Andlauer Healthcare Group secured a “solid” $157.4 million in revenue in the second quarter of 2023, but that was still down 7.1% compared to the same period a year ago. And the business believes U.S.-based ground transportation revenue and margins have returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Stronger quarterly results a year ago were buoyed by U.S. truckload rate premiums, higher revenues from Covid-19 vaccines and ancillary products, unusually high air freight forwarding volumes, and higher fuel surcharges, CEO Michael Andlauer said in a press release.

Covid-19 vaccines and products accounted for 0.8% of consolidated revenue, compared to 2.6% in the second quarter of 2022.

“Despite the lack of these tailwinds, our consolidated revenue for the first half of this year is higher than the same period a year ago and our EBITDA margins for the quarter and year-to-date remain within our pre-pandemic historical range. We continue to pursue acquisitions to further expand our platform and drive incremental growth,” Andlauer said.

The company’s specialized transportation services in Canada include ground transportation, dedicated delivery and last mile services, and air freight forwarding.

Recent fleet acquisitions have included Skelton Truck Lines, and Boyle Transportation.

Ground transportation revenue

Revenue in the specialized transportation segment totaled $113.7 million, down about $7.7 million from the second quarter of 2022.

That reflected a 2.7% drop in ground transportation revenue, largely linked to lower fuel costs passed on to customers, the company says. But ground transportation revenue in the Canadian network, excluding fuel, increased about 3%.

Air freight forwarding revenue dropped 33.4%, while the revenue from dedicated and last mile delivery products was down 4.5%.

Transportation and services cost $78.9 million, or 50.1% of revenue, compared with $82.8 million, or 48.9% of revenue in Q2 2022. The lower cost of transportation and services in the latest quarter was primarily attributed to lower fuel costs in line with the drops in revenue related to fuel prices, the company says.