USA Truck Inc., with headquarters in Van Buren, Ark., announced quarterly base revenue of $92.2 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2006, a decrease of 5.1 percent from $97.1 million for the same quarter of 2005.

Net income decreased 71.5 percent from $4.3 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2005, to $1.2 million for the same quarter of 2006. Base revenue increased 2.3 percent from $376.6 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2005, to $385.3 million for the year 2006. Net income decreased 20.1 percent from $15.6 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2005, to $12.4 million for the year 2006.
Jerry D. Orler, president and CEO, said, “We experienced declining demand for truckload freight services throughout the quarter consistent with the declining truck tonnage reported by the American Trucking Associations. This was the most difficult operating environment that we have seen in several years due to the deteriorating demand and the absence of the normal peak shipping season.
“We also experienced more pricing competition as the quarter unfolded, which created an increasingly challenging environment to generate the necessary revenue volume. The economic conditions were compounded by the fact that we held firm on our pricing until late in the third quarter, which resulted in pricing during the fourth quarter that was not competitive enough for the conditions in the market. That point is evidenced by the increase in our base Trucking revenue per loaded mile of 3.0 percent and a corresponding 3.5 percentage point increase in the empty mile factor. We are currently adjusting our marketing strategy accordingly.
“Freight demand was also off significantly for the full year. The lack of freight demand resulted in an increase in unmanned tractors and a decline in our miles per tractor per week for both the fourth quarter and full year. A surge in driver turnover between May and October also contributed to the increase in our unmanned tractor count, which climbed to 7.3 percent during the fourth quarter, well above our goal of 3 percent.
“Our management team is developing a number of tactics to address issues leading to volatility and variability in our business model. While those efforts will not likely yield meaningful results until freight demand improves, we are seeing some encouraging signs of success already. Our driver turnover improved by more than 35 percentage points in November and December and the utilization of our manned tractors improved 2.3 percent over that same time period. Those results have carried over into January. Based on current freight availability, we are also addressing pressures on our utilization rate by adjusting our equipment replacement schedule to reduce the size of our fleet by 50 tractors during January and will not add tractors until both freight demand and driver availability dictate.”