Old Dominion Freight Line Inc., Thomasville, N.C., said revenues for the second quarter were $163,817,000, up 17.3% from $139,669,000 for the second quarter of 2002.

Net income increased 49.3% to $6,509,000 from $4,361,000. Earnings per diluted share grew 17.1% for the latest quarter to $0.41 from $0.35 for the second quarter last year, on a 28.7% increase in weighted average diluted shares outstanding primarily due to the November 2002 stock offering.
Old Dominion's operating ratio improved to 92.6% for the second quarter of 2003 from 93.8% for the second quarter of 2002.
For the first six months of 2003, revenue from operations increased 18.7% to $316,682,000 from $266,816,000 for the comparable period in 2002. Net income rose 62.9% to $10,756,000 from $6,603,000, and with a 28.6% increase in weighted average diluted shares outstanding, earnings per diluted share increased 26.4% to $0.67 from $0.53. The Company's operating ratio improved to 93.4% for the first half of 2003 from 94.8% for the first six months last year.
"In a continued sluggish economic environment, Old Dominion produced earnings per diluted share at the high end of its guidance of $0.37 to $0.41 for the second quarter," said Earl E. Congdon, chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Old Dominion. "While shipment size in terms of weight per shipment stabilized during the second quarter after sequential declines through the first several months of 2003, our caution about the strength of the economic environment that colored our second-quarter guidance was justified and will continue to temper our short-term outlook.
"We attribute Old Dominion's revenue growth for the second quarter to several factors, including the expansion of our sales force, the continued improvement of our products and services, firmer pricing, our growing capabilities in providing single-source, comprehensive transportation services to many of our customers and the positive impact of the September 2002 bankruptcy filing of Consolidated Freightways.
Old Dominion produced 13.4% growth in LTL shipments for the quarter and a 10.1% increase in LTL tonnage, which resulted in a 3.0% decline in weight per LTL shipment. Our LTL revenue per LTL hundredweight increased 8.6% for the quarter, or 7.0% excluding the fuel surcharge. Our lower weight per LTL shipment and an increased average length of haul contributed to this pricing improvement."