Strike doesn't slow Overnite's earnings or plans

Richmond, VA-based Overnite reported net income of $14.4 million on revenues of $331.7 million. Those results include the earnings of Overnite Transportation Co. and Motor Cargo Industries, which Overnite acquired in January 2001.

For the first half of 2002, Overnite reported net income of $23.4 million on revenue of $636.6 million, compared to net income of $21 million on revenue of $637.1 million for the same period in 2001.

Those results occur at a time when the Teamsters are attempting to bring more pressure to bear on Overnite.

An Administrative Law Judge for the National Labor Relations Board recently ordered the carrier to reinstate $176,000 worth of lost wages plus interest to eight workers fired in 1999 from Overnite's Memphis terminal. That follows a 4th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in July that ordered Overnite to begin contract negotiations with the Teamsters at four terminals.

Those and other rulings over the course of the past three years have not affected Overnite's earnings or its expansion plans. The carrier opened a new 20-door terminal in Lubbock, TX, in June and is in the process of relocating its Baton Rouge, LA terminal to a larger facility. It also implemented a 5.9% rate hike last month.