There was almost no positive news in the first-quarter earnings of truckload carrier Marten Transport. 

The earnings, released midday Wednesday in an unusual move given that the stock market was open for business, saw declines in almost every major metric. 

The operating metrics also showed a company that has gotten smaller by several measures.

The most visible benchmark – operating ratio – was worse across the board.

For its truckload segment, the OR net of fuel was on the wrong side of the breakeven mark, coming in at 100.3% compared to 99.5% a year ago.

The dedicated segment saw OR deteriorate by more than 500 basis points from a year ago, sliding to 92.2% from 87.1% in the first quarter of 2024.

Marten’s Intermodal segment, which already was at a 100%-plus OR a year ago, blew up to 108.3% from 101.5% in the first quarter of 2024. 

Brokerage was the star performer in that it did not decline as much as the other segments. Its OR of 93.5% was 110 bps weaker than a year earlier. 

Marten does not hold a conference call with analysts. But in the prepared statement released in conjunction with the earnings, Executive Chairman Randolph Marten needed to reach to find a positive spin on the quarter.

He touted the dedicated and brokerage segments but then turned immediately to the state of the truckload market where Marten operates.

“Our earnings have continued to be heavily pressured by the considerable duration and depth of the freight market recession’s oversupply and weak demand and the cumulative impact of inflationary operating costs, freight rate reductions and freight network disruptions,” Marten said in the statement.

“We remain focused on minimizing the freight market’s impact and now the impact of the U.S. and global economies with the current trade policy volatility while investing in and positioning our operations to capitalize on profitable organic growth opportunities, with fair compensation for our premium services, across each of our business segments,” he added.

One positive in Marten’s trucking activities was that its average revenue net of fuel per tractor per week was notably improved.

In the truckload segment, that measurement rose to $4,196 from $3,996. In dedicated, it climbed to $3,846 from $3,781. 

But that improvement is occurring in a smaller company. Marten’s total tractors are down to 3,040 from 3,406 a year ago. In truckload, the drop is to 1,670 from 1,830, In dedicated, that number is now 1,262 compared to 1,459 a year ago. (There also is a small number of tractors in intermodal).

Truckload’s total miles fell to 38.3 million from 39.7 million, while in dedicated, the drop was to 25.2 million from 29 million. 

There also was good news in the brokerage segment. Brokerage handled 20,416 loads, up from 20,061 loads a year ago. 

Intermodal loads were down to 3,657 from 4,589 in 2024’s first quarter. 

The smaller footprint came with a reduction in salaries, wages and benefits to $78.8 million from $88.8 million a year ago. Total operating expenses dropped to $217.3 million from $237.4 million.

But with the drop in operating revenue to $223.1 million from $249.7 million, the end result was that net income more than halved, to $4.34 million from $9.65 million, and earnings per share fell to 5 cents from 12 cents.

If there was any other good news, it was that Marten (NASDAQ: MRTN) grew its cash stockpile considerably, rising to $39.9 million at the end of the first quarter from $17.3 million at the end of 2024.

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