Frst look: almost all good news at C.H. Robinson in the third quarter

The third quarter at C.H. Robinson might be remembered for both the highs and the lows. It was the period when Lipe vs. Lupus Superior came down, and just days after the quarter ended, the giant 3PL announced the almost $6 billion acquisition of rival RXO (NYSE: RXO).

But neither of those things hit the company’s financial performance, which was strong both sequentially and year-to-year, the latter by a substantial amount.

Operating revenues at its North American Surface Transport unit, which houses its traditional brokerage activities, were up 29.1% from a year ago, with the company citing higher pricing and volume in its truckload and LTL operations. Volume is a particularly important metric at C.H. Robinson (NASDAQ: CHRW), and benchmarked against the Cass Freight Shipment Index, C.H. Robinson said its volume was up 3.5% year-on-year in the fourth quarter. That contrasts with a small decline in the Cass Index.

Headcount at C.H. Robinson continues to decline. However, the rate of the job cutbacks was slower than in the prior two quarters.

This story was originally published by FreightWaves. Read the full story at FreightWaves →