P.A.M. Transportation Services Inc. on Thursday, Oct. 27, reported a net loss of $1.70 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 and a net loss of $2.99 million for the nine-month period. These results compare to a net loss of $490,727 and net income of $455,403 for the three and nine months ended Sept. 30, 2010.
Operating revenues, including revenue from fuel surcharges, were $88.94 million for the third quarter of 2011, a 2.6 percent increase compared to $86.71 million for the third quarter of 2010. Operating revenues, including fuel surcharges, were $269.9 million for the nine months ended Sept. 30, a 6.3 percent increase compared to $253.8 million for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2010.
“Our quarterly earnings release is never going to be acceptable until we are able to consistently report a profit, and then we will push to improve earnings each period,” said Daniel H. Cushman, president of the Tontitown, Ark.-based company. “Obviously, we are not there yet.”
Cushman said P.A.M. continues to grow and diversify its customer base. “We have transitioned from our largest customer comprising over 40 percent of our revenue four years ago to approximately 20 percent today,” he said. “Our diversification includes the addition of three customers to our top 10 customer list that we did not do business with a year ago. However, increases in operating expenses, particularly in the areas of fuel, repairs and depreciation, outpaced our success in revenue growth and diversification.”
Cushman said that until P.A.M. fully implements its plan to reduce the average age of its fleet, depreciation will be higher, while repairs and fuel for the aged equipment currently in service will incur additional cost without immediately realizing the offsetting benefit. “As our degree of completion in executing our plan increases, we should begin to see the benefit to repairs, fuel, driver recruitment and retention, and service reliability associated with the newer fleet,” he said.
