Saia’s tonnage growth steps higher in August as comps ease

However, the company previously noted that revenue per shipment increased 4% from the beginning to the end of the second quarter. The recent GRI was 120 basis points higher and three months earlier than last year’s rate bump—another positive sign. And, contractual rate renewals averaged 10.7% in the second quarter (+15.8% on a two-year-stacked comp).

Old Dominion’s (NASDAQ: ODFL) August update, also published on Thursday, showed an acceleration in y/y yield growth from July to August, both with and without fuel surcharges.

Saia reported y/y margin improvement in the second quarter for the first time since the 2024 first quarter. However, the company’s third-quarter guide calls for slight y/y deterioration.

It normally sees 150 to 200 bps of margin degradation from the second to third quarter, but it expects only 100 bps of erosion this year. The outlook implies an 87.9% operating ratio, which would be 30 bps worse y/y (excluding the impact from a real estate gain in the 2025 third quarter).

The company has opened, expanded or relocated roughly 60 terminals since 2022, increasing door count by 25% and making it a national carrier. However, these locations are operating at a low-90% OR, a drag compared to the rest of its network, which is operating in the low-80s.

It delayed last year’s wage increase from July to October, but implemented a new pay hike in July this year, creating a headwind of overlapping increases that will both hit the third quarter.

Shares of SAIA were up 2.9% at 12:26 p.m. EDT on Thursday while shares of ODFL were off 2.4%. The S&P 500 was up 1%.

The space got hit earlier in the week as manufacturing data came in slightly below expectations. The Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing PMI stood at 54.6 in August, 60 bps light of consensus and 100 bps below July’s four-year high. (A reading above 50 signals expansion, while one below 50 indicates contraction.)

The dataset remained in expansion territory for an eighth consecutive month, but the new orders subindex—an indicator of future activity—fell 3 points to 53.7. Carrier tonnage typically lags the index by three months. Shares of publicly traded LTLs gapped lower following the Tuesday update, closing the day down between 4% and 7% (the S&P 500 was off just 0.7%).

Why it matters? Saia is one of a few publicly traded LTL companies. Its midquarter results provide insight into a subsegment of trucking where few public datasets exist.

More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden:

• Old Dominion’s August: Some good, some OK
• FedEx Freight fires chief commercial officer following internal probe
• Bankrupt Yellow Corp. settles remaining pension claims for $526M