YRC Worldwide, parent of long-haul YRC Freight and three regional LTL carriers, fell back into the red last year as it battled a red-hot freight market with sharply higher costs related to purchased transportation, equipment shortages and higher salaries to keep those trucks operating with sufficient drivers.
Carloads increased 1.1% annually to 260,993, and intermodal containers and trailers saw a 6.9% annual gain to 282,522.
For November, the most recent month for which data is available, the SCI came in at -8.9, which is down from, and an improvement over, October’s -9.6. September and August came in at -8.2 and -6.7, respectively.
Industry experts agree that costs across all sectors worldwide will continue to rise in 2018, and the most successful shippers will be those that are able to mitigate their impact on profitability. And, the right technology will play an increasingly vital role in driving efficiencies across the global logistics network.
Both fourth quarter and full-year 2017 intermodal volumes turned in strong performances, according to data in the most recent edition of the Intermodal Market Trends & Statistics Report, which was released by the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA).
The report’s key metric, known as the PMI, was 59.1 (a reading of 50 or higher indicates growth) in January, which was down 0.2% from December’s reading. This marks the 17th straight month that the PMI has grown, with the overall economy growing for the 104th consecutive month.
Quarterly revenue was up 11.2% at $18.8 billion, while earnings per share at $1.67 topped Wall Street estimates of $1.67, and full-year earnings per share at $6.01, with full-year revenue up 8.2% annually at $65.8 billion.
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