William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor | Apr 18, 2012 4:35PM EDT
Greater emphasis on regional trucking boosted first quarter revenue and profit at refrigerated trucking and logistics operator Marten Transport, Mondovi, Wis.
Marten Transport increased net profit 33 percent from a year ago to $5.4 million, logging its eighth consecutive quarter of higher year-over-year profitability.
The trucking operator’s revenue rose 9.9 percent year-over-year to $151.5 million. Excluding fuel surcharges, revenue was up 9 percent at $122.6 million.
In 2011, Marten Transport’s net profit increased 23 percent to $24.3 million as operating revenue rose 16.8 percent to $603.7 million.
Expanding regional operations helped the carrier boost average revenue per tractor per week 4.5 percent, Chairman and CEO Randolph Marten said.
“We have increased our regional operations to 67.8 percent of our truckload fleet as of March 31, from 57.1 percent as of a year earlier,” Marten said.
The company also is shifting more over-the-road freight to intermodal rail. Logistics revenue, excluding fuel surcharges, increased 9.6 percent to $33.4 million.
Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter at @wbcassidy_joc.