U.S. Xpress’ Earnings, Revenue Rise in 3Q

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.

ruckload carrier U.S. Xpress Enterprises said late Monday its third-quarter income rose to $7.72 million or 47 cents a share, compared with $4 million or 25 cents a share in the previous year.

Revenue in the quarter rose to $396.6 million from $297.2 million last year, the company said in a statement. Excluding fuel surcharges, revenue increased to $334.8 million from $262.6 million.

Truckload revenue in the third quarter, excluding fuel surcharges, rose 29.4% to $312 million. Truckload operating income increased 51.6% to $17.7 million from $11.7 million in the third quarter of 2005.

U.S. Xpress said the gains in the truckload segment were driven primarily by the contributions of Arnold Transportation and Total Transportation, which the company acquired in late February. (Click here for previous coverage.)

Revenue at the carrier’s Xpress Global Systems subsidiary was mostly unchanged at about $24.1 million in the third quarter. In August, John Bowes took over as president of the unit. (Click here for previous coverage.)

Also in August, U.S. Xpress acquired a 49% stake in Abilene Motor Express, a Richmond, Va., truckload carrier. (Click here for previous coverage.)

"Consistent with other published reports, freight demand in October is softer than what we experienced in October of last year while spot pricing remains depressed,” said Max Fuller, the company’s co-chairman. “Further, we have not experienced the normal seasonal improvement in freight demand to the degree we would have expected by this time in the quarter.”

U.S. Xpress is ranked No. 21 on the 2006 Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.