ODFL’s Third-Quarter Income Improves

Old Dominion Freight Line said its third-quarter net income rose 16.7% to $23.4 million, or 63 cents a share, from $20 million, or 54 cents, a year ago.

Revenue rose 14.5% to $415.9 million, the less-than-truckload carrier said in a statement.

The carrier’s tonnage rose 7.4% in the quarter, but shipments fell 0.9%. The rate of tonnage growth slowed each month during the quarter and into the fourth quarter, Executive Chairman Earl Congdon said in a statement.

He held ODFL’s full-year earnings guidance at $1.90 to $1.95 per share “barring further deterioration in the economy” but said “we remain extremely cautious about our short-term business outlook for the fourth quarter and beyond.”

Old Dominion Freight Line is ranked No. 20 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.