Covenant Transport Inc. said total revenue for the first quarter increased 9.9 percent, to $151.5 million from $137.9 million in the same quarter of 2005.

Freight revenue, which excludes fuel surcharges, increased 4.7 percent, to $129.4 million in the 2006 quarter from $123.6 million in the 2005 quarter. The company measures freight revenue because management believes that fuel surcharges tend to be a volatile source of revenue, and the removal of such surcharges affords a more consistent basis for comparing results of operations from period to period. The company experienced a net loss of $884,000, or ($.06) per share, in the 2006 quarter compared with a net loss of $649,000, or ($.04) per share, for the first quarter of 2005.
Chairman, President and CEO David R. Parker said, "The first quarter was pretty typical of first quarters in trucking – a spotty freight market, a couple of big storms, but nothing unusual. Although the freight market in general was not as strong as last year's, I am pleased to report that Covenant did not experience a large drop-off, as we did in the first quarter of 2005. There was first quarter seasonality but nothing more.”