The year 2021 should go down in history books as a massive one for the trucking and logistics industry, as a majority of the companies on this list reported some type of record for revenue or income despite a challenging environment marked by labor and equipment shortages as well as regulatory uncertainty. While many predicted that vaccine mandates, or COVID itself, would dampen driver availability or demand itself, 2021 proved that the trend towards goods and not services in personal consumption had some staying power.
Take a look at the big carrier earnings below to get an idea of what went down in 2021.
Covenant Transportation (CCJ Top 250, No. 38) hit its goal of bringing in more than $1 billion in revenue this year and setting a company record, but its revenue and income both dipped slightly from Q3 in yet another sign of seasonality perhaps fading from the market. Covenant reported a slight miss on margin goals within its Warehousing segment and attributed that to high rents and labor costs on a new facility. The company's Expedited and Dedicated segments were "negatively impacted by approximately 250 basis points primarily related to catch-up vesting of prior year performance-based compensation due to our record results, incremental costs to secure short-term capacity to service short-term freight commitments and a lack of gain on sale due to delays in equipment deliveries," though it does not expect those trends to continue into 2022.
“Our asset-based segments, Expedited and Dedicated, contributed approximately 58% of total revenue in the quarter and performed well in an environment characterized by strong freight demand, an extremely competitive driver market, workforce volatility due to COVID-19, and rising costs. Our Expedited segment grew revenue and produced adjusted margins similar to the fourth quarter last year, with improved pricing and utilization overcoming significant driver pay increases and a smaller available fleet. We also implemented multi-year contracts with certain major customers that should lessen the impact of economic cycles on this segment. Our Dedicated segment improved year-over-year and sequentially by producing higher revenue and better margins, progress needed to meet our targeted returns," Covenant Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, David R. Parker, continued.
Revenue: 2021 YTD: $1 billion vs. 2020 YTD $838.5 million
2021 Q4: $267 million vs. 2020 Q4: $210.8 million
