Dive Brief:
- Saia’s operating income increased by 14.4% year over year in Q2 as the carrier opened six new terminals and relocated two more, CEO Fritz Holzgrefe said on an earnings call Friday.
- The Georgia-based company’s revenue grew 18.5% year over year to $823 million, a record for its best second quarter, Holzgrefe said.
- “While we are experiencing the impact of costs related to opening these new and relocated terminals, we continue to see the long-term value in our strategy of building density and positioning ourselves to better serve our customers,” Holzgrefe said.
Dive Insight:
Saia surpassed 200 terminals in the quarter and has about $1 billion in planned capital expenditures this year.
The carrier’s LTL shipments per workday rose 18.1% and tonnage rose 9.7% YoY in Q2, the company reported.
Saia’s stampede of facility openings this year is expected to include another nine in Q3 and potentially as many as four more in Q4, Holzgrefe said.
The carrier is hurrying alongside competitors such as XPO, Estes Express Lines and Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings’ AAA Cooper Transportation to renovate and reopen shuttered terminals acquired in Yellow’s bankruptcy last summer.
Its eight new or relocated terminals opened in Q2 are in Laredo, Texas; Owatonna, Minnesota; Anaheim, California; Davenport, Iowa; Stockton, California; Reading, Pennsylvania; Trenton, New Jersey; and St. George, Utah.
