P.A.M. Transportation Services reported net income of $36,178 or diluted and basic earnings per share of $0.00 for the quarter ended September 30, and $3,493,402 or diluted and basic earnings per share of $0.34 for the nine month period then ended.
These results compare to net income of $3,268,194 or diluted and basic earnings per share of $0.32, and $13,692,941 or diluted and basic earnings per share of $1.33, respectively, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2006.
Operating revenues excluding fuel surcharges were $86,625,193 for the third quarter of 2007, a 1.3% increase compared to $85,502,372 for the third quarter of 2006. Operating revenues excluding fuel surcharges were $266,715,387 for the nine months ended September 30, 2007 compared to $266,043,526 for the nine months ended September 30, 2006.
Robert W Weaver, president said, "Our third-quarter financial results were disappointing as we continue to work through the sustained weakness in freight demand. The third quarter has traditionally been challenging, due to scheduled shutdowns for two or more weeks in July by customers for which we transport a large amount of freight. Although the months of August and September were profitable, they did not rebound as we have seen in years past. The prolonged softness of the freight market and continued aggressive price competition resulted in a 4.7% reduction in revenue per tractor per day for the quarter ended September 30, 2007 compared to the same quarter in 2006.
“The predominant factor in this decrease was a $.04 reduction in our average rate per total mile from $1.33 in the third quarter of 2006 to $1.29 in the third quarter of 2007. This rate reduction equates to an approximate $0.15 reduction in our diluted earnings per share for the third quarter 2007.”
Weaver does not expect his market environment to improve significantly, adding that the company intends to focus on cost control and reduction.
“Our balance sheet remains strong,” he said. “We believe we are in position to take advantage of our fleet growth over the last twelve months when demand for our services improves. "