LTL Carrier Profits Increase as Freight Shifts From Truckload

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ess-than-truckload carriers said they boosted profits in the first quarter both because the strengthening economy had improved business generally and because shippers were shifting some freight away from the tightening truckload sector.

Industry officials and stock analysts also said the rate hikes that truckload carriers recently imposed, to offset productivity losses from new driver hours-of-service rules, had made LTL rates more attractive.

And with the trucking sector using more of its available hauling equipment and drivers amid the growth in shipment demand, some said they looked for further gains.

William Zollars, chairman and chief executive officer of Yellow Roadway Corp., the largest LTL, told the Bear, Stearns & Co. transportation conference last week in New York that “as capacity tightens, yields will get better and better. It’s going to continue in the next quarter.”

For the full story, see the May 17 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.