OTTAWA, Ont. – The country’s 82 largest for-hire carriers (those earning $25 million or more annually) generated operating revenues of $1.6 billion during the last three months of 1999, a four per cent increase in the average revenue per carrier over 1998, Statistics Canada reports.

On the expense side, high diesel prices pushed carrier fuel payments (excluding owner/operators) upwards by 24 per cent compared to the same period last year. Despite the hit on their fuel costs, however, the country’s largest carriers were able to maintain their operating ratio at 0.94, the same as what they posted in the final quarter of 1998. (Any ratio greater than 1.00 represents an operating loss.) By trucking industry standards, 0.94 is considered healthy. n