US trucking giant Knight Swift reported an improvement in operating profit of over 224% y-o-y to $66.66m on revenues that grew 0.1% to $1.824bn in Q1 2025. The Truckload and Logistics segments drove this growth with 92.7% y-o-y and 108.0% operating profit growth respectively.
Truckload on a charge
Knight-Swift’s largest division, Truckload reported an operating income growth of 92.7% y-o-y to $44.6m on revenue excluding fuel surcharge and inter segment transactions that fell 4.2% y-o-y to $1.048bn.
Excluding fuel surcharge and intersegment revenue, revenue per loaded mile improved 1.5% y-o-y, the first such increase in 10 quarters. For the first time since its acquisition in July 2023, US Xpress reported a quarterly operating profit, and across the division adjusted operating expenses fell 0.9% per mile due to strategic cost reduction measures.
Knight-Swift CEO Adam Miller said, “Our revenue per mile for the quarter was up year over year for the first time since Q3, 2022 and our cost per mile continues to show improvement.” He continued, “Truckload freight demand appeared stable through the first half of April, and while it is still too early to look for the typical seasonal build during the second quarter, we have not seen demand deteriorate.”
Logistics sees triple digit earnings growth
The Logistics division achieved a 108.0% y-o-y improvement in operating income to $5.14m on revenue that grew 11.8% to $141.6m – far smaller in revenue amount than the Truckload division, this was still a significant growth. The earnings growth was driven by an 11.7% increase in revenue per load. The company stated, “We remain disciplined on price and diligent in carrier qualification to provide value to customers while maintaining profitability.”
LTL revenues fall significantly
While revenues in the LTL division grew 26.7% y-o-y to $305.3m in the quarter, operating income fell 37.4% to $12.7m. Extreme weather hit the US Southeast in the quarter and this hampered business as its greatest terminal density is in the region. However, shipments per day increased 24.2% y-o-y, improving revenues overall. The main issue seems to be weight per shipment that fell 2.5%, and integration costs of recently acquired DHE also impacted the bottom line.
Miller said, “Our operating ratio and y-o-y growth in shipment count improved progressively through the quarter, reaching 30% shipment growth and an Adjusted Operating Ratio of 90.6% for March.” In the case of operating ratio, one in the 90% range is very comfortable for an LTL carrier. Miller continued, “Through early April, our shipment counts continued to build on the progress achieved in the first quarter.”
Losses fall at Intermodal
Where the other three divisions contributed to Knight-Swift’s bottom line growth, a healthy fall in losses at the Intermodal division – 63.1% less than Q1, 2024 to $1.81m in Q1, 2025 – was another bit of good news for the company. Revenue was up 3.5% to $91.1m in the quarter. A 4.6% increase in load count helped revenue growth and the fall in losses.
Fluid trade policy situation hits forecasting
Uncertainty due to what Knight-Swift refers to as a ‘fluid trade policy’ in US central government has made it difficult for the company to make sure footed forecasts for the next quarter. It seems pretty certain that high triple digit earnings growth isn’t on the way into Q2. Leadership forecasts Truckload revenue per loaded mile to be fairly flat, though the LTL segment revenue may well grow between 25-30%, driven shipment count from their expanding network, inclusion of DHE and yield improvement. Logistics revenue is set to fall, but Intermodal load count and operating margin is set to be stable in the second quarter.
Miller concluded, “Our customers are grappling with a fluid trade policy situation and that is causing some to delay decisions while others manage inventories more tightly out of an abundance of caution. Some customers are taking action to mitigate tariff pressure while others are taking a wait-and-see approach.” Consequently, as with every one of their competitors, Knight-Swift cannot see too far ahead as their customers can’t either.
Author – Richard Shrubb
Source: Ti Insight
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