Transportation and logistics provider USA Truck Inc. has announced earnings for the third quarter of the year showing its most profitable quarter in eight years and its second straight quarterly profit.

Net income totaled $2.7 million or 26 cents per diluted share compared to a loss of $602,000 or 6 cents per share the same time a year ago.

In July the Arkansas-based operation posted its first quarterly profit in three years of $700,000.

Total revenue in the second quarter of the year was $153.6 million compared to $141.8 million a year earlier.

"Both our trucking and asset-light Strategic Capacity Solutions businesses realized revenue gains and positive operating income, a direct outcome of our intense focus on operational effectiveness, while also benefiting from today's strong demand environment,” said President and CEO John Simone “We continued to lower our consolidated operating ratio, this quarter by 450 basis points. Our strong operating cash flow of $19.6 million positioned us to pay down almost $11 million in debt. For the year to date, we have reduced debt by a total of $14.5 million. Over the past 12 months, we have reduced debt by $26.5 million.”

For the first nine months of the year USA’s total revenue increased 11.6% to $368.5 million compared to the same period of 2013. Net income was $1.9 million, or 18 cents per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $4.5 million, or 43 cents per share, during the same time.

He said the third quarter results were driven by a 10.6% increase in base revenue while operating expenses rose only 5.7%, net of fuel surcharge recoveries. “In our trucking business, our operating improvement initiatives enabled us to sustain the asset utilization gains we have realized since beginning our turnaround and achieve a 370 basis-point improvement in trucking's operating ratio,” Simone said. “We reached a key milestone in our turnaround plan by bringing trucking's operating ratio under 100, and we intend to continue that trend."

According to USA Truck, its trucking rate per loaded mile increased 9.4%, a sequential improvement from a 7.1% increase in the second quarter of this year, while fleet fuel efficiency initiatives produced a 10.5% improvement in miles-per-gallon, or $3.2 million.

"Our SCS business was the strongest contributor to third quarter’s positive results even as our truckload business continued to experience improvement and turned profitable this quarter. SCS' base revenue rose 24.2% to $39.9 million, accounting for about one-third of our consolidated base revenue,” said Simone. “Operating expenses net of fuel surcharge increased only 17.7%, reflecting ongoing productivity gains that helped improve SCS' operating ratio by 480 basis points.”

More details can be found on the USA Truck website.