Heartland Express profit, revenue fall

North Liberty-based truckload carrier Heartland Express reported a lower third-quarter profit and revenues that missed analysts' expectations.

Net income for the quarter that ended on Sept. 30 was $15.1 million, or 17 cents per share, down 33.5 percent from $22.7 million, or 26 cents per share, in the third quarter of 2014.

Operating revenues were $182.5 million in the third quarter of 2015, down 15.9 percent from $217.1 million in the same quarter of 2014. Operating revenues for the quarter included fuel surcharge revenue of $21.8 million, compared with $42.1 million in the same period of 2014, a $20.3 million decrease.

The results fell short of analysts' expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 25 cents per share.

Heartland Express said third-quarter earnings and revenues were affected by a $3.9 million decrease in gains on sales of equipment and $2.2 million increase in insurance and claims activity. The company said lower-than-anticipated freight volumes compared with the first and second quarters of 2015 had an impact on third-quarter earnings and revenues.

'We continue to leverage our strong cash position and our ability to generate cash to invest in our operating fleet, infrastructure and ourselves by repurchasing 1.8 million shares of our common stock,” said Michael Gerdin, Heartland Express CEO, in a news release.

Although driver attrition has slowed since the company updated its pay package in late 2014 and early 2015, Heartland Express said attracting and retaining professional drivers continues to be an ongoing challenge.

During the third quarter of 2015, Heartland Express took delivery of about 380 new tractors and has approximately 600 new tractors scheduled for delivery before the end of the year.

The company also took delivery of approximately 250 new trailers and has about 50 new trailers scheduled for delivery before the end of 2015.