Truckers ORs unchanged in 4Q 2008

TORONTO — The top 97 for-hire carriers generated operating revenue of $2.6 billion and operating expenses of $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008.

For these carriers (those earning $25 million or more annually), operating revenue and expenses remained practically unchanged from the previous year, reports Stats Canada. 

The operating ratio remained at 0.95, unchanged in the fourth quarter compared with the same quarter a year earlier. A ratio greater than 1.00 represents an operating loss.

The revenues and expenses attributed to top carriers may also include that of some companies with less than $25 million in annual revenue, particularly when these companies exist in complex corporate structures where their individual activities may be difficult to accurately measure.

Statistics Canada has announced this will be the final release of top carriers data from the Quarterly Motor Carriers of Freight Survey. Following release of the fourth quarter 2008 all carriers data around the end of May, the Quarterly Motor Carriers of Freight Survey will be discontinued.

Beginning with the first quarter of 2009, this survey will be replaced by the Quarterly Trucking Survey, from which a first data release is expected around the end of June.