Roadrunner Transportation Profits up 37%
“A large portion of the revenue increase related to our ground expedited business in which we receive a management fee versus transportation or brokerage margins. Our remaining transportation businesses, when compared to the prior year, are experiencing continuing declines in freight rates and volumes,” CEO Mark DiBlasi said in a statement.
Truckload operating income, or the difference between revenues and expenses, dropped 13% to $11.6 million year-over-year, but the company said that figure excludes a gain on the sale of a noncore business and downsizing in the division. The company blamed the sluggish market, lower freight rates and shipments for the lower earnings.
Less-than-truckload reported operating income was unchanged at $2.3 million for the quarter, although when the downsizing costs are added back into the numbers, it dropped $555,000 to $1.4 million as compared to one year ago. The company laid off some longhaul drivers and replaced them with independent contracts in the third quarter.
Less-than-truckload tonnage dropped 10%, shipments dropped 3.3% and weight per shipment dropped 7.1%. However, the company was able to report revenue per one-hundred pounds of freight jumped 4.9% to $17.60.
The global solutions segment reported operating income fell 17% to $7.1 million year-over-year. The company said the drop was because of a decrease in domestic third-party logistics demand and lower international freight forward rates.
Roadrunner Transportation, which ranks No. 16 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers, matched the analyst forecast on earnings per share, but fell about $300,000 short on the prediction for net income.
