P.A.M. Transportation reports Q2 beat

TL operating ratio improves to 79.8%

P.A.M. Transportation works through disruptions during the second quarter. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

P.A.M. Transportation Services reported second-quarter earnings per share of $1.30 after the market closed on Thursday. The result was 15 cents better than the consensus estimate and more than double the prior-year period.

The Arkansas-based truckload carrier’s quarterly result excluded nearly $7 million in legal reserves and unrealized losses from equity investments.

The result included a two-week contribution from its first acquisition in nearly two decades. Pam acquired New York-based Metropolitan Trucking Inc. in mid-June for $77 million. Metropolitan operates 320 trucks and more than 1,000 trailers, with annual revenue of $83 million.

The deal was said to be immediately accretive to earnings at the time of the closing.

Pam’s (NASDAQ: PTSI) consolidated revenue increased 47% year over year to $237 million. Revenue excluding fuel surcharges in the TL segment was up 37% y/y as loaded miles increased 6% and revenue per loaded mile (excluding fuel) was up 30% to $2.99. The unit recorded 420 basis points of operating ratio improvement in the period, posting a 79.8% adjusted OR.

“There continued to be significant disruptions in the quarter from customer down time, supplier parts/labor challenges and the well-publicized changes to the overall trucking freight market,” President Joe Vitiritto, stated in a news release. “Even with those challenges, our people did a solid job of navigating through the quarter. We continue to demonstrate the resiliency of our model, while growing the business organically.”

The logistics business reported a 44% y/y increase in revenue to $68 million. The company doesn’t provide load or revenue-per-load data for its brokerage business. The OR in the division improved 250 bps to 86.2%.

The average age of Pam’s tractor fleet increased to 2.1 years from 1.8 years at the end of 2021. Through the first half of 2022, the carrier has taken only 30% of its expected 2022 equipment deliveries due to production delays at the OEMs.

Table: Pam’s key performance indicators

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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.