Trucking Business News

Truckload carrier USA Truck on Thursday reported its fourth-quarter profit plunged to $1.2 million or 11 cents a share, from $4.3 million or 37 cents a year earlier, on lower tonnage and demand.

Western freight railroad Union Pacific Corp. said Thursday its fourth-quarter profit jumped to $485 million or $1.78 a share, from $296 million or $1.10 cents for the same quarter a year earlier.

Ford Motor Co. lost $5.8 billion in the fourth quarter amid slumping sales and huge restructuring costs, pushing the No. 2 U.S. automaker’s s loss for the year to $12.7 billion, the largest in its 103-year history, the Associated Press reported.

First-time U.S. jobless claims rose by 36,000 last week to 325,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Wireless-services provider Qualcomm Inc. said late Wednesday its fiscal first-quarter profit rose to $648 million or 38 cents a share, up from $620 million or 36 cents a year earlier.

Truckload carrier Knight Transportation said late Wednesday that its revenue and income for the fourth quarter and full-year 2006 reached records.

Truckload carrier Celadon Group said late Wednesday it earned $6.1 million or 26 cents a share in its fiscal second quarter ended Dec. 31, up from $4.8 million or 21 cents in the same quarter a year earlier.

Arkansas Best Corp.’s fourth-quarter net income fell to $14.2 million or 56 cents a share, from $30.2 million or $1.20 a year earlier, the company said Wednesday.

President Bush outlined an energy plan Tuesday that would boost the use of alternate fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, and would seek a 20% reduction in gasoline use in the next 10 years, news services reported.

Eastern freight railroad Norfolk Southern Corp. said Wednesday its fourth-quarter profit rose 6%, as record revenue from coal shipments offset declines in intermodal shipments.