ArcBest Corp. generated $720.4 million in revenue in its second quarter, up from $676.6 million in the second quarter of 2016, the company reported Friday.
ArcBest reported about $15.7 million in profit, about $5.5 million more than the same time last year. Earnings per share this quarter rose to 60 cents compared with 39 cents a year ago.
Compared with the second quarter of last year, ArcBest shipped about 6,000 fewer tons, 1,000 more shipments, and is making about $7 more per shipment this quarter. ArcBest does not reveal how much it makes per mile, a common metric that shows in greater detail how much a shipper's customers are willing to pay. But ArcBest this quarter did make about $378 per shipment, while it made about $371 per shipment the same time last year.
Earlier in the quarter, ArcBest announced that it would join others in the less-than-truckload industry by charging customers based on size, rather than only on weight. As more people order online and purchase smaller, more customized goods, shippers have to adapt.
In an earnings call Friday morning, ArcBest executives noted the strong e-commerce environment and signaled to investors that its adjustments in information technology are starting to pay off.
"This is designed to ensure that we are appropriately compensated for cube-dominated shipments that have proliferated throughout our network," ArcBest Chief Executive Judy McReynolds said in the earnings call.
Bob Williams, the vice president and managing director of Simmons First Investment Group, said this kind of reconfiguration blurs the lines between traditional bulk shippers and last-mile delivery drivers. The industry has seen FedEx and United Parcel Service become more competitive on this front.
"More light packages is indicative of a morphing customer desire, a desire for more customer-direct delivery," Williams said.
Along these lines, company officials noted an uptick in demand for its expedited segment. The earnings report data show the company is making about 14 percent more from each shipment in this sector, and there are about 4 percent more shipments per day than last year's second quarter.
Business on 07/29/2017