Dive Brief:
- Knight-Swift is bracing for potentially lower demand over the holidays as supply chains appear to be adjusting for uncertainty in consumer demand, President and CEO Dave Jackson said in a Oct. 19 news release.
- The carrier saw significant declines in spot market opportunities, and volumes trended lower than usual in the back half of Q3 and October, Chief Financial Officer Adam Miller said on a quarterly earnings call last week.
- The carrier expects a “muted peak season this year” and seeks to navigate a possibly more challenging freight environment in coming quarters. It has “been pivoting towards making more commitments through the bid season to reduce our exposure in the spot market,” Miller said.
Dive Insight:
Knight-Swift has been diversifying its business units to make the company less volatile, helping mitigate TL freight cycles, CEO and President Dave Jackson said on the earnings call.
Jackson noted an investor presentation that showed the company launched into LTL in 2021, and its Logistics segment has also made up a greater share of its adjusted operating income.
“Our truckload earnings now represent only 63% of earnings, which represents a meaningful shift from where we were in 2017 immediately following the Knight-Swift merger,” he said.
Knight-Swift income streams spread across segments
| Segment | Adjusted Operating Income Q3 2022 |
|---|---|
| Truckload | $176,126,000 |
| LTL | $34,891,000 |
| Logistics | $27,794,000 |
| Non-reportable | $18,487,000 |
| Intermodal | $12,834,000 |
SOURCE: Knight-Swift Q3 earnings statement
Other companies are also taking note of the seasonal and economic changes. J.B. Hunt said it’s looking to improve its Final Mile segment and other parts of the business as demand declines. Landstar System President and CEO Jim Gattoni reported on a Q3 earnings call that the company expects reduced demand for “freight services in connection with the 2022 holiday shipping season.”
