J.B. Hunt sees first-quarter income, revenue decline

The national recession continues to hit the trucking sector as Lowell-based J.B. Hunt Transport Services saw its first-quarter income dip 15.3% to $30.8 million.

Hunt, one of the nation’s largest transportation companies, reported total first-quarter revenue of $722.83 million, down 18% from the $878 million in the same period of 2008.

“The lingering freight recession, now estimated to be in the third year, is the longest and deepest in modern transportation history,” Kirk Thompson, J.B. Hunt president and CEO said in a statement released Monday (April 13) afternoon. “Our diversification strategy initiated several years ago and our best-in-class intermodal and dedicated services have helped sustain our earnings in these turbulent times. We believe we have taken the right actions to weather this downturn, while leaving the Company very well positioned for the eventual recovery.”

Fort Smith-based Arkansas Best Corp. — parent company of ABF Freight System — is schedule to release first-quarter earnings April 22. Van Buren-based USA Truck Inc. is scheduled to release earnings Thursday (April 16).

Hunt’s woes are not surprising considering recent trucking index reports from the American Trucking Associations’. Although the index was up in January and February, ATA chief economist Bob Costello ATA said the increases don’t indicate recovery for the sector or the beginning of recovery for the national economy. The gain over the past two months, totaling 4.8%, did not even erase the 7.8% contraction in December 2008. Also, compared with February 2008, tonnage contracted 9.2%, which was the third-worst year-over-year decrease of the current cycle.

According to the ATA, trucking serves as a barometer of the U.S. economy, representing nearly 69% of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods.

Hunt’s trucking segment saw its first-quarter revenue ($102 million) decline 45%, and the dedicated contract services first-quarter revenue ($179 million) decline 21%.

Intermodal operations, the revenue star of J.B. Hunt in recent years, was also hit, posting segment revenue of $391 million, or down 10% from the same quarter of 2008.

“JBI (intermodal) segment revenue was down 10% primarily because of the reduction in fuel costs and the resulting reductions in fuel surcharge revenue,” the company noted in the earnings statement. “Our length of haul shrunk by 4% and is now at levels equivalent to those we had in 2000-2001.”

Shares of Hunt (Nasdaq: JBHT) closed Monday at $26.69, down 27 cents. The earnings report was released after the markets closed. During the past 52 weeks, the share price has ranged from a $40.25 high to a $18.14 low.