‘Slowness’ in trucking brings profits down: Vitran

TORONTO – Canadian LTL Goliath Vitran Corp. reported a drop in profit mainly due to a slowing U.S. economy, CEO Rick Gaetz told investors in a conference call.

Even with total revenue up, the Toronto public company says third quarter profits dipped down to US$4.9 million from a year-earlier US$5.4.

“While the quarter on many fronts was a reasonable one, we are not at all satisfied with the deterioration of our operating ratio or general performance, and quite frankly our rate of growth,” Canadian Press quoted Gaetz as saying.

On average, LTL operations continue to show improvements, there were “pockets of weakness” in some U.S. LTL markets, he said.

Most sectors aren’t in a specific downturn, says Gaetz, but he notices “a general slowness” with some customers. “It just appears that as the year progressed … the normal seasonal bumps just haven’t come,” he said.

It appears that the seasonal, pre-Christmas shipping surge is either approaching very slowly, or is turning out to be weaker than expected, he told investors.

He added that the integration and retraining management of recently acquired Chris Truck Line in Kansas City took longer than expected. Acquisition of the Pjax Freight System in Pittsburgh is also underway.

“We’re attacking the market the same way, we’re attacking it responsibly,” he said.

— with files from Canadian Press