Universal Truckload announces record 1Q results

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Universal Truckload Services announced that for the first fiscal quarter of 2006, operating revenues increased 20.6 percent, or $24.9 million, to $145.9 million from $120.9 million for the first quarter of 2005. Included in operating revenues are fuel surcharges of $12 million and $5.9 million for the first quarters of 2006 and 2005, respectively.

Net income increased 30.9 percent, or $1.1 million, to $4.6 million for the first quarter of 2006, from $3.5 million for the first quarter of 2005. Operating margin was 4.9 percent for the first quarter of 2006 compared to 4.8 percent for the first quarter of 2005.

Universal’s truckload revenue in the first quarter of 2006 increased by 17.9 percent to $87.3 million from $74.1 million in the corresponding period of 2005. Brokerage revenue in the first quarter of 2006 increased by 5.4 percent to $38.1 million from $36.2 million in the corresponding period of 2005. Intermodal revenue in the first quarter of 2006 increased by 90.8 percent to $20.4 million from $10.7 million in the corresponding period of 2005.

“Our performance in the first quarter of 2006 was the best first-quarter operating performance in Universal’s history,” says Don Cochran, president and chief executive officer of Warren, Mich.-based Universal. “We have been able to grow our operating revenues, both organically and through the intermodal acquisitions completed in the fourth quarter of 2005 and first quarter of 2006.”

Excluding the $3.8 million of intermodal revenue generated by the acquisitions, intermodal revenue increased by $5.9 million or 55.2 percent, Cochran says. “This performance is a reflection of our mission to grow and improve our existing network, combined with our continued search for strategic acquisitions that are consistent with our business model,” he says.