USA Truck’s revenue and earnings increased during the fourth quarter year-over-year, the company reported Feb. 3.
The Van Buren, Ark.-based motor carrier posted net income of $12.2 million, or $1.35 per diluted share, for the three months ending Dec. 31. That compared with a net income of $5.9 million, 66 cents, during the same time the previous year. Consolidated operating revenue increased 26.4% to $200.9 million from $158.8 million.
USA Truck noted in the report that adjusted earnings per share reached another record, increasing 100% to $1.38 from 69 cents during the prior-year quarter.
“The company transformation that we have discussed over the last several years has yielded our sixth straight quarter of record adjusted earnings per share,” CEO James Reed said in a statement. “The fourth quarter and full-year 2021 represent our highest total revenue and adjusted earnings per share in the company’s history.”
For the full year, USA Truck reported net income of $24.8 million, or $2.76 a share, on revenue of $710.4 million, compared with net income of $4.7 million, 53 cents, on revenue of $551.1 million in 2020.
“During the fourth quarter, continued execution on our strategic initiatives, operational strategy and a strong freight and pricing market resulted in a trucking segment adjusted operating ratio improvement of 440 basis points year over year to 88.7%,” Reed said. “Our USAT Logistics segment provided a 23.4% increase in load volume with operating revenue up 44.9% year-over-year.”
The trucking segment reported operating revenue in Q4 increased 14.6% to $119.5 million from $104.3 million during the prior-year quarter. Operating income increased to $11.6 million from $6.35 million. The segment results reflects an increase of $5.2 million year-over-year in operating income and a 360-basis-point improvement in operating ratio to 90.3.
USAT Logistics segment revenue increased 44.9% to $94.6 million from $65.3 million last year. Operating income increased to $4.9 million from $3.38 million. The segment results reflected an increase of $1.5 million year-over-year in income with the operating ratio remaining unchanged at 94.8.
USA Truck ranks No. 65 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America.
This article was originally posted on Transport Topics.