Dan Cushman, president and CEO of PAM Transport, at his office in Tontitown: “I have to focus on what we do and do it well.”
PAM Transport Services Inc. of Tontitown continued a year-long streak of record income with $8.3 million for the first quarter of 2019, an increase from the $1.4 million in the same quarter a year ago.
Diluted earnings per share also rose sharply to $1.39, up from 22 cents in 2018.
The company reported first-quarter revenue of $128.7 million, up from the $119.5 million reported in the first quarter of 2018.
“We are very pleased with our first quarter results,” President Daniel Cushman said in a news release. “The first quarter of each year can be very challenging as we sometimes experience plant downtime with some of our customers and face disruptive weather events. This year’s first quarter was no exception as some of our largest customers closed certain plants for re-tooling and maintenance, and we had to navigate multiple bad weather events during the first quarter.
“Despite these challenges, we were able to produce results that now stand as the company’s most profitable first quarter. These record results mark the fourth consecutive quarter of record earnings per share results for their respective periods, excluding the effect of the adoption of the tax reform law enacted in the fourth quarter of 2017,” he said.
Cushman attributed PAM’s success to higher rates that offset rising costs, including driver pay, fuel, insurance and equipment.
In addition, PAM reported slightly fewer total miles — a drop from 55.6 million to 54.2 million — and revenue per truck per week was $3,505, down slightly from $3,530 in the same quarter of 2018.
During 2018, PAM grew its fleet more than 20% by recruiting and retaining drivers. That level of growth is not expected for 2019, but the company expects growth nonetheless.
PAM reported 1,457 company drivers and 582 independent drivers for the first quarter of 2019, compared to 1,233 and 550 in the same quarter of 2018.
The company expects the market to continue demanding additional pay increases for drivers this year.
“We look forward to the opportunities which we believe the remainder of 2019 holds, and we will continue to follow cost control initiatives to lessen cost recovery demands placed on customers,” Cushman said. “That being said, we do not expect that drivers will suddenly become readily available or will agree to work for less pay.”
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