Marten Transport Income Rises 50% in 2Q
Marten Transport reported a strong jump in profits and revenue in the second quarter, spurred by a rise in operating income at all four of its major divisions.
The Mondovi, Wis.-based truckload carrier earned $13.7 million, or 25 cents a share, in the three months ended June 30, a rise of nearly 50% from $9.1 million, or 17 cents, in the same period a year ago.
Revenue climbed 15% to $197 million from $171.5 million in the second quarter of 2017. Marten primarily hauls food and other temperature-sensitive goods in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
CEO Randolph Marten said in a statement the improved results were due to the “balanced strength of Marten’s unique multifaceted business model, with significant increases in the operating income produced across our four distinct operating platforms — Truckload, Dedicated, Intermodal and Brokerage.”
The truckload unit reported operating income of $8.7 million, up nearly 16% from $7.5 million, while operating revenue fell slightly to $94.4 million from $94.9 million.
The dedicated unit saw operating income rise 10% to $5.6 million from $5.1 million. Revenue jumped more than 37% to $57 million from $41.5 million.
The intermodal group reported operating income of $2.5 million, up 23% from $2 million, as revenue rose 33% to $25.5 million from $19.1 million.
The brokerage unit’s operating income rose more than 52% to $1.4 million from $944,000, as revenue rose 26% to $20.2 million from $16 million.
At the end of the quarter Marten was operating 2,761 tractors and 5,402 trailers. Marten ranks No. 48 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America.
