Frozen Food Express reports higher 3Q net loss

Frozen Food Express Industries Inc. on Friday, Oct. 28, said total operating revenue for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 increased $8.9 million to $102.8 million compared to $93.9 million in the same period of 2010, and net loss increased to $13.7 million compared to a $2.3 million loss. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, total operating revenue increased 7.9 percent or $21.6 million to $296.3 million compared to $274.7 million in the same period of 2010, and net loss was $24.9 million compared to a net loss of $10.4 million.

“While truckload pricing increased 4.5 percent during the third quarter, our planned reduction of dry freight services and a continued shortage of drivers resulted in fewer weekly average trucks in service and a 5.5 percent decline in truckload revenue,” said Russell Stubbs, president and chief executive officer of the Dallas-based company. “Both pricing and demand for our less-than-truckload services continued to improve during the third quarter. As a result, our LTL revenue increased 4.5 percent during the quarter, which marks the fifth consecutive quarter of year-over-year improvement.”

Stubbs said Frozen Food Express has taken steps to streamline its operations by limiting dry freight services to refrigerated equipment in limited lanes and placing greater management focus on continued improvement in refrigerated truckload and less-than-truckload services. “Focus in these areas, and growth in our logistics offerings, will be a key to restoring our company to meaningful profitability,” he said. “At the same time, we expect our streamlining efforts to significantly reduce the average age of our fleet, which should directly address increasing maintenance costs, as well as improve fuel efficiency.”