Landstar 1st-quarter revenue up

Landstar 1st-quarter revenue and income grew.Landstar 1st-quarter revenue and income grew.

Landstar System, the nation’s largest carrier leased to owner-operators, on April 14 reported a 17 percent increase in first-quarter revenue to $548.1 million, up from $469.2 million a year earlier. Net income was $17.2 million compared to $13.9 million.

Revenue hauled by third-party truck capacity providers was $505.9 million, or 92 percent of revenue, compared to $426.3 million, or 91 percent of revenue. Revenue hauled by those providers in the 2010 quarter included $19 million of fuel surcharges, almost double the $9.8 million of fuel surcharges invoiced to customers on revenue hauled by third-party truck brokerage carriers.

In the 2010 and 2009 first quarters, the company also invoiced customers $41.3 million and $24.2 million, respectively, of fuel surcharges that were passed 100 percent to third-party BCO independent contractors and excluded from revenue. Revenue hauled by rail, air and ocean cargo carriers was $28.5 million, or 5 percent of revenue, compared to $33.6 million, or 7 percent of revenue. Transportation management fee revenue was $5.1 million, or 1 percent of revenue.

“I am very pleased with the company’s start to 2010,” said Henry Gerkens, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Landstar, based in Jacksonville, Fla. “This marked the first time since the 2008 third quarter when revenue in the current quarter increased over the corresponding prior-year quarter.”

The increased revenue was primarily the result of an 18 percent increase in the number of loads hauled, which was offset partly by a lower revenue-per-load amount of about 2 percent compared to the 2009 first quarter. The number of loads hauled by third-party truck capacity providers in March was the highest number of loads hauled by those providers in March of any year in Landstar’s history, Gerkens said. Also in March, the company experienced the first year-over-year increase in revenue per load on freight hauled by those providers since 2008.

“The freight environment continues to improve,” Gerkens said. “Recent trends in March, and thus far in April, indicate that both the revenue per load and the number of loads hauled remain strong compared to the corresponding prior-year periods. I expect these trends to continue throughout the 2010 second quarter.”

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