A：J.B. Hunt responded to the shift in the external environment by adapting its strategy and maintaining high service levels for customers while structurally removing costs from the business.

A：J.B. Hunt celebrated its fourth driver to reach the milestone of a million safe miles, reflecting the strong culture of safety within the company.

A：J.B. Hunt remains committed to providing excellent intermodal service to customers and creating long-term value for shareholders. They continue to have conversations with all Class I railroads regarding the merger application and view there are industry risks and opportunities. They are working on multiple options to ensure customers and shareholders are well-placed.

A：The current market feels fragile with capacity exiting the truckload market, testing the elasticity of supply. J.B. Hunt's strategy in response involves managing the business to remain in a position for long-term growth, maintaining exceptional service levels, and growing through operational excellence while keeping a disciplined approach to cost management.

A：J.B. Hunt has initiatives in place to lower cost to serve and to drive efficiencies and productivity, including investing in people and technology to improve efficiency and automation. This forms part of their strategy to manage costs while maintaining high service levels.

A：The key priorities for J.B. Hunt in 2026 include disciplined growth through operational excellence, leveraging investments in people, technology, and capacity into competitive advantages for the business, and continuing to repair margins to drive long-term value for shareholders.

A：The investments in people, technology, and capacity have positioned J.B. Hunt to grow without the need to deploy additional capital, improve efficiency and productivity, and create sustainable competitive advantages for the business.

A：In 2025, J.B. Hunt spent $575 million on capital reinvestments in the business, repurchased the largest annual amount of stock in company history, and maintained a healthy balance sheet with a leverage just under the target. They also have plans for future net CapEx and strategies for maintaining an investment-grade balance sheet and repurchasing shares.

A：The execution of the Lowering our Cost to Serve initiative has been solid. J.B. Hunt has demonstrated progress by executing over $100 million in cost savings in the quarter and over $150 million in track savings in the fourth quarter, with an annualized cost savings run rate of over $200 million. The savings are attributed to productivity and efficiency gains achieved without relying on volume growth.

A：The key market trends include deflated truckload capacity as customer forecast accuracy improved, a solid peak season due to the movement of imported freight inland, and market dynamics tightening around Thanksgiving. This has created opportunities to leverage operational excellence and gain share. J.B. Hunt differentiates itself with its comprehensive service offerings and platform, leading to solid customer feedback and potential for long-term growth.

A：The key points of the speaker's update on safety performance include a third consecutive year of record safety performance measured by a low dot preventable accident frequency, a commitment to safety starting before driving, final mile business leadership in background screening and identity verification, and continuing to provide high levels of service while ensuring safety and secure operations.

A：The anticipated impact of losing legacy appliance-related business is an approximately $90 million revenue headwind in 2026.

A：The highway businesses faced challenges such as a noticeably tighter truckload market and lower gross profit due to higher spot rates which put pressure on profitability. However, they also experienced double-digit volume growth, operational excellence, and the ability to create additional volume opportunities from customers. The focus on service led to positive outcomes despite tightening market conditions.

A：The dedicated business highlighted full-year resiliency and remained a standout in the industry, despite expecting modest operating income growth and facing fleet losses. They managed to deliver flat operating income and sold approximately 385 trucks of new deals in the fourth quarter, increasing confidence for reaching the level of annual net truck growth target in the following year.

A：The outlook for net fleet growth is delayed and is not expected to return until the latter part of 2023 due to an extended timeline for finalizing new agreements.

A：The anticipated operating income growth for the dedicated business in 2023 is only modest, primarily due to the timing of new business and the extended period for finalizing new agreements.

A：The company will continue to focus on operational excellence, driving value for customers through its CBD process, and investing in people to support and accelerate growth in the dedicated business.

A：During peak season, the company faced challenges such as maintaining discipline on costs while meeting customer demand. Achievements included strong execution for the third consecutive peak season, meeting customer needs, and continuing to lower the cost to serve.

A：The company maintains an active dialogue with all Class II railroads and believes that it should be a primary participant in discussions regarding the future of the intermodal industry. They have a large opportunity to convert highway truckloads to intermodal and are pursuing these shipments regardless of merger discussions. The focus is on customer and shareholder best interests and engaging in discussions that benefit both parties.

A：The intermodal service experienced volumes down year over year in the fourth quarter with a particular shift in volume from the East Coast to West Coast. Despite this, the company performed as expected with transcontinental volumes down and Eastern loads up. The bid strategy was successful in creating better balance in the network and improving pricing. For the upcoming bid season, the company plans to continue to grow backhauls, repair margins, and align with customers' needs while being operationally excellent and repairing cost structure. However, it's too early to discuss rate and expectations.

