XPO continues to execute at the bottom of the cycle. The company again saw margin improvement in its less-than-truckload unit during the third quarter without the help of incremental revenue. The Greenwich, Connecticut-based company’s LTL segment reported an 82.7% adjusted operating ratio (inverse of operating margin) in the quarter, 150 basis points better year over year and 20 bps better sequentially. (XPO normally sees 200 to 250 bps of OR degradation from the second to the third quarter). XPO (NYSE: ...

The long struggle at TFI International (NYSE: TFII) to turn around its U.S. LTL operations showed just a few signs of improvement in the third quarter. The one key metric that was a step in the right direction was the operating ratio (OR) for the segment, which contains the former UPS Freight LTL operations that TFI bought in 2021. The OR for the U.S. LTL operations at TFI was 92.2%, unchanged from the third quarter of 2024. But it did mark an improvement over the 94% recorded in the second quarter. Othe ...