Swift Profit Falls Despite More Revenue
Profit for Arizona-based Swift Transportation fell in the third quarter of the year despite doing more business.

Photo: Evan Lockridge
Profit for Arizona-based Swift Transportation fell in the third quarter of the year despite doing more business.

Photo: Evan Lockridge
Income fell from $33.7 million in the third quarter of 2012 to $30 million during the third quarter of this year. Total revenue increased from $993to just over $1 billion during the same time.
Revenue for the company’s truckload business increased to $580 million in the most recent quarter, from $565 million a year ago, while in its dedicated operation it increased to $185 million from $183 million during the same time.
Swift’s Central Refrigerated segment, saw revenue increase to $137 million from $122 million a year earlier, a 15% hike. Swift purchased Central Refrigerated in August for $225 million.
Intermodal business increased to $90 million from $86 million.
“Our industry is experiencing substantial headwinds including higher equipment and maintenance costs an increasingly constrained driver market, challenging new hours of service regulations, and a lackluster freight environment,” said Swift in a statement. “Our adjusted operating ratio improved in our truckload, dedicated and intermodal segments. Our intermodal segment was profitable through the first nine months of the year as we have grown revenue and increased the utilization of our equipment and we expect this trend to continue into the fourth quarter.”
Swift says it is the process of adding several new dedicated accounts “which should add positive growth in the fourth quarter and into 2014.”
More details on Swift's third quarter performance are on the company website.
More Fleet Management

Kodiak Lines Up Fleets for Driverless Trucking
An agreement for 75 trucks, a new Texas freight lane, and progress on safety validation move Kodiak closer to its planned driverless highway launch.
Read More →
ITS Logistics Settles Religious Harassment Case
The Nevada-based logistics firm agreed to pay more than $396,000 to settle a religious harassment charge involving an employee's Jewish identity.
Read More →
Your Trucks Are Busy. That Doesn’t Mean They’re Winning.
High utilization doesn’t always mean strong margins. Looking beyond the current load can help fleets make better dispatch decisions and get more value from each truck’s time.
Read More →
Why This Trucking Recovery Is Different
Freight demand remains sluggish, but rising costs and tougher enforcement have taken enough capacity out of the market to change the outlook for motor carriers.
Read More →
Platform Science Adds Dispatch and Safety Tools
Four additions to PS Fleet help fleets monitor loads, manage driver coaching, share truck locations and adjust video system settings.
Read More →
PrePass Intelligence Mines Fleet Bypass, Toll and Safety Data
PrePass Intelligence helps fleets measure bypass savings, flag potential toll overcharges, and spot suspicious transactions by combining data from separate systems.
Read More →
Motive Adds AI Agents for Fleet Operations
New tools automate follow-up on fleet data, from maintenance work orders to driver alerts, with two-way voice conversations planned for later this year.
Read More →Can You Beat Our Trucking Trivia Challenge?
Test your truck knowledge with 19 trivia questions from Heavy Duty Trucking Exchange. Can you keep up with the fleet pros?
Read More →
BeyondTrucks Adds Rules Checks to Dispatch
New Compatibility Engine checks driver qualifications, equipment requirements and fleet policies before loads are dispatched.
Read More →
Diesel Prices Hijack Trucking’s Worry List
ATRI’s annual survey finds cautious optimism about freight, but diesel costs, litigation, and insurance continue to squeeze fleets. Drivers have different priorities on several issues.
Read More →
