enroute
taking it off the streets
(and highways)
The trucking industry’s future may lie
not with the roads, but with the rails.
THOSE SEEKING TO DIVINE THE FUTURE OF
American trucking may want to examine the third-quarter results of J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.
Like everyone else in an industry suffering through
the worst freight recession in decades, the Lowell,
Ark.-based freight giant posted double-digit declines
in its over-the-road revenue and income. But its intermodal traffic—by far the largest segment of Hunt’s
business—grew at a record pace, with revenue and
operating income up 24 percent and 21 percent,
respectively.
Hunt is reaping the fruits of a multiyear strategy to
convert some of its customer loads from the highways to more fuel-efficient intermodal service.
Higher fuel costs, environmental concerns, and worsening road conditions are pushing shippers to consider intermodal options, decisions helped along by
recent improvements in infrastructure and service
consistency.
Hunt’s own equipment mix reflects this trend: At
quarter’s end, it had 37,000 intermodal containers in its
fleet, an increase of 4,000 from the 2007 period. By
contrast, Hunt ended the quarter with 3,309 tractors, a
reduction of 1,419 rigs from the third quarter of 2007.
“In increasing numbers, traditional over-the-road
shippers are turning to intermodal for the first time”
as they seek to drive down costs and reduce carbon
emissions, Kirk Thompson, Hunt’s president and
CEO, said in a statement accompanying the company’s third-quarter results.
Hunt is not alone. Steve Van Kirk, vice president of commercial development for Schneider
Intermodal, a unit of privately held truckload carrier Schneider National, says his division is growing at a pace that is “faster than the industry average.”
Even truckers who’ve never before played on the intermodal field are seeing unexpected gains. USA
Truck Inc., a large truckload carrier based in Van Buren, Ark., posted $2.1 million in intermodal revenue in its third quarter. The revenue is a tiny fraction of USA Truck’s third-quarter revenue of $103
million (excluding fuel surcharges). However, the company had projected only $2 million in intermodal revenue for all of 2008.