A：The speaker indicates that the supply side of the freight market is showing signs of being down and feels fragile due to a lack of elasticity. There is a mixed reaction from customers with some optimism, but the market is viewed as fragile, with small tightening creating larger market ripples. This fragility is attributed to regulations and the speaker notes that a slight uptick in demand could lead to conditions different from recent years.

A：The company is focusing on its core business, taking market share, and being a disciplined entity. They are preparing for various scenarios, including potential market tipping points, and continue to emphasize operational excellence.

A：The company has made progress in lowering the cost to serve, with an annual run rate of around 100 million, which was the target previously set. They have been successful in executing on various cost initiatives around efficiency and productivity. The results show the company has been executing above what they have been stating and are making inroads against inflationary pressures.

A：The strategy for market pricing and rates is cautious due to some false starts and uncertainty. There is a recognition of a solid demand environment and tight capacity, but the speaker advises waiting to see continued strength in these trends beyond January and February. Customer feedback and discussions are ongoing to gauge changing demands and forecasts. Weather disruptions have also impacted market conditions, with a year-to-date comparison showing different conditions compared to the previous year.

A：The expectations are that as the year progresses, there will be pricing opportunities in front of both the speaker and their interlocutor. The strategy involves not allowing imbalances in the business to negatively impact margins and sustaining an improvement in them. Utilizing lower cost to serve is being used as an opportunity to generate volume.

A：The strategy is to protect and grow backhaul business and to continue discussions with customers on capacity challenges in the headhaul markets. There is caution mentioned regarding big pricing opportunities, but the company will be ready to take action when the market shifts in a manner that presents such an opportunity.

A：Two years ago, they learned that they needed to change their approach in the second half of the bid season due to the market's reaction. They will approach the upcoming bid season with prudence, taking into account what the market will accept, and customers are aware of their cost pressures and margins.

A：The outlook for dedicated sales in the next year is positive, with the quarter's sales being very close to expectations and ending the year with the strongest quarter. While it's too early to see an impact on sales from the tighter capacity market, the performance in the quarter has given momentum for the upcoming year.

A：The environment for dedicated sales is difficult, with more competition and inflationary costs. The company has managed to maintain industry-leading double-digit margins despite these challenges. There is an expectation to grow regardless of the environment, and there has been an increase in new customer names, indicating optimism for the future.

A：The potential for further cost savings includes driving efficiency, scaling investments, and challenging discretionary spend. The team is motivated to continue to drive costs lower for competitive advantage and to accelerate growth. As a result of the cost-saving efforts and efficiency gains, earnings could potentially be better in the upcoming year compared to typical declines seen in the fourth quarter.

A：Tax rebate season is expected to provide tailwinds of between 1 billion to as much as 1.5 billion, which should land between March and May. The customers are preparing for this by being optimistic about the continued strength of the consumer, leveraging solid year-end macro data and retail sales performance, and ensuring they have the right products to sell through to serve their customers.

A：Customers are managing their inventory by ensuring they have lean inventories and are focused on having the right products at the right time for every customer and channel. They are working with the speaker's company to understand their forecast and have improved in forecasting and award compliance. The speaker is having discussions with customers about the rest of Q1 and any changes through the winter, spring, and summer seasons.

A：The cross-Border business in Mexico has had solid double-digit growth throughout 2025 and continues to have momentum with customers in 2026. Additionally, there is an unnamed area mentioned that has experienced three consecutive quarters of double-digit volume growth, exemplifying the company's ability to serve customers and support their growth.

A：Revenue is distributed quarterly with about 30% each quarter, plus or minus 5%. The pattern is consistent year in and year out, with the exception of the fourth quarter, which sees new pricing, resulting in a revenue distribution of about Ed% for that quarter and the rest even at about 30%.

A：Customers that are winning are more optimistic and are working more closely with the company to manage market conditions. They are planning on some tailwinds and are in discussions with the company about future plans. The company has not yet made public comments on pricing for the upcoming year, focusing instead on operational excellence and being disciplined with growth while responding to inflationary costs.

A：Carrier capacity is tighter due to visa policy and immigration issues, leading to difficulties in finding carriers. The company has screened out many carriers, conducted thorough investigations, implemented new software and technology, and started letting some back in after they achieved compliance. The company has also shifted focus to midsize and small carriers instead of micro carriers. The result is a continued trend of carriers going bankrupt or out of business, impacting carrier capacity negatively.

A：The current market is characterized as fragile, which is viewed positively by the company. Rejection rates are elevated at close to 10%, while supply is tighter than it should be, indicating a fragile market. The company does not believe the tightness in pockets will last the entire year and is being cautious about the duration. The market's fragility is seen as an opportunity, and while there have been false starts, the last throes of the year are expected to have improved conditions as reflected in the company's gross margin performance. The company plans to take advantage of these conditions while being cautious about overstating the duration of the market's fragility.