OTTAWA — There were an estimated 3,376 for-hire trucking companies based in Canada with annual revenues of $1 million or more in the third quarter of 2005 — up 8.4 percent from the 3,115 carriers in the third quarter of 2004.

Operating revenues totalled $6.91 billion, up 9.5 percent from the third quarter of 2004. Operating expenses reached $6.28 billion, up 7.6 percent from the same period in 2004, reports Stats Canada.

On a year-over-year basis, average operating revenues rose 1.0 percent to $2.05 million, while average operating expenses decreased marginally to $1.86 million.

The decrease in average expenses was driven by lower expenses for purchased transportation, lower miscellaneous expenses and decreased payments to owner-operators. The operating ratio (operating expenses divided by operating revenues) improved to 0.91 from 0.92 for the same quarter in 2004.

For-hire trucking transportation revenues from domestic movements increased by 16.3 percent to $4.60 billion in the third quarter, up from $3.96 billion during the same quarter in 2004. In contrast, revenues from international movements decreased by 2.5 percent, while outbound movements decline by more than 11 percent.