Marten Transport Ltd., a leading temperature-sensitive truckload carrier, said that for the quarter ended June 30, 2003, operating revenue increased 13.7%, to $84.2 million from $74 million for the same quarter of 2002.

For the six months ended June 30, 2003, operating revenue increased 15.1%, to $163.5 million from $142 million for the same period of 2002.
Operating revenue included fuel surcharges of $3.7 million and $7.9 million for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2003, compared with $1.2 million and $1.4 million for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2002. Excluding fuel surcharge revenue, the increase in revenue was 10.6% for the quarter and 10.7% for the six months.
For the quarter ended June 30, 2003, net income increased 24.5%, to $3.5 million from $2.8 million for the same quarter of 2002. For the six months ended June 30, 2003, net income increased 39.8%, to $4.9 million from $3.5 million for the same period of 2002.
Chairman and President Randolph L. Marten said, "Marten's financial results improved during the second quarter as a result of stronger shipping demand, disciplined execution by our operations personnel and continued cost-control efforts. Average operating revenue per tractor per week increased to $3,004 from $2,913 in the second quarter of 2002. Average freight revenue per tractor per week increased to $2,872 from $2,864 in the second quarter of 2002.
"Our operating ratio (operating expenses as a percentage of operating revenue) improved to 92.8% for the quarter compared with 93% for the same quarter last year. Excluding fuel surcharges from both revenue and fuel expense, our operating ratio would have been 92.5% in the 2003 quarter and 92.9% in the 2002 quarter."