Two transportation and logistics providers recently reported second quarter earnings, with one showing a big leap in business following two purchases, while the other moved into the red, but only slightly.

XPO Logistics Inc. (XPO) saw its revenue more than double from the same time a year earlier, hitting $1.2 billion following its purchase of the French trucking operation Norbert Dentressangle and drayage provider Bridge Terminal Transport.

Despite the upturn in business, its net loss widened to $78.8 million, or a loss of 89 cents per diluted share, compared to a loss of $13.8 million, or a loss of 28 cents per diluted share, a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, the net loss was $13.6 million, or a loss of 16 cents per share for the quarter, excluding the items detailed below. This compares with an adjusted net loss available to common shareholders of $11.6 million, or a loss of 22 cents per share, for the second quarter of 2014.

The Connecticut-based company also issued new long-term financial targets, projecting revenue of approximately $23 billion in 2019, up from a projected $9.5 billion this year, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of approximately $1.5 billion.

"We're continuing to grow the company at a rapid pace, well ahead of plan," said Bradley Jacobs, chairman and CEO, noting that in the second quarter, the company more than doubled its gross revenue year-over-year, grew net revenue four-fold, and increased adjusted EBITDA more than five-fold.

“These results included just 22 days of the Norbert Dentressangle acquisition and one month of Bridge Terminal Transport. The most notable organic contributions to EBITDA came from our businesses in truck brokerage, expedite and last mile, where we recently won a coveted e-commerce contract.”

The company's transportation segment, which includes truck brokerage and intermodal, last mile, expedite, less than truckload, truckload, and global forwarding, generated total gross revenue of $861.2 million for the quarter, a 48.2% increase from the same period in 2014.

The year-over-year increase in segment revenue was primarily due to the acquisition of Norbert Dentressangle, and to 4% organic growth, or an estimated 10% organic growth excluding the impact of lower fuel prices, according to the company.

Second quarter EBITDA for the segment improved to $52.1 million, compared with $27.9 million a year ago. Operating income improved to $23.0 million, compared with $3.2 million a year ago. XPO said. the increases in EBITDA and operating income were largely due to improved performance by the company's truck brokerage, last mile and expedite businesses, and to the acquisition of Norbert Dentressangle

The company's logistics segment, which provides contract logistics and related supply chain services, generated gross revenue of $359.6 million, net revenue of $314.0 million, EBITDA of $30.9 million and operating income of $4.3 million.

Full details are on the XPO website.

Echo Global Logistics

Meantime, Echo Global Logistics Inc. (ECHO) moved from a second quarter profit to a slight loss while showing an increase in business.

Its loss of $682,000 or 3 cents per diluted share compared to a profit of $4.2 million or 18 cents per diluted in the second quarter of 2014.

Revenue increased to $371.6 million from $305.1 million a year earlier.

"Echo continued to deliver strong results in a quarter where we closed the transformational acquisition of Command Transportation, drove strong organic growth in a softer market, and expanded our net revenue margins while significantly increasing our truckload business," said Doug Waggoner, chairman and CEO of Echo.

"Even more powerful is our prospect for future growth, as we have successfully kicked off our integration with Command, which will dramatically improve our truckload brokerage capabilities through a substantial increase in capacity and network density."

Echo's purchase of Command Transportation was completed on June 1.

The Chicago-based operation reported operating income of $2.8 million versus $6.9 million for the second quarter of last year.

Truckload volume increased by 42% from the second quarter of 2014.

The company also updated its guidance for all of 2015, forcasting revenue to be in the range of $1.525 billion to $1.575 billion while increasing its 2018 targets to $3 billion in revenue and EBITDA of $150 million.

There is more information on the Echo Global Logistics website.