Marten’s First-Quarter Income Improves

Refrigerated truckload carrier Marten Transport’s first-quarter net income rose 52.8% to $4.1 million, or 18 cents a share, from $2.7 million, or 12 cents a year ago.

Operating revenue from trucking and logistics operations fell 14.9%, to $122 million, the company said late Tuesday.

Truckload revenue fell 18.8% to $98.4 million, while logistics revenue, including brokerage and intermodal operations, increased 6% from a year earlier, to $23.6 million.

Marten said that most of the decrease in truckload revenue was due to decreased fuel prices between the quarters in 2008 and 2009, which meant that the company's fuel surcharge revenue fell 62.9% to $9.8 million.

Marten is ranked No. 47 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.