USA Truck Inc., Van Buren, Ark., announced base revenue of $96.7 million for its third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2006, an increase of 1.2 percent from $95.5 million for the same quarter of 2005.

Net income decreased 19.1 percent from $4.2 million for the quarter to $3.4 million for the same quarter of 2006. Diluted earnings per share decreased 25 percent from $0.40 for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2005 to $0.30 for the same quarter of 2006.
Base revenue increased 4.9 percent from $279.5 million for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2005 to $293.1 million for the same period of 2006. Net income decreased 0.6 percent from $11.3 million for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2005 to $11.2 million for the same period of 2006. Diluted earnings per share decreased 14.9 percent from $1.14 for the nine months ended Sept.30, 2005 to $0.97 for the same period of 2006.
Robert M. Powell, chairman and CEO of the company, said freight demand was noticeably down during what is historically a strong quarter. While demand was steady throughout the second half of the quarter, he said the company did not experience increasingly robust volumes in the mid-August through September timeframe as it typically does.
“Evidence of that soft shipping environment is found in our increased empty mile factor, which is traditionally a good barometer of freight availability. The softer demand, along with the operational challenges created by last fall’s U.S. Department of Transportation hours of service rule changes, resulted in fewer miles per tractor per week,” Powell said.