Heartland Express’ 1Q Net Income Falls 29%
Heartland Express’ first-quarter income fell 29% to $14.1 million, or 16 cents per share, as winter weather-related cost increases drove down profits.
The truckload carrier’s earnings were down from $19.7 million, or 23 cents a share, a year ago.
Revenue jumped almost 70% to $224.5 million, reflecting the impact of its acquisition of Gordon Trucking in the fourth quarter of 2013.
“Fleet utilization and operating results for the quarter were negatively affected by severe winter weather across the Eastern half of the U.S.,” North Liberty, Iowa-based Heartland said in a statement.
Its expenses rose $9.4 million faster than revenue, and earnings were hurt by a drop of $9.1 million from gains on equipment sales compared with the year-ago period.
Heartland Express ranks No. 47 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.
