Photo: Evan Lockridge

Photo: Evan Lockridge

Swift Transportation Co. saw a big upturn in its third quarter profit, according to numbers it released late Thursday.

Net income surged from $30 million in the third quarter of last year to $50.2 million in the most recent quarter, a gain from 21 cents per diluted share to 35 cents per diluted share. Total revenue increased from $1.03 billion to $1.07 billion, a more than 4% increase.

“We were able to generate year-over-year profitability improvement in our truckload, intermodal and Central Refrigerated Service segments,” the company said in a statement.

As for the dedicated segment, Swift said it is saw sequential improvement, in-line with expectations. The fleet says it will "continue to target a return to historical profit margins by year end, as we completely absorb the significant number of contract awards this year.

"Above all, the operational trends we experienced in each segment as the third quarter developed were very positive.”

Swift said it was able to achieve these results despite the cost of recently announced driver wage increases.

During the third quarter the Arizona-based trucking services provider saw consolidated revenue, less fuel surcharge, increased 5.8% compared to the same time last year, while its average truck count increased by 500. Loaded miles per tractor, per week, increased 2.2%.

Revenue, less fuel surcharge, in the company’s truckload segment was essentially flat compared to a year ago at $460 million. Revenue grew 31.7% in the dedicated trucking segment, totaling $197.7 million. Central Refrigerated Service reported a 12.5% drop in revenue, minus fuel surcharge, totaling $80.6 million. Revenues were up 4.5% in the intermodal segment, totaling $80.1 million.

More details are on the Swift Transportation website.

About the author
Evan Lockridge

Evan Lockridge

Former Business Contributing Editor

Trucking journalist since 1990, in the news business since early ‘80s.

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