Knight-Swift Transportation exceeded third-quarter earnings expectations as stronger truckload pricing and improved fleet utilisation lifted performance, FreightWaves reported. Adjusted earnings reached 83 cents a share, up 51 cents from a year earlier and 7 cents above consensus. Revenue rose 14% to $2.2 billion, compared with analysts’ forecast of $2.17 billion. Excluding fuel surcharges, revenue increased 8%.
Truckload revenue excluding fuel grew 6.5% year on year. Revenue per tractor increased 11%, outweighing a 4% reduction in the average number of tractors operating. Loaded mileage per tractor rose 1%, marking an eighth successive increase, while the share of empty running fell by 170 basis points to 12.1%. Revenue per loaded mile, excluding fuel, advanced 10%, with the over-the-road business recording a mid-teen percentage increase.
The truckload division’s adjusted operating ratio improved by 700 basis points to 89.2%, matching the midpoint of management’s forecast range. U.S. Xpress, acquired in 2023, recorded an adjusted ratio in the low 90s, while Knight-Swift’s established brands achieved 88%. FreightWaves described the company, the largest US asset-based truckload carrier, as a bellwether and characterised its results as evidence of a shift from cyclical downturn towards structural recovery.
Less-than-truckload performance was more subdued. Revenue excluding fuel increased by less than 1%, despite a 3% rise in tonnage. Revenue per hundredweight excluding fuel slipped 1%, as a 5% increase in shipment weight and a 6% extension in haul length had largely counterbalancing effects on yield. Revenue per shipment excluding fuel rose 4%, and contractual renewals increased by a mid-single-digit percentage.
The earnings improvement also reflected financial benefits beyond freight operations. Net interest expense fell by $22 million, contributing 10 cents a share, while a lower tax rate added 5 cents and higher equipment-sale gains contributed 1 cent. A $3.5 million decline in other income reduced earnings by 2 cents a share.
Management forecast fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 78–84 cents a share, encompassing the prevailing 82-cent consensus. Chief executive Adam Miller expected further momentum from rate resets, cost and operational measures, and more seasonal spot and project opportunities than in recent years. Shares gained 4.4% in Wednesday’s after-hours trading following the results.