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February 22, 2006 10:30 AM, EST

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ackage-delivery and supply chain management firm Velocity Express said late Tuesday it lost $3.7 million in the fourth quarter, compared with a $9.2 million loss a year earlier.

The company’s revenue dipped to $49.3 million, from $65.5 million a year earlier, primarily due to the closing of 40 unprofitable locations last year, the company said.

Gross profit rose to $14.2 million from $11.5 million and earnings before interest and taxes improved by $6.1 million to a $1.5 million loss, Velocity said.

“With our major investment in route optimization technology, [we have] been able to create more efficient and less costly routing solutions, which we believe can result in additional margin improvement," Jeff Hendrickson, Velocity's president, said in a statement.

Velocity Express is ranked No. 70 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.