J.B. Hunt to acquire Walmart intermodal containers under new long-term deal

LOWELL, Ark. — J.B. Hunt will acquire all of Walmart’s domestic intermodal containers and chassis as part of a new long-term intermodal contract with the nation’s largest retailer.

Walmart, which has been a J.B. Hunt customer for decades, had 14,100 WAMU containers in its fleet as of April 2023, but that figure is now between 15,000 and 16,000 boxes, says Jason Hilsenbeck, president of LoadMatch and Drayage.com. The addition of the Walmart boxes will push J.B. Hunt’s already industry-largest container fleet over the 132,000 mark.

“Mr. Hunt always said ‘Good partners attract good partners,’” Spencer Frazier, executive vice president of sales and marketing at J.B. Hunt, said in a statement. “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 J.B. Hunt’s disciplined approach to strategically allocating capital to advance our mission of driving long-term value for our people, customers and shareholders.”

The service agreement increases the companies’ respective current volume and capacity commitments and enables the development of comprehensive intermodal solutions. In connection with the service agreement and increased commitments, J.B. Hunt will acquire Walmart’s operational intermodal container and chassis fleets.

“Finding new ways to serve our customers and members and exceed their expectations is important to us,” Fernando Cortes, senior vice president of transportation at Walmart, said in a statement. “Walmart’s long history of working with J.B. Hunt has many milestones of innovation and growth. This agreement will strengthen our commitment to delivering goods at an everyday low cost to our customers and members.”

J.B. Hunt uses a proprietary design on its containers and chassis, so the Walmart containers will have to ride on the chassis that Hunt is acquiring as part of the deal.