Driver Shortage Blamed for Shortfall at Cannon

Operating revenue for Cannon Express Inc.’s first quarter of fiscal 2001 was $22.6 million, a 1.3 percent decrease from $22.9 million during the same fiscal 2000 quarter.

The first-quarter figures, announced Nov. 14, include financial data for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2000. As of that date, the company’s fleet consisted of 779 trucks (a 9 percent increase from 716 a year ago) and 2,268 trailers (a 1 percent increase over the 2000 fiscal first quarter).

Logistics and intermodal division revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2001 decreased by $512,986, or 23 percent, from the comparable period in 2000. Company reports blame a shortage of drivers for the shortfall.

Operating expenses increased by $1.4 million, or 6.4 percent, quarter over quarter from this year to last. A portion of that increase included a 5.6 percent jump in interest expenses incurred by debt associated with the purchase of new equipment.

A net loss for the first quarter of fiscal 2001 was reported and was slightly more than $1 million, or about 33 cents per share. That compares with net income of $501,103 for the first fiscal quarter of 2000, or 16 cents per share, a decrease of $1.6 million, or 313 percent.