Saia’s revenue per shipment, excluding fuel surcharges, improved 5.8% in Q3 year over year, the LTL company reported last week, helping to bolster profits.
The company pointed to revenue growth in new terminals that opened in 2023 and 2024, compared to legacy terminals, EVP and CFO Matthew Batteh said on an earnings call.
Saia invested in its network following Yellow Corp.’s capsizing, and the revenue per metric and others have subsequently benefited, CEO and President Frederick “Fritz” Holzgrefe said on the call.
"We're seeing stronger service performance, including a company record low cargo claims ratio, improved on-time delivery and continued progress in customer satisfaction,” Holzgrefe said.
Its operating ratio for the quarter was 87.6%, clinging toward Q2’s rate of 86.9% and withstanding normal seasonal, sequential degradation better than usual, the company also said.
While executives were particularly pleased with overall company performance, the Los Angeles region in the Q3 revenue per shipment metric was down in the low-single digits YoY, Holzgrefe said.
“Over time, what I'm excited about is that the rest of the business” is “doing pretty well,” Holzgrefe said, noting continued opportunity for the carrier.
Among its metrics, the company also reported a record-low claims ratio of 0.3% for the quarter down 40% YoY, Holzgrefe said.
Pricing and mix optimization also helped revenue per shipment, the company noted in its earnings release.
“As the network matures, we remain focused on pricing and mix optimization, productivity, utilization and cost discipline,” Holzgrefe said.
