Saia Inc. on Friday, April 27, reported revenues for the 2012 first quarter were $269 million, an increase of 11 percent from the prior-year period. Operating income increased to $11.0 million from $4.1 million, and the Johns Creek, Ga.-based company’s operating ratio was 95.9 compared to 98.3 Net income increased to $5.54 million from $713,000.
Less-than-truckload tonnage increased by 2.6 percent as LTL shipments per workday were down slightly with a 3.3 percent increase in LTL weight per shipment. LTL yield was up 7.9 percent due to the impact of favorable pricing actions and higher fuel surcharges.
“Saia’s excellent service quality and continued progress with yield in an improving environment provided the foundation of our margin improvement in the quarter,” said Rick O’Dell, president and chief executive officer. “This higher yield combined with continued cost optimization initiatives throughout our network were the primary drivers of the 240 basis point improvement in our operating ratio.”
O’Dell said meaningful margin improvement was achieved in the quarter in spite of some expected higher wage and benefit costs necessary to support Saia’s work force and customer requirements. “On the other hand, we benefited from the mild winter weather this year,” he said. “I am pleased with our progress on many fronts that contributed to materially improved margins for the quarter.”
O’Dell said Saia’s service was 98 percent on-time. “We saw improvements in essentially every quality metric we measure,” he said. “I believe that our fundamental execution on quality, yield management and efficiency initiatives has never been better and the stage is set for further progress.”
