Losses mount at Pamt, TL unit posts 112.5% OR

Q2 marked seventh straight operating loss at company's TL segment

Shares of PAMT were off 4.2% in after-hours trading on Friday. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Pamt Corp., formerly Pam Transportation Services, reported a third straight net loss on Friday after the market closed. Nearly one-third of the company’s revenue is tied to the automobile industry, where demand is starting to be negatively impacted by tariffs.

The Tontitown, Arkansas-based truckload carrier’s second-quarter net loss of $9.6 million, or 46 cents per share, outpaced losses of 13 cents per share in the year-ago quarter and 37 cents per share in the 2025 first quarter.

On a year-over-year comparison, the per-share results benefitted from a $4.3 million increase in gains on equipment sales (a 15-cent tailwind) and a $2.1 million increase in non-operating income (a 7-cent tailwind). Higher interest expense was a 3-cent headwind in the period.

Changes in Pamt’s (NASDAQ: PAMT) non-operating income are largely driven by fluctuations in the market value of its equity securities portfolio (including dividends received) and lease income from a facility, among other items.

Table: Pamt’s key performance indicators

Second-quarter consolidated revenue of $151 million was 17% lower y/y and 3% lower than the first quarter.

The TL segment saw a 14% y/y decline in revenue as average trucks in service fell 11% and revenue per truck per week was down 2%. Trucks operated by company drivers declined 18% y/y while trucks driven by owner-operators increased 22%.

Loaded miles were off 12% y/y in the quarter and revenue per loaded mile dipped 2% to $2.24, excluding fuel surcharges.

SONAR: National Truckload Index (linehaul only – NTIL) for 2025 (blue shaded area), 2024 (green line) and 2023 (pink line). The NTIL is based on an average of booked spot dry van loads from 250,000 lanes. The NTIL is a seven-day moving average of linehaul spot rates excluding fuel. Spot rates remain slightly higher on a y/y comparison. To learn more about SONAR, click here.

The TL unit recorded a 112.5% adjusted operating ratio (inverse of operating margin), which was 880 basis points worse y/y and 160 bps worse sequentially. This was the seventh straight operating loss for the unit.

Salaries, wages and benefits expenses increased 310 bps y/y (as a percentage of revenue) even with the reduction in company drivers. Rents and purchased transportation expenses were 200 bps higher and depreciation expense was 420 bps higher. (All expense lines are reported on a consolidated basis.) 

The company’s logistics unit reported a 24% y/y decline in revenue to $41 million. A 98.7% OR was 480 worse y/y and 70 bps worse than the first quarter. (Pamt doesn’t provide gross profit margins for the unit, or operating metrics like load counts and revenue per load.)

Pamt generated operating cash flow of $17.2 million in the first half of 2025.

Liquidity (cash, equity holdings and availability on its line of credit) of $177 million at the end of the quarter was $14 million higher than at the end of the first quarter. Outstanding debt of $331 million was $22 million higher sequentially.

Shares of PAMT were off 4.2% in after-hours trading on Friday.

More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden:

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Todd Maiden

Based in Richmond, VA, Todd is the finance editor at FreightWaves. Prior to joining FreightWaves, he covered the TLs, LTLs, railroads and brokers for RBC Capital Markets and BB&T Capital Markets. Todd began his career in banking and finance before moving over to transportation equity research where he provided stock recommendations for publicly traded transportation companies.