Marten Transport Announces Third Quarter Results

Financial Performance - Marten Transport reported a net income of $3.8 million, or 5 cents per diluted share, for Q3 2024, down from $13.6 million, or 17 cents per diluted share, in Q3 2023 [1] - For the nine-month period ended September 30, 2024, net income was $21.3 million, or 26 cents per diluted share, compared to $58.0 million, or 71 cents per diluted share, for the same period in 2023 [1] - Operating revenue for Q3 2024 was $237.4 million, a decrease from $279.5 million in Q3 2023 [1][2] - Excluding fuel surcharges, operating revenue was $207.9 million for Q3 2024, down from $239.1 million in Q3 2023 [1][2] - For the first nine months of 2024, operating revenue was $733.3 million, compared to $863.2 million for the same period in 2023 [2] Operating Income and Expenses - Operating income for Q3 2024 was $4.3 million, significantly lower than $17.2 million in Q3 2023 [2] - Operating income for the first nine months of 2024 was $26.5 million, down from $74.5 million in the same period of 2023 [2] - Operating expenses as a percentage of operating revenue were 98.2% for Q3 2024, compared to 93.8% for Q3 2023 [2][10] - For the first nine months of 2024, operating expenses as a percentage of operating revenue were 96.4%, up from 91.4% in the same period of 2023 [3] Segment Performance - Truckload revenue, net of fuel surcharge, was $93.3 million for Q3 2024, down 3.4% from $96.5 million in Q3 2023 [9] - Dedicated revenue, net of fuel surcharge, decreased by 24.2% to $62.9 million in Q3 2024 from $83.0 million in Q3 2023 [9] - Intermodal revenue, net of fuel surcharge, fell by 32.2% to $12.3 million in Q3 2024 from $18.1 million in Q3 2023 [9] - Brokerage revenue decreased by 5.0% to $39.4 million in Q3 2024 from $41.5 million in Q3 2023 [9] Business Strategy and Outlook - The Executive Chairman highlighted the impact of the freight market recession, inflationary operating costs, and freight rate reductions on earnings [3] - The company is seeing increased interest from customers for dedicated capacity and has added new multi-year dedicated programs for additional drivers [3] - Marten Transport aims to minimize the freight market's impact while positioning itself for profitable organic growth opportunities [3]