Covenant Transportation Group Inc. on Wednesday, July 21, announced total revenue for the second quarter ended June 30 increased 17.3 percent to $169.0 million from $144.1 million in the same quarter of 2009. Freight revenue, which excludes fuel surcharges, increased 9.4 percent to $141.4 million from $129.2 million. Net income was $2.9 million compared to a net loss of $3.1 million.
“The second quarter of 2010 marked our best financial and operating performance in several years,” said David R. Parker, chairman, president and chief executive officer of the Chattanooga, Tenn.-based company. “Our team has worked diligently to build the customer service, operational discipline and cost control culture to establish a basis for success. A favorable and strengthening freight market afforded us the opportunity to capitalize on our improved operations and increase equipment utilization.”
Parker said Covenant now is seeing the rate improvements that must come to sustain the long-term health of the industry. “While we are encouraged and optimistic about the future, we also recognize that one quarter’s performance does not mean the hard work is over,” he said. “With the pace of economic growth uncertain and the driver market tightening, we intend to remain focused on improving the productivity of our existing fleet, operating efficiently and positioning our company for long-term success. We have also enhanced efforts to seat trucks over the remainder of the year due to the expected tightening of the driver market.”
