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August 11, 1999 12:58 PM, EDT

It is a telling indication of how competitive trucking has become when in a year in which everything is breaking your way — fuel prices are falling, rates are holding firm and demand is growing — you can still lose your shirt.

That’s the way it was for U.S. and Canadian freight haulers in 1998.

Transport Topics’ analysis of financial reports filed with the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics shows that revenue for a group of 135 large carriers increased 8.7% to $53.28 billion in 1998 from $49 billion in 1997. And net income for 129 reporting carriers increased a whopping 19.2% to $1.12 billion from $939.7 million the year before.

These top-line numbers look good. But although some carriers turned in spectacular results, the average operating ratio — expenses as a percentage of revenue — actually increased to 94.2 last year from 94.1 in 1997. (An operating ratio of 100 would mean a company was breaking even, earning no profit.)

While the analysis is based on financial results for a limited number of carriers, it provides a valuable glimpse of the industry at large.

For the full story, see the August 9 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.