Less-than-truckload company Yellow Corp. of Overland Park, KS reported healthy net income for both the third quarter and first nine months of 2001, while acknowledging its net income lagged far behind last year’s levels.
Yellow said its third-quarter 2001 net income totaled $6.5 million, down substantially from net income of $19.6 million in the same quarter last year. Consolidated operating revenue for the third quarter of 2001 dropped to $835 million, down 9.6% from the $919 million Yellow posted in the third quarter of 2000.
For the first nine months of 2001, Yellow said its consolidated operating revenue dropped slightly from last year, down to $2.49 billion, compared with $2.71 billion in 2000. Yet net income for the first nine months of 2001dropped by over 50%, reaching $18.3 million, way down from the $44.1 million Yellow posted over the same period in 2000.
“The key to our profitability for the quarter was our continued success in managing our variable expenses,” said Bill Zollars, Yellow’s chairman, president & CEO. “However, we did not get the help we anticipated from seasonal shipping trends in offsetting the weak economy. Yet we’re encouraged that pricing has remained reasonably stable in the current business environment.”
Yellow added that its total tonnage for the third quarter of 2001 was down 11.1% from last year, with LTL-specific tonnage down 12.2% from last year. Revenue per shipment, however, jumped up 2.6% from the third quarter last year, with average days in transit system-wide reduced to an all-time record of 2.9 days, the carrier said.
Zollars noted that Yellow also acquired the balance of ownership in Transportation.com, an Internet-based logistics venture formed by several leading trucking carriers, from its venture capital partners – making it a full Yellow subsidiary. He added that Yellow believes Transportation.com will be a cornerstone of its future business strategy.
“Transportation.com is increasingly at the center of our strategic effort to build non-asset-based operations that complement our asset-based operations,” Zollars said. “They have transformed from a dot-com company to a full-service global logistics company providing supply chain and inventory management solutions. As a wholly owned subsidiary, Transportation.com will deliver value to our shareholders.”
