Vitran Sells Truckload Assets

Vitran is selling off most of its truckload assets for $5 million to focus on its core less-than-truckload and logistics business, the Canadian-based company said.

Online Transport of Indianapolis is buying nearly 800 trailers operated by Frontier Transport, while Vitran will add 174 of Frontier's newest trailers to its LTL division.

President and CEO Rick Gaetz said Frontier had taken "a back seat" over the past few years at Vitran, which reported $629 million in revenue in 2009.

By The Numbers: U.S. Surface Trade With Canada.

"Vitran has been focusing on its two core segments, LTL and supply chain operations," which now will be the company's sole focus, Gaetz said.

Frontier accounted for less than 5 percent of the Toronto-based company's revenue in the last quarter, and while profitable, it had an operating ratio of 99.2.

"We view this sale as positive and unsurprising, as Frontier was not a core strategic fit with Vitran's other operations," Stifel Nicolaus analyst David G. Ross said.

Its truckload revenue also dropped compared with the previous quarter, while LTL rose about 1.2 percent on a small sequential quarterly increase in shipments.

-- Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com.