A change in vacation policy allegedly helped less-than-truckload carrier Saia return to profitability in the third quarter. The multiregional carrier said it had a $7.8 million operating profit in the quarter, though it did not state its net income.
Saia’s revenue was $222 million, a 19 percent decrease from the year ago quarter, but a slight increase over the $218 million in second-quarter sales.
The John’s Creek, Ga.-based carrier lost $1.7 million in the second quarter.
The third-quarter results include $8.4 million in savings from the new vacation policy as well as “other prudent cost actions taken this year,” said President and CEO Rick O’Dell. The company made “multiple reductions in force,” cut salaries and wages and took other cost control measures, he said.
The carrier did not provide details on the policy change in its earnings report.
Year to date, Saia has a net loss of $4.7 million, compared with net income of $8.3 million in the prior year's first nine months. Revenue for the first three quarters was $647 million, compared to $800 million a year ago.
"We continue to address the challenging environment by taking aggressive actions to control costs and improve productivity through focused engineering initiatives," said O'Dell.
Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com.