PAM Transport Services Inc. of Tontitown reported third-quarter 2018 revenue of $140.3 million, a significant increase from the $108.8 million reported in the third quarter of 2017.
The company said income was $9.2 million for the quarter, an increase from the $3.4 million in the same quarter a year ago. Earnings per share also rose sharply to $1.52, up from 54 cents in 2017.
The quarter was so good that CEO Dan Cushman said the company wasn’t interested in comparing its 2018 results to the previous year. Cushman said 2017 was “lackluster” and PAM came into 2018 intent on achieving results similar or better than it did in its record-breaking 2015 fiscal year.
In 2015, PAM reported revenue of $417.1 million and income of $21.4 million for the year. In its third quarter of that year, PAM reported revenue of $107.1 million and income of $5.8 million.
For the first three quarters of 2018, PAM had revenue of $395 million, income of $17.9 million and earnings per share of $2.89.
“The third quarter of 2018 was an extremely satisfying quarter for our team,” Cushman said. “Not only did we achieve record quarterly operating income for the company, each month of the quarter individually set a new operating income record for that respective month. The satisfaction comes not only from the end result but also from the consistency in which it was achieved.”
Cushman said the market had better conditions for the industry and rising freight rates helped the company’s results. PAM reported slightly fewer total miles — a drop from 56.4 million to 56 million — but revenue per truck per week was $3,846, up from $3,500 in the same quarter of 2017.
PAM also expanded its operations as it had previously said the company wanted to increase its fleet by 20 percent in 2018. It reported 1,351 company drivers and 565 independent drivers, compared to 1,160 and 648 in the same quarter of 2017.
“Our expectation for 2018 was that a strong economic environment, combined with the necessity of industry-wide increases in driver compensation would help drive shipping rates higher,” Cushman said. “We expected that higher rates, combined with various internal growth and savings strategies, would allow us to offer driver pay increases to help expand our fleet and in turn, improve overall profitability. What we did not expect was the speed in which we would achieve our goal.”
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