ODFL increases LTL volumes in October, November

Trucking carrier Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. reported less-than-truckload tons per day grew 4.4 percent and 3.1 percent year-over-year in October and November despite indications U.S. shipping would slow in the fourth quarter.    Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. increased its less-than-truckload volumes in October and November compared to the same months in 2014 despite indications U.S. shipping would slow in the fourth quarter, according to recent data from the company.
   ODFL reported LTL tons per day grew 4.4 percent year-over-year in October and 3.1 percent in November. LTL shipments per day were up 9.7 percent and 8.7 percent, respectively, compared to the same 2014 period, but were partially offset by respective year-over-year declines in LTL weight per shipment of 4.8 percent and 5.2 percent for October and November 2015.
   Analysts at Deutsche Bank have predicted less-than-truckload tonnage will contract 1.8 percent in the first quarter of 2016 after rising just 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015.
   Despite the volume increases, ODFL’s LTL revenue per hundredweight fell 1.5 percent in October and 0.6 percent in November as compared to the same months in 2014. The company attributed the decline primarily to decreases in fuel surcharges.
   Excluding fuel surcharges, ODFL increased LTL revenue per hundredweight 5.3 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively, in October and November 2015.
   “Old Dominion continued to produce solid year-over-year growth in shipments while also improving our yields, net of fuel surcharges, for the first two months of the fourth quarter of 2015” Vice Chairman and CEO David S. Congdon said in a statement.
   “The domestic economy continues to show some weakness, however, which is reflected in our volume and weight per shipment trends,” he added.