Financial Literacy Partners with J.B. Hunt Truckload

This week J.B. Hunt visited Holt Middle School to participate in their annual Financial Literacy Fair. As a way to educate and prepare children for their future, the school set up booths in the gym  representing different expenses and decisions they will face in adulthood, such as healthcare, childcare, hygiene, entertainment and clothing.

 5^th and 6^th graders were each given a paycheck and tasked with making a budget and learning about the cost of living. J.B. Hunt was invited to educate children on the different career paths within our company and the perks working for a Fortune 500 company can offer.

Truckload driversn Will Harris and Jerry Rico spoke to the students about the benefits of being a professional truck driver and the reasons they love their career. Having a military background, Will told the students how transitioning from the military to truck driving was a perfect career choice for him and explained the efforts J.B. Hunt has made to hire veterans. Students were excited to hear about Rico’s adventures in driving the Razorback trailer and were amazed he was able to watch the games from the sidelines. Rico and Will had fun quizzing the children on trucking facts, such as which president created the highway interstate system – President Eisenhower—and how many miles they would drive to get from New York City to Los Angeles. Will and Rico also demonstrated the technology they use daily through the new Drive app.

Students were surprised to learn truckload drivers were allowed to have a cat or dog in the truck with them and to learn J.B. Hunt delivers food to some of their favorite restaurants and toys to their favorite stores. Several students asked Will and Rico how many cents per mile they made and calculated how much they would make as a driver delivering a load. Students were also excited to see pictures of J.B. Hunt drivers posing at NASCAR races with Richard Petty.

It was a fun day at Holt Middle School preparing children for their future. We are thankful for the opportunity to educate our country’s youth on the benefits of being a professional driver. Several students left the booth announcing they were going to grow up to be a J.B. Hunt truck driver! We look forward to welcoming them into our J.B. Hunt family.