USA Truck Reports 4Q Loss

Truckload carrier USA Truck reported a fourth-quarter loss of $2.5 million, or 24 cents per share, compared with net income of $599,000, or 6 cents, a year ago.

Total revenue fell to $100.3 million, from $116.2 million, while trucking revenue fell to $80.9 million, from $89.4 million, the company said in a statement.

The company said that intermodal revenue grew 44.7% to $2.3 million, due in part to broadening its customer base with its trailer-on-flat-car service.

“We believe industry conditions have bottomed,” Clifton Beckham, the company’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

“However, tractor capacity remains abundant and pricing pressure remains severe,” he said.

For the full 2009 year, USA Truck saw a loss of $7.2 million, or 70 cents per share, compared with an income of $3.1 million, or 31 cents, in 2008.

Revenue in that period dropped to $317.2 million, from $381.1 million the previous year.

USA Truck is ranked No. 50 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.