������ý

At Knight-Swift’s biggest unit — its truckload division — revenue, excluding fuel surcharge and intersegment transactions, decreased 4.2% to $1.048 billion from $1.094 billion a year earlier. (Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings)

[Stay on top of transportation news: .]

Knight-Swift Transportation returned to the black in the first quarter of 2025 on the back of a jump in less-than-truckload revenue.

The carrier reported Q1 net income of $30.6 million, compared with a loss of $2.635 million in the year-ago period, the company said April 23 after the market closed.

Phoenix-based Knight-Swift’s consolidated total revenue was $1.824 billion, a 0.1% increase from $1.822 billion in Q1 2024.

The company’s consolidated operating ratio for the quarter was 96.3, compared with 98.2 in the year-ago period. Carriers’ OR provides insight on how well a company is balancing its costs and revenue generation. The lower the ratio, the better a company’s performance.

At Knight-Swift’s biggest unit — its truckload division — revenue, excluding fuel surcharge and intersegment transactions, decreased 4.2% to $1.048 billion from $1.094 billion a year earlier due to a 5.4% decrease in loaded miles, largely for the unit’s dedicated operations.

Still, the division’s OR was 96.3, an improvement of 190 basis points from 98.2, as the legacy truckload business’ OR improved 200 basis points and U.S. Xpress achieved a quarterly operating profit for the first time since the July 2023 acquisition, the carrier said.

“In our truckload business, while there are plenty of crosscurrents, modest increases in contract rates have remained steady in the bid activity thus far. Our revenue per mile for the quarter was up year over year for the first time since the third quarter of 2022, and our cost per mile continues to show year-over-year improvement,” CEO Adam Miller said.

“We are also pleased to see the U.S. Xpress trucking business achieve its first quarterly operating profit post-acquisition, even in a difficult environment,” he added.

Knight-Swift did not provide figures on the U.S. Xpress operations.

U.S. Xpress was acquired for $808 million in a deal that closed in July 2023. Knight-Swift added 7,200 tractors and 14,400 trailers in the deal. At the time of the acquisition, U.S. Xpress ranked No. 24 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America and No. 62 on the TT Top 100 list of the largest logistics companies in North America.

Knight-Swift ranks No. 7 on the for-hire TT100 and is the No. 1-ranked truckload player. Knight-Swift also ranks No. 31 on the logistics TT100 and No. 39 on the TT Top 50 global freight companies list.

The LTL division’s revenue, excluding fuel surcharge, increased 26.7% year over year to $305.26 million from $240.99 million as shipments per day increased 24.2% to 23,349 from 18,800 on the back of the Dependable Highway Express acquisition in July 2024.

LTL revenue per hundredweight excluding fuel surcharges increased 9.3% to $18.24 from $16.91. The division’s OR was 96.4, compared with 92.8 a year earlier. Knight-Swift opened seven LTL service centers during Q1 as the carrier continues to grow its network, boosting door count by 3.6%.

The carrier bought the LTL division of DHE to bolster its West Coast LTL operations as part of the longer-term expansion strategy. DHE ranked No. 79 on the for-hire TT100 at the time of the deal and No. 28 among LTL carriers.

The assets became part of Knight-Swift’s AAA Cooper division. Knight-Swift acquired AAA Cooper in 2021. Before the Dependable deal, Knight-Swift operated 133 terminals and 5,100 doors.

Knight-Swift also sought to grow the division in recent quarters by buying real estate formerly owned by Yellow Corp. at auction.

During the first round of the auction by Yellow’s administrators, Knight-Swift spent $51.3 million on 13 properties, the fourth-largest haul in that round. Later it spent $2.2 million to take over the leaseholds on 10 properties.

In a third auction win, Knight-Swift acquired two leased terminals in Great Falls, Mont., and East Wenatchee, Wash., for $417,150. In February, the company paid $9.9 million for ex-Yellow sites in Downey, Santa Maria and San Diego, Calif., plus Roanoke, Va.

Size and density matter in the top-heavy LTL space, as terminals are required for a successful business.

While winter weather pressured LTL volume and costs in January and February, March volume grew significantly year over year on new business awards, the company said.

Knight-Swift’s logistics division saw a year-over-year revenue increase of 11.8% in Q1 to $141.62 million from $126.73 million. The unit’s revenue per load jumped 11.7% to $1.956 from $1.751. Its OR was 96.4, compared with 98 a year earlier.

Looking forward, headwinds are growing in the freight sector, even after the recent downturn, Knight-Swift’s top executive said in a statement accompanying the results.

“Following a solid start to the year, conditions grew more challenging as weather disruptions in January and February gave way to a tariff drag on March activity that dampened the typical seasonal build in freight volumes,” Miller said.

“Our customers are grappling with a fluid trade policy situation that is causing some to delay decisions, while others manage inventories more tightly out of an abundance of caution,” he said, adding: “Some customers are taking action to mitigate tariff exposure while others are taking a wait-and-see approach.”

Truckload freight demand appeared stable through the first half of April, said Miller, adding that while it was still too early to look for the typical seasonal build during the second quarter, demand has not deteriorated yet.

In the LTL arena, shipment counts continued to build on the progress achieved in Q1, he said.