Three more carriers released their earnings reports. Con-way's fourth quarter profit took a big decline but was up for the year, while Roadrunner Transportation broke through the $1 billion revenue barrier in 2012 and Old Dominion Freight Line posted record numbers.

Con-way

Multi-modal truckload and less-than truckload provider Con-way reported a big decline in fourth quarter net income of $11.8 million, compared to fourth-quarter 2011 of $23.0 million.

It said the period was negatively impacted by certain tax items while the 2011 fourth quarter included a $10 million gain from the settlement of a dispute related to the 2007 acquisition of Chic Logistics.

Revenue for the fourth quarter was $1.36 billion, a 3.4% increase from last year's fourth quarter revenue of $1.32 billion.

Douglas W. Stotlar, Con-way's president and CEO, said, "Good cost controls and strong productivity during the quarter helped to mitigate the impact of a generally weak economic environment."

Con-way Freight, the company's LTL unit, realized an increase in operating income compared to last year's fourth quarter.

"While the unsettled economic conditions contributed to declining tonnage trends throughout the quarter, our LTL company increased yield and improved operational efficiency," Stotlar said. "We remain on track with the key elements of our three-year plan, and we expect the investments that we have made will improve our operational performance and financial results, particularly over the second half of this year."

Menlo Worldwide Logistics, the company's global logistics and supply chain management operation, posted higher revenues and net revenues. 

Con-way Truckload's fourth quarter revenue was essentially flat with 2011 while operating income recorded a slight decline. "In the fourth quarter of 2011, Con-way Truckload experienced a surge in business that lasted late into the quarter, whereas fourth quarter 2012 volumes reflected weaker demand patterns," Stotlar said. "Our truckload company benefited from consistent operational execution, low driver turnover and a rate environment that remained stable.... Con-way Truckload is well positioned for further margin expansion in 2013.”

For 2012, Con-way reported net income of $104.5 million, an increase from 2011’s net income of $88.4 million. Revenue during the same period was $5.58 billion, a 5.5 percent increase from 2011. 

Roadrunner Transportation

Asset-light transportation and logistics service provider Roadrunner Transportation reported fourth quarter 2012 net income available increased 38.8% over the prior year quarter to $9.5 million. Revenue during the same time increased 24% to $295 million.

For all of 2012, the company reported net income of $37.5 million compared to $25.9 million in 2011, while revenue crossed the $1 billion dollar mark after coming in at $843.6 billion last year

“Strong performance across all of our business segments generated fourth quarter revenue growth of 24.0% and net revenue growth of 29.5%," said Mark DiBlasi, president and CEO of Roadrunner. "Due to sales and operational initiatives, our operating income growth of 33.6% outpaced revenue. Our operating ratio improved to 94.0% compared to 94.4% in the fourth quarter of 2011, despite additional costs incurred related to Hurricane Sandy.

"The impact of additional shares related to our December common stock offering, lost revenue and additional costs incurred related to Hurricane Sandy, and transaction costs related to the fourth quarter acquisitions of Central Cal Transportation, A&A Express and Direct Connection Transportation negatively impacted our fourth quarter diluted earnings per share."

The company anticipates revenues for the first quarter to be in the range of $285 million to $310 million, representing an increase of 20% to 31% from the first quarter of 2012.

The Wisconsin-based Roadrunner has three operating segments: less-than-truckload, truckload and logistics, and transportation management solutions

Old Dominion Freight Line

Less-than-truckload operator Old Dominion Freight Line announced revenue increased 8.7% to $527.3 million for the fourth quarter of last year from $485.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2011. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2012 was $39.5 million, compared with $39.9 million, for the fourth quarter of 2011. Its operating ratio was 87.2% for the most recent quarter compared with 86.9% for the fourth quarter of 2011.

For 2012, revenue increased 12.1% to $2.11 billion from $1.88 billion for 2011. Net income increased 21.5% for 2012 to $169.5 million from $139.5 million for 2011, while ODFL’s operating ratio improved to 86.5% for 2012 from 87.6% for 2011.

“2012 turned out to be another record-breaking year for Old Dominion, as we improved our annual operating ratio to a new company record of 86.5% and also produced over $2 billion of revenue for the first time in our company's history," said David S. Congdon, president and CEO. "Our fourth quarter results reflect the impact of Hurricane Sandy and severe winter weather conditions, which slowed our revenue growth and increased our operating costs. We also believe political uncertainty and general concern over the “fiscal cliff” contributed to a weaker economic environment during the quarter.”