U.S. Xpress' Earnings Fall in Part on Sale of Airport Unit

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.

ruckload carrier U.S. Xpress Enterprises said late Wednesday that its second-quarter net income was $482,000 or 3 cents a share, compared with $4.2 million or 30 cents a year earlier.

This year’s second-quarter earnings were $1.9 million or 12 cents a share before a one-time pretax charge related to the company’s $12.75 million sale of its airport-to-airport business to Forward Air Corp. announced in May, the company said in a statement. (Click here for previous coverage.)

Revenue for the quarter rose 3.5% to $279.9 million. Truckload revenue excluding fuel surcharges fell to $222.4 million, from $223.8 million last year.

Truckload operating income for the quarter fell to $7.9 million from $9.9 million in part due to a 32% jump in fuel prices, which negatively impacted operating income by $1.5 million or 5 cents a share, U.S. Xpress said.

The company said the drop in truckload revenue was largely offset by a 6.2% increase in rate-per-miles and the growth in its expedited rail-service revenue.

“Although truckload freight demand was lower relative to the strong demand in 2004, we experienced strengthening demand late in the quarter,” Co-Chairman Patrick Quinn said in a statement.

.S. Xpress is ranked No. 22 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.