Frozen Food Express Industries Inc., Dallas, Texas, has reported the highest net income for any first quarter in its 58 years in business.

First quarter 2004 net income was $1,940,000 on revenue of $103,377,000.
For the same period of 2003, the company incurred a loss of $668,000 on revenue of $91,454,000.
Freight revenue improved by 14% between the first three months of 2003 and 2004, to $100,905,000. Fuel adjustment charges made up 4.9% of 2004's freight revenue, as compared to 4.7% during the comparable 2003 period.
Operating income generated by the company's trucking operations was $3,310,000 for the quarter -- as compared to operating income of $89,000 for the same period of 2003. Non-freight operations, which lost money in every quarter of 2003, accumulating more than $5 million in 2003 operating losses, posted first-quarter 2004 operating income of $10,000.
Stoney M. (Mit) Stubbs Jr., FFEX chairman and CEO, said, "Since we're primarily a refrigerated trucker, our year is typically seasonal. Normally the first quarter is our weakest. Almost always we're the busiest during the warmer months -- the second and third quarters. Demand for trucking service is strong, and the supply of trucks is tight right now and, as drivers leave truck driving for warm-weather jobs in construction, the national supply is likely to get tighter. Strong demand and tight supply mean that freight rates should continue to rise."