Florida-based Landstar System, which operates a nationwide network of trucking operations largely using owner-operators, said its 2001 first quarter net income reached $8.4 million compared with net income of $8.3 million in the 2000 first quarter. Operating income and operating margin in the 2001 first quarter were $15.8 million and 4.8%, respectively, compared with operating income and operating margin of $15.5 million and 4.7% in the 2000 first quarter.
Landstar Systems’s revenues hit a record $331 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2001, compared with revenue of $327 million for the same time period in 2000. In the 2001 and 2000 first quarters, the carrier group invoiced customers $11.5 million and $3.8 million, respectively, for fuel surcharges that were passed 100% to its “business capacity owners” and excluded from revenue, the company said.
“It is a difficult operating environment for business capacity owners,” said Jeff Crowe, Landstar System’s CEO. “At this point, I see us gradually gaining momentum as the year progresses.”
Landstar System ended the first quarter with 100 fewer trucks on the road than it had at the beginning of the year, he said. Truck terminations during the final four weeks of the 2001 first quarter were approximately the same as in the 2000 first quarter. However, new trucks recruited were less than the prior year and, as such, less than what was anticipated.
