Ryder System Inc. has become the latest trucking operation to revise downward expectations for its upcoming third quarter earnings.

The fleet management, dedicated transportation, and supply chain solutions provider expects third quarter 2015 earnings per dilutive share (EPS) to be in a range of $1.72 to $1.74, down from its previous projection of $1.82 to $1.87, and compared to $1.63 a year earlier.

The company also established its comparable fourth quarter 2015 EPS forecast of $1.72 to $1.82, as compared with $1.60 in the prior year, an increase of 8% to 14%.

Ryder has also revising its full-year 2015 comparable EPS forecast to $6.17 to $6.29, down from a prior range of $6.45 to $6.55, and compared with the prior year of $5.58. This represents an increase of 11% to 13%.

The company is set to release its third quarter earnings report on Oct. 22.

“The revision [for the third quarter] is due to a temporary execution issue, related to record fleet growth, which the company expects to resolve during the fourth quarter, and less robust demand conditions in used vehicle sales,” Ryder said in a statement.

The Florida-based company said commercial rental demand remained robust and rental revenue grew by 7% in the third quarter. Earnings, however, were afffected by a greater than planned number of out-of-service vehicles during the quarter, as maintenance technicians were supporting new levels of fleet growth across all product lines. It anticipated fourth quarter rental demand to be generally consistent with prior expectations. Earnings, however, will be impacted as the company resolves the out-of-service vehicle issue in the fourth quarter, according to Ryder.

Used vehicle sales results also impacted earnings in the quarter, particularly in the month of September. The impact was due to 7% fewer than anticipated used power vehicles sold in the U.S., as well as moderating price growth.

Overall revenue growth remains strong and in line with Ryder’s prior expectations for the third quarter.

The news follows the trucking company Swift Transportation Co. recently lowering expecations for the final two quarters of the year along with Universal Truckload Services Inc. saying it expects lower third quarter numbers compared to a year earlier.

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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