Proficient Q4 Revenue Slumps 15.9% on Weaker Margins
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Revenue at Proficient Auto Logistics slumped in the fourth quarter of 2024 on the back of slack demand and weaker revenue per delivery, the motor vehicle carrier said.
However, Proficient — the No. 4-ranked auto transporter — expects industry dynamics to improve in 2025, including through a reduction in carrier capacity due to the travails of Jack Cooper Holdings.
Proficient, which was formed from the merger of five auto haulers in May 2024, posted $95.1 million in revenue in the most recent quarter, a 15.9% year-over-year decrease from $113.1 million the company’s combined predecessors earned in the year-ago period.
The Jacksonville, Fla.-based carrier did not provide figures for net income. It was formed following an initial public offering in May.
Proficient Chief Financial Officer Brad Wright told analysts during a quarterly earnings call that the overall revenue it brought in per vehicle fell 14% to around $169 in Q4 from $197 a year earlier.
Proficient Auto Logistics Q4 2024 Earnings Presentation
The company delivered 521,476 vehicles in the most recent quarter, a decrease of 3.8% from 542,117 in Q4 2023. In-house deliveries fell 4.6% to 181,961 from 190,700 in the year-ago period while subhauler deliveries fell 3.4% to 339,515 from 351,417 in Q4 2023.
Deliveries by company-owned trucks brought in $179.22 per unit, compared with $193.53 in the year-ago period, while subhauler deliveries generated $163.49 in revenue per unit in Q4, compared with $198.59 a year earlier.
“As in the third quarter, the … issue was unit prices, a slack transportation capacity and relatively high dealer inventory, resulting in ongoing limited spot opportunities,” CEO Rick O’Dell said during the Feb. 11 conference call.
Persistent downward pressure on spot pricing for those opportunities that did exist and weak demand for dedicated fleet services amplified the headwinds during the quarter, O’Dell added.
Proficient’s operating ratio was 98.3 in the most recent quarter, compared with 98.8 in the same period 12 months earlier. It posted a full-year operating ratio of 95.0 in 2024, compared with 92.3 in 2023.
Carriers’ operating ratio provides insight into how well a company is balancing its costs and revenue generation. The lower the ratio, the better a company’s performance.
“While we believe this current spot market to be unusually weak, we also do not expect to return to the levels a year ago as the post-COVID through early 2024 time period was marked by unique industry supply chain dislocation that drove transportation premiums well above a typical market,” said O’Dell.
Proficient and its peers have seen an even tougher start to 2025, company executives said.
“January was challenged by not only a weak [seasonally adjusted annual sales rates] month and the typical post year-end seasonal volume weakness, but also significant weather events in many areas of the country, such as the Northeast, New Mexico and Oklahoma, Texas and the Gulf Coast that shut down local operations for days at a time,” Wright told analysts.
“Wildfires in Southern California also delayed loading and delivery intermittently over a period of a few weeks,” said Wright. “As a result, quarter-to-date unit volumes and revenue are lower by 17.5% versus the comparable period of last year.”
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Proficient expects to recover these opportunities through the rest of the first quarter, said Wright, adding that the rest of the year is likely to see an improvement in earnings in what will be a fraught business environment.
“Full-year outlook for 2025 remains marked by some large uncertainties in the macro environment, though we do expect sequential momentum as we move into the second quarter and the second half of the year with expectation of improved full-year 2025 results over 2024,” he said.
Purchases of new rolling stock should underpin that improvement, Chief Operating Officer Amy Rice said, noting that Proficient spent $30 million on new equipment in the second half of 2024.
“So, we have one of the newer fleets in the industry, some of that was replenishment, a lot of that was investment for future growth. And those orders were placed in a market that was relatively stronger than the time at which those orders were delivered. So, we do have open assets available,” Rice said.
“We will be hiring to fill those assets and deploying those assets into the market where we see growth come online. We will continue to invest in truck capacity with growth and have a capital plan to do so again this year,” she added.
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Proficient intends to spend between $25 million and $35 million on its fleet in 2025, Wright said.
Before then, Proficient executives see the exit of fellow auto hauler Jack Cooper reducing capacity in the market at the same time as original equipment manufacturers indicate volumes are set to rise from March onward.
“We’re not anticipating a rebound in the spot market, but given current market dynamics … there’s probably more opportunities for dislocations where people are taking on new business and they may struggle with that and some of that may come back to the spot market,” said O’Dell.
Jack Cooper was the No. 2-ranked auto hauler, according to Transport Topics data.
At the time of its IPO in May, Proficient had roughly 1,130 auto transport vehicles and trailers, including 615 company-owned transport vehicles and trailers.
