ROADWAY EXPRESS SEES BOOST IN EARNINGS

ROADWAY EXPRESS SEES BOOST IN EARNINGS    Roadway Express Inc. on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter net income of $25.4 million, up 23.7 percent over the year-earlier period.
   Revenue rose 2.3 percent to $956.0 for the quarter. Fourth-quarter tonnage was down 8 percent. Less-than-truckload tonnage fell 6 percent and truckload tonnage declined 15.9 percent. Revenue per ton rose 11.2 percent.
   For calendar year 2000, net income rose 23.5 percent to $56.5 million, on revenue of $3.04 billion, up 8 percent. It marked the first time the company's revenue topped $3 billion.
   For the year, total tonnage was flat. A 1.4-percent increase in LTL tonnage was offset by a 5.7-percent decline in truckload tonnage. Revenue per ton increased 8 percent.
   “While facing declining tonnage levels in the second half of the year, we were able to increase our net income on both a quarterly and year-over-year basis,” said Michael W. Wickham, chairman and chief executive officer of Roadway Express. “We attribute this to stringent cost control, the management of our own capacity through the planned use of equipment leasing and intermodal options, plus a stable pricing environment.
   The company anticipates lower volumes in the first half of 2001 but that cost control measures should hold pricing levels stable.