Daseke Reports Net Loss of $273.3 Million in Q3
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Flatbed and specialized fleet Daseke Inc. reported a net loss of $273.3 million in the third quarter of 2019, compared with a net profit of $2.2 million in the same quarter last year.
Daseke officials reported revenue of $450.4 million, a 2.4% decrease from the $461.6 million reported for the period ending Sept. 30, 2018.
Earnings per share were minus $4.24, compared with 1 cent a year earlier.
The Addison, Texas, carrier has been restructuring its management team to cut costs and better control operations for the many trucking firms it has acquired in the past 10 years.
Easter
“We took decisive actions to drive immediate operational changes across the company during the third quarter,” said Chris Easter, Daseke’s interim CEO. “We believe our accelerated operational integrations, business improvement plans and corporate right-sizing will drive positive impacts in the business.”
Easter said Nov. 12 that Daseke is trying to make changes to control costs during “a weaker-than-normal macroenvironment.”
Revenue decline primarily was driven by a softer rate environment in the flatbed segment, with consolidated freight rates declining 4.6%, Easter said.
Daseke’s specialized solutions segment proved more resilient and grew its top line by 1.5% year-over-year, Daseke officials said.
Daseke
To improve financial results, Daseke said it also has executed a management restructuring and corporate cost-reduction plan, which included the elimination of several positions within Daseke’s corporate office.
Part of those right-sizing moves included forming a council of subsidiary CEOs to control costs. The company also announced Aug. 15 that founder Don Daseke would retire but remain as a member of the board. The company appointed Easter — whom Don Daseke recruited to the company last year to help steer it in a new direction — interim CEO.
Daseke officials said its transformation office will be responsible for ensuring the completion of the “operational integrations and business improvement plans across the Daseke organization by tracking execution and ensuring accountability.”
Daseke offers transportation services to many industrial shippers through a fleet of approximately 6,000 tractors and 13,000 flatbed and specialized trailers. The company said it has more than 1 million square feet of industrial warehousing space.
Daseke Inc. ranks No. 21 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America.
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