Dive Brief:

• Saia increased wages for its workforce by 3% on Oct. 1, the same day it announced a general rate increase averaging 5.9%, executives said on an earnings call Thursday.
• Meanwhile, the LTL carrier dropped its headcount by 3%, EVP and CFO Matt Batteh said on the call.
• Salaries, wages and benefits were $401 million for the quarter, an increase from Q3 2024’s spend of $398 million, according to an earnings release.

Dive Insight:

A soft freight market for the industry further pushed carriers to realign their staffing, with some potential weaker seasonal environments in October, multiple carriers suggested.

For Saia, that meant its Q3 revenue slipped slightly compared to a year ago, decreasing 0.3% to $839.6 million, per the earnings release.

That contributed to an adjusted operating ratio for the carrier of 87.6%, versus 85.1% a year ago.

Besides Saia, Old Dominon Freight Lines also reported a decline in its Q3 headcount. The carrier’s full-time employee count was down about 6% compared to a year ago, the company said.

“We expect that we'll continue to see normal attrition as we go through the fourth quarter and probably that headcount continue to drift down a little bit,” Old Dominion EVP and CFO Adam Satterfield said on an earnings call Wednesday.