Jan 16 (Reuters) - U.S. trucking firm J.B. Hunt Transport Services JBHT.O missed Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, as high expenses and a lower truck count weighed on revenue.

"Repositioning costs related to network imbalances, in addition to driver hiring and onboarding expenses, were elevated in the quarter to support customers' peak season demand," the company said, referring to its largest segment, intermodal.

Intermodal shipping involves transporting goods via two or more means of transportation.

J.B. Hunt's operating income from intermodal shipping fell 10% during the reported quarter, despite a 5% year-over-year increase in volumes.

In its dedicated contract services segment, there were 605 fewer revenue producing trucks in the fleet during the fourth quarter, representing a 4% decline in average trucks as customers chose to downsize fleets.

The trucking industry in the U.S. has continued to follow a downward trend since 2022 owing to higher capacity, lower rates and a marginal improvement in volumes. Experts, however, expect the situation to improve by the second half of 2025 buoyed by a significant increase in pricing.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, the company posted revenue of $3.15 billion, down 5% from last year, and roughly in-line with analysts' estimates, as per LSEG data.

The Arkansas-based company reported a profit of $1.53 per share, missing analysts' estimate of $1.61 apiece.

Shares of the company were down 1.8% in extended trading.

(Reporting by Abhinav Parmar and Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

((Abhinav.Parmar@thomsonreuters.com;))