North American supply chain solution provider, JB Hunt, has signed a long-term trailer supply agreement with Wabash.
The US-based OEM is building a backlog with strategic customers who are interested in jointly planning demand for a period beyond 12 months.
“Wabash has undergone substantial change over the last two years to create the right organisational structure to enable this type of strategic progress that positions Wabash to create value at the centre of an ecosystem of customers, suppliers and partners,” said Wabash President and CEO, Brent Yeagy.
“The collaborative nature of multi-year demand planning builds upon our improved pricing construct to generate another important proof point of how we are structurally improving the foundation of our company by smoothing out demand cycles that drive unnecessary variability through the entire supply chain.
“We’re strategically managing our backlog and enabling our customer’s success from first to final mile, and we’re pleased to start this new path forward with JB Hunt.”
JB Hunt CEO and President of Contract Services, Nick Hobbs, said the trailers provided by Wabash in the coming years will help expand fleet capacity for services like outsourcing and drop-and-hook freight.
“With an additional 15,000-plus trailers, we can improve the efficiency of our equipment so that assets are in the right place at the right time for available drivers,” he said.
“It’s essential to our mission of creating the most efficient transportation network in North America.”
This long-term order agreement with JB Hunt is reported to couple with Wabash’s 10-year aluminium supply agreement with Hydro, strategically coordinated to provide certainty that Wabash can meet pent-up demand as its additional dry van capacity comes online in early 2023.
Last year, JB Hunt announced a goal to reduce carbon intensity (32 per cent) by 2034 using 2019 as a baseline.
“Our roadmap to achieving this aspirational goal will help JB Hunt strive to significantly reduce our carbon emission intensity while holding true to our customer commitment of providing efficient, quality-driven, competitive supply chain solutions for moving their freight,” said JB Hunt Chief Sustainability Officer and Executive Vice President, Craig Harper.
“Our goal is an ambitious challenge to improve JB Hunt’s carbon footprint and to help advance the transportation industry’s progress in developing sustainable solutions that are commercially viable and scalable for widespread adoption.”
JB Hunt aims to incorporate alternative-powered equipment into its fleet, expand the use of biogenic fuels and improve fuel economy to reach the 2034 target.
Last year the fleet also announced an expansion of its intermodal strategy.