P.A.M. Transportation Services on Wednesday, Feb. 7, reported flat fourth-quarter earnings as it dealt with the same soft demand other trucking firms faced at the end of the year. The company reported net income of about $4.3 million, almost unchanged from the same quarter last year. For the year, P.A.M. reported $17.9 million, up from $13.1 million for 2005.
Operating revenue, excluding fuel surcharges, was $85.3 million for the fourth quarter, compared to $83.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2005. Operating revenue, excluding fuel surcharges, was $351.4 million for the year, a 7.7 percent increase from $326.3 million for 2005, the company said.
“The fourth quarter of 2006 saw a softer freight market develop, which resulted in only a slight increase in operating revenue before fuel surcharges from the same period in 2005,” said Robert W. Weaver, president of Tontitown, Ark.-based P.A.M. Transportation. “We were pleased with the solid 7.7 percent year-over-year increase in revenue, before fuel surcharge, when 2006 is compared to 2005.”
Weaver said efforts to control costs allowed revenue growth to outpace increases in operating costs, which had a year-to-year increase of only 5.8 percent, net of fuel surcharge. Those improvements yielded a $4.8 million increase to net income, a 36.7 percent improvement.
