Landstar Reports Record Profit; Faces Scrutiny on Contracts

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ruckload carrier Landstar System said Thursday it earned a record $35.6 million or 60 cents a share in the third quarter, up from $21.6 million or 35 cents a year earlier.

Separately, the company was being investigated as part of a $400 million trucking contract it received in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Bloomberg reported.

Bloomberg reported that according to a U.S. Department of Transportation memo posted on DOT’s Inspector General’s Web site, a “significant portion” of the $367 million the department will spend on hurricane relief was going to Landstar.

Henry Gerkens, Landstar’s chief executive officer, told Bloomberg that his company had performed well under the scrutiny of federal contracts and that DOT gave Landstar good marks for the way it responded.

Landstar said in its earnings statement that its third-quarter revenue rose 28% to $676 million, also a record.

Its carrier group of companies generated $414 million in revenue for the quarter, an increase from the $369 million in the third quarter of last year.

The company’s newly named global logistics group generated $254 million in revenue, including $129.8 million related to disaster relief services.

CEO Gerkens said he expected Landstar’s earnings for the fourth quarter to be 10% to 14% higher over the previous fourth-quarter earnings, within a range of 46 cent to 51 cents a share.

andstar is ranked No. 14 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies.