Saia’s shipments picked up in late Q1, both in new network locations and legacy sites, EVP and CFO Matthew Batteh said on a Q1 earnings call Thursday.
While new locations to its network have benefited ramping up customers, the LTL carrier’s shipments grew in legacy sites for the first time in five or so quarters, Batteh said.
That came after weather impacted operations, particularly in core Texas and mid-South regions, President and CEO Frederick "Fritz" Holzgrefe said on the call.
"Volumes in late March were strong, offsetting to some extent, a weather impact to January and February,” Holzgrefe said. “Revenue for the quarter was $806 million, a record for the first quarter.”
Nevertheless, operating income decreased by 4.8% to $66.8 million compared to a year ago, and its operating ratio rose slightly to 91.7% year over year. Holzgrefe said employee costs continue to be inflationary, and while Saia remains vigilant about managing costs, the carrier finds workforce investment critically important.
Saia shipments per day make gains
Tonnage per day was down 7% in January, down 2.7% in February, up 2.8% in March and up about 6.5% in April to date, Batteh said.
“We saw some nice acceleration in the back half of March, which was good to see,” Batteh said. “That didn't come to fruition last year.”
The carrier also reached a record-low claims ratio of 0.5%, which also represented the sixth straight quarter of the metric below 0.6%, a milestone for Saia, the company noted.
