Knight Reports Lower 3Q Earnings
Knight Transportation Inc. said Oct. 23 its third-quarter profit declined on a “difficult operating environment.”
Net income declined to $15 million, or 19 cents a share, from $16.6 million, or 21 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose 0.6% to $239 million.
“Despite a difficult operating environment and running 3.6% fewer tractors than last year, we grew our revenue on a year-over-year basis. Our revenue per tractor improved by 1.0%, as a result of a 1.5% improvement in revenue per total mile and a 0.5% decrease in miles per tractor,” CEO Kevin Knight said.
“Inflationary cost pressures exceeded the improvement in our revenue per total mile, yet we remain confident in our ability to operate with an industry-leading cost per mile,” he said.
Earlier this month, Knight raised its stake in takeover-target USA Truck Inc. to 12.4% and denied breach- of-contract allegations.
Knight, based in Phoenix, increased its stake from 11%, according to a regulatory filing made Oct. 15 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That move followed an Oct. 11 denial by Knight that it had used confidential information in preparing its $9-per-share offer for USA Truck.
Knight Transportation is ranked No. 31 on the Transport Topics Top 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.
