LOWELL, Ark. — J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. has announced that Patrick Ottensmeyer is the newest member of its Board of Directors.
This appointment has expanded the number of board seats to 10.
Ottensmeyer is the third new board member since 2021 for J.B. Hunt and will serve on the board’s Compensation Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee. He brings more than 17 years of rail industry experience to the board, according to a news release.
Ottensmeyer also brings more than 17 years of rail industry experience to the company’s board. He served as president and CEO of Kansas City Southern (KCS), a Class I railroad, from 2015 to 2023, until the completion of the merger creating Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) in 2023. From 2008 to 2015, he was executive vice president of sales and marketing at KCS and served as executive vice president and Chief Financial Officer at the railroad from 2006 to 2008.
Ottensmeyer served as the U.S. Chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-Mexico Economic Council (USMXECO) from 2019 to 2023. In this role as leader of the U.S.-Mexico CEO Dialogue, he was “instrumental in representing business interests during the formation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) from 2017-2020,” the news release noted.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; for The Greenbrier Companies, a leading international supplier of equipment and services to global freight transportation markets; and for Watco Companies, a single-source transportation and supply chain services company with locations throughout North America and Australia.
Ottensmeyer is co-chair of the Brookings Institute USMCA Initiative and chair of the Truman Library Institute.
He received the North American Rail Shippers Association Edward R. Hamberger Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023 and was the recipient of Ingram’s Executive of the Year Award the prior year. Also in 2022, he and Keith Creel, then president and chief executive officer of Canadian Pacific (CP), won Railway Age’s Co-Railroaders of the Year Award, in connection with the CP and KCS merger.
He received the Railway Age Railroader of the Year recognition for the first time in 2020 and was the recipient of Progressive Railroading’s Railroad Innovator Award in 2019.
Last year, Persio Lisboa joined the board following his retirement in 2021 as president and CEO of Navistar, Inc., a global original equipment manufacturer in the transportation industry.
His 35-year career included extensive senior executive experience with Navistar.
Prior to his top leadership role, Lisboa served as executive vice president and chief operating officer from March 2017 to July 2020 and president of operations from November 2014 to February 2017. He was named the company’s chief procurement officer in 2011 and vice president of purchasing and logistics in 2008. Prior to these roles, Lisboa held multiple management positions within Navistar’s North American and South American operations.
Thad Hill was elected to the board in 2021.
He is CEO of Calpine Corporation (Calpine), one of the nation’s largest independent competitive power companies operating power plants and retail businesses in 22 states and Ontario, Canada. Hill has led Calpine since 2014, when he was promoted from president and chief operating officer to his current position. Prior to joining Calpine, Hill was executive vice president of NRG Energy and president of NRG Texas, where he was responsible for NRG’s largest regional business.
Born and raised in Little Rock, AR, Erica N. Guy decided to stay in her hometown to begin her professional career in journalism. Since obtaining her bachelor’s degree from UAPB, Erica has professionally written for several publications about several topics ranging from lifestyle, tech, culture, and entertainment, just to name a few. Continuing her love for her hometown, she joined our team in June 2023, where she is currently a staff writer. Her career goals include continuing storytelling through her writing by being the best professional writer she can be. In her spare time, Erica enjoys trying new foods, cozying up with a good book, spending time with family and friends, and establishing herself as a future businesswoman.
