt has many milestones of innovation and growth,” he said. “Finding new ways to serve our customers and members and exceed their expectations is important to us and this agreement will strengthen our commitment to delivering goods at an everyday low cost to our customers and members.”

JB Hunt has led the North American transport industry in converting over-the-road shipments to intermodal, which reduces a shipment’s carbon footprint by an average of 60%. It has long-standing relationships with the industry’s leading rail providers, and in recent years, has worked alongside them to enhance service quality and consistency. In 2023, J.B. Hunt and its long-time joint service provider BNSF Railway launched Quantum, a breakthrough intermodal service to convert service-sensitive highway freight to intermodal.

Prior to its deal with Walmart its intermodal fleet of equipment comprised just shy of 120,000 x 53ft containers, over 95,000 chassis and in excess of 6,500 truck drayage units.