Penske Automotive said its first-quarter income and earnings per share were the highest in its history, while Penske Logistics announced it won a bid to manage a BMW distribution center in Pennsylvania.

Norfolk Southern Corp. and Canadian Pacific reported their first-quarter profit increased but Canadian National said its profit declined.

Three truckload carriers reported improved first-quarter earnings, but with significant help from sources other than traditional trucking operations.

Hub Group Inc. late Thursday reported record first-quarter earnings on higher revenue at its intermodal, logistics and truck brokerage units.

Ceva Group, an international logistics service company based in the Netherlands, said its profit, excluding one-time items and other costs, fell 22% in 2012, hurt by customers’ shift of freight to less-expensive ocean shipping.

Paccar Inc. said fourth-quarter earnings slipped from a year earlier, but its full-year profit increased on strong sales in North America and the expansion of its global operations.

Truckload carrier Landstar System said its fourth-quarter earnings rose, despite inconsistent demand.

Stock market analysts are cautious about trucking’s earnings prospects for this year after the steady improvement in industry profits that began in 2010 stalled in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Trimble Navigation Ltd., the parent company of PeopleNet Communications Corp. and TMW Systems Inc., said its third-quarter profit nearly doubled from last year.