Oct 20, 2004 11:48 AM, from staff and wire reports

Covenant Transport Inc, the Chattanooga TN-based truckload carrier, announced financial and operating results for the third quarter and nine-month period ended Sept 30, 2004.

For the quarter, net income increased 17% to $4.7 million from $4.1 million in 2003. Total revenue for the quarter rose 4% to $151.9 million from $146.5 million in 2003. For the first nine months, net income climbed 22% to $9.9 million from $8.1 million in 2003. Total revenue was up 2% to $439.4 million from $430.3 million during the same period of 2003.

David R Parker, chairman, president, and chief executive officer, said, “Our results were within the range of guidance we previously announced and reflect continued improvement in our operating margin. We have been executing a strategy based on constraining our fleet size and improving our asset productivity, with the goal of returning to an operating ratio of below 90%. For the third quarter, our operating ratio was 92.7%, the first time it has been under 93% since the fourth quarter of 1999.”