The end of 2022 felt like the end of the party at many major carriers, where corporate earnings reported a weak fourth quarter that lacked the normal seasonal bump the holiday season typically brings. Additionally, unusual movements of equipment caused some fleets to want for trucks while others couldn't get rid of them fast enough. Even fleets who did well here had some trouble meeting 2021 numbers, which now look like something of a heyday. Below find reports on the earnings of major publicly traded carriers.
Covenant (CCJ Top 250, No. 38) capped off a great year with record annual earnings per share and saw a 15.3% return on invested capital, but still saw less revenue and income than the previous quarter and Q4 of 2021. This partially owned to an "aggressive" effort to "improve our driver experience" with newer equipment, which ended up running the company into some early lease abandonment and disposal charges as well a glut of equipment thanks to a "large number of new tractors combined with delays in removing existing leased tractors." The overall hit from the equipment churn was $10 million.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, David R. Parker, said "our fourth quarter results undoubtedly reflect sequential softening in the freight market, continued inflationary pressure and the cost of significant excess equipment. While we anticipate improved equipment related costs in 2023, we believe the freight market, as a combination of freight rates and volumes, will remain unfavorable compared to the prior year for the next several quarters."
Revenue: 2022 Q4: $296.1 million vs. 2021 Q4: $294.2 million
2022 YTD: $1.22 billion vs. 2021 YTD: $1.05 billion
Income: 2022 Q4: $10.9 million vs. 2021 Q4: $18.8 million
2022 YTD: $120.7 million vs. 2021 YTD: $67.1 million
