Knight Transportation Inc., Phoenix, Ariz., said its first quarter revenue before fuel surcharge increased 22.7% to $90.2 million from $73.6 million for the same quarter 2003.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2004, net income increased 31.6% to $9.3 million from $7.1 million for the same period of 2003. Net income per diluted share increased to $0.24 from $0.19 for same quarter 2003.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kevin P. Knight said, "We are pleased and encouraged by another quarter of record revenues, earnings and earnings per share. The revenue side of our business continued its improvement, as we improved our loaded revenue per mile in excess of 4% without sacrificing length of haul. This quarter represents the eighth consecutive quarter of loaded revenue per mile improvement.
"Higher revenues per tractor and strict cost controls allowed us to post an 82.9 operating ratio, a 100-basis-point improvement over the same quarter last year. We are especially pleased with the performance of the quarter considering the adoption of the new hours of service rules that were effective this quarter.
"We continue to work through the challenges of the new hours of service rules. We are pleased with the efforts of all of our employees toward minimizing operational disadvantages, which can have a negative impact on safety, driver retention and service. We are also pleased with the continued development of our processes and technology to assist us in the management of the new rules."