Trucking and logistics giant J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. expects freight demand to regain traction in the coming months as the pandemic-driven upheaval in supply chains fades and companies return to more conventional ordering cycles. “We have had good signals from our customers about Q2 starting up back to a more normalized or having a more normal environment,” J.B. Hunt President Shelley Simpson said in an earnings conference call Wednesday. “Demand for intermodal capacity was seasonally weaker than normal, as peak season activity leading up to the holidays was absent this year,” Darren Field, president of intermodal at J.B. Hunt, said in the earnings call. He said volumes weakened sequentially during the fourth quarter, with volumes up 4% in October before falling 3% in November and 5% in December. The steepest revenue decline came in J.B. Hunt’s Integrated Capacity Solutions unit, which matches freight loads to trucks.

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