Less-than-truckload carrier Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. has announced a 29.5% increase in third quarter net income totaling $77.9 million.

Earnings per diluted share rose 28.6% to 90 cents for the third quarter of 2014 compared 70 cents a year earlier while revenue increased 20.6% to $743.6 million from $616.5 million during the same time.

All three measures were quarterly records for the North Carolina-based operation.

“Our revenue growth during the quarter was primarily the result of an 18.7% increase in LTL tons and a 1.6% increase in LTL revenue per hundredweight, or 2.2% excluding fuel surcharges, despite the negative impact on this yield metric from the 2.5% increase in weight per shipment and 1% decline in our average length of haul,” said David S. Congdon, president and CEO.

He said the financial improvements happened as the company faced increased operating costs associated with salaries, wages and benefits as well as a multi-year IT modernization effort.

To keep pace with revenue growth, Congdon said ODFL increased the number of full-time employees by over 2,000 employees, or 14.6%, over the past twelve months, with 868 of those new employees hired during the third quarter of 2014.

More details are on the Old Dominion Freight Line website.