By Seth Clevenger, Staff Reporter This story appears in the Feb. 18 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
Two of the trucking industry’s technology suppliers, Trimble Navigation Ltd. and XRS Corp., recently reported improved financial results for the final quarter of 2012, while McLeod Software said its full-year sales reached a record high.
Trimble reported higher fourth-quarter revenue and operating income for its Mobile Solutions segment, which includes truck technology providers PeopleNet Communications Corp., TMW Systems Inc. and ALK Technologies Inc.
Operating income for the segment rose to $11.3 million, from $6 million in the same quarter a year earlier, as revenue climbed 38% to $104.5 million, the company said in its Feb. 5 earnings report.
For the full year, Mobile Solutions’ operating income jumped to $32.5 million, from $4.5 million in 2011, as revenue jumped 59% to $348.1 million.
The company credited the segment’s quarterly and annual revenue gains primarily to higher subscription revenue and the result of acquisitions.
Trimble’s purchase of transportation management software provider TMW Systems Inc. closed in October. Preceding that move, Trimble bought onboard computing provider PeopleNet Communications Corp. in 2011.
Trimble purchased ALK, a provider of truck-specific mileage, navigation and mapping software, on the final day of 2012, and announced the deal Jan. 3.
Fleet management software provider XRS Corp. reported a profit in its fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31 after posting a loss in the same period a year earlier.
Net income was about $300,000, or 1 cent per share, compared with a loss of $1.7 million, or 16 cents, for the year-ago quarter, the company said in its Feb. 7 earnings statement.
Quarterly revenue declined to $14.2 million, from $16.6 million a year earlier, but software revenue edged up 1%, led by 19% growth in revenue from its Turnpike product.
XRS said it acquired 109 new customers in the first quarter, with all of them selecting its Turnpike software.
CEO Jay Coughlan said the company is encouraged by progress in testing its new mobile platform, named XRS. The platform, first announced in August, runs on mobile devices, such as smart phones, tablets and rugged handhelds.
“Customers are eager to begin using the XRS solution, and we anticipate rollout of this new mobile solution in the spring of 2013,” Coughlan said in the statement.
Transportation management software provider McLeod Software said its sales rose to an all-time high in 2012 as revenues grew by more than 20% for the third straight year.
The privately held company, which did not provide specific financial figures in the Feb. 7 announcement, also said its new customers increased by 44% last year.
President Tom McLeod said that “2012 economic conditions were just right for what we do, because companies were seeing improvement in the economy and opportunities in the marketplace, but they weren’t so busy that they didn’t have time to stop and look for ways to improve their business.”
McLeod, Birmingham, Ala., provides management systems for carriers, brokers, logistics providers and shippers in North America.
