Publicly held trucking companies are reporting their first quarter financial results, with reports coming in from Knight Transportation, Covenant Transport, Transportation Corporation of America, Landstar, CNF, Marten Transport, UPS and Heartland Express.


CNF Palo Alto, Calif. reported first quarter net income for common shareholders of $18.3 million. This compares with $13.5 million in the first quarter of 2001.
The 2002 first quarter included a net after-tax benefit of $14 million from unusual items, which included sales of excess property, a payment under the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act, and proceeds from the early termination of a contract.
First-quarter 2002 operating income was $40.4 million including the unusual items, compared with $33.7 million in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue for the first quarter of 2002 was $1.07 billion compared with $1.28 billion in first-quarter 2001. .
"We think we've seen the bottom of the recession," said CNF President and CEO Greg Quesnel. "March was a relatively good month, as both Menlo Worldwide and Con-Way had improved results from February. But overall, the upturn so far is weak."

Covenant Transport, Chattanooga, Tenn., announced for the quarter, freight revenue, before fuel and accessorial surcharges, decreased 2% to $129 million from $131.3 million in the first quarter of 2001. Net earnings before an extraordinary item and an impairment charge were $1.2 million, versus $229,000 in 2001.
"Although more improvement is necessary, I'm cautiously optimistic about the progress we made in several areas in the first quarter," said Chairman, President and CEO David R. Parker. "As previously disclosed, our plan is to manage our fleet size and focus on core priorities of increasing equipment utilization, increasing revenue per mile, holding the line on insurance and claims expense, and reducing other costs. The combination of a slightly smaller fleet and slowly improving freight volumes, together with constant evaluation of freight selection, has produced utilization ahead of a year ago for the first time in 10 quarters."

Heartland Express, Coralville, Iowa, announced gross revenues for the first quarter increased 1.9% to $73.3 million from $71.9 million in the first quarter of 2001. Net income increased 6.8% to $9.5 million from $8.9 million in the 2001 period. Gross revenues for the first quarter of 2001 were favorably impacted by fuel surcharge revenues.
The company ended the first quarter with cash, cash equivalents, and investments of $171.4 million, a $10.3 million increase over the $161.1 million reported on December 31, 2001. The company's balance sheet continues to be debt-free.

Knight Transportation, Phonenix, Ariz., saw revenue before fuel surcharge, increase 14.5% to $61.89 million from $54.05 million for the same quarter of 2001. Net income increased 31.1% to $5.55 million from $4.24 million for the same period in 2001.
"We are very pleased with Knight's results given the difficult operating environment during the quarter," said Chairman and CEO Kevin P. Knight.

Landstar System, Jacksonville, Fla., reported 2002 record first quarter net income of $8.5 million, compared with net income of $8.4 million in the 2001 first quarter. Revenue was a record $336 million for the 13-week period ended March 30, compared with revenue of $331 million in the comparable 2001 period.
Landstar's carrier group of companies generated $270 million of revenue in the 2002 first quarter compared with revenue of $263 million in the 2001 first quarter. Landstar's multimodal services group of companies generated $59 million of revenue in the 2002 first quarter compared with $62 million of revenue in the 2001 first quarter.
"I'm pleased with Landstar's 2002 first quarter performance," said Landstar Chairman and CEO, Jeff Crowe. "During the first two months of the quarter demand was relatively soft. However, business levels strengthened in March and Landstar finished the quarter on a positive note, as revenue increased almost $5 million over the 2001 quarter."
"Landstar ended the 2002 first quarter with 8,814 trucks, 35 more than at year-end and 234 more than at the end of 2001 first quarter," said Crowe.

Marten Transport, Mondovi, Wis., reported revenue of $68 million for the first quarter ended March 31, compared with $70 million a year earlier. Net income for the first quarter was $689,000, vs. $1.65 million in the first quarter of 2001.
Operating income for the first quarter was $1.84 million, compared with $4.12 million last year.
"In a continuation of our fourth-quarter operating environment, the combination of higher operating costs and pressure on freight rates resulted in a substantial increase in our operating ratio and decline in earnings for the first quarter of this year," said Randolph L. Marten, president and chairman of the board. "The pressure on rates has grown more intense over the past year, reflecting a swing in shipping capacity nationally from a shortage to overcapacity. At the same time, our operating expenses have continued to rise, particularly the company's insurance and claims expense and employees' health insurance expense.”

Transport Corporation of America, Minneapolis, announced revenues for the first quarter 2002 of $66 million, compared with 2001 first quarter revenues of $66.1 million.
Excluding the impact of reduced fuel surcharge revenues, which compensate for higher fuel costs, revenues increased by 4 percent over the first quarter of 2001. First quarter's net loss, prior to unusual charges, was $279,000, compared with a 2001 first quarter net loss of $752,000, an improvement of 63%.
"We are taking the steps necessary to make Transport America more competitive and profitable moving forward," said Michael Paxton, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our commitment to improve asset utilization and optimize our balance sheet investments resulted in decisions to reduce the size of our trailer fleet to competitive levels and to sell a portion of our owned tractors to drivers wanting to become owner operators."

UPS, Atlanta, reported a better-than-expected quarterly financial performance led by solid international growth, effective cost management and industry-leading results in its premium air products.
For the quarter ended March 31, revenue totaled $7.58 billion, up 1.9%. Consolidated operating profit increased 0.3% during the period to $947 million. Net income decreased 3.3% to $563 million, from $582 million last year, excluding the $26 million effect of adopting a new accounting standard for derivatives in the first quarter of 2001. These results exceeded the company's expectations of $0.40 to $0.47 per share announced three months ago.
"We were able to show strong growth in our international export volume and supply chain businesses as well as stable operating income, even with tough economic conditions and fewer working days," said UPS Chief Financial Officer Scott Davis. "Domestically, our cost controls were highly effective and yields remained firm. These factors helped us to exceed expectations, even as we continued to invest in the business to position UPS to benefit from a stronger economy."