U.S. Xpress Enterprises, Inc.for the second quarter had operating revenue of $422.5 million compared to $413.9 million in the second quarter of 2019.

Eric Fuller, president and CEO, commented, “I am very pleased with our second quarter results as we are beginning to see the tangible, financial benefits of our strategic initiatives focused on utilizing technology to improve our processes, accelerate the velocity of our business, improve our customers’ and drivers’ satisfaction, and lower our costs.

The approximate 500 basis points of sequential margin improvement we achieved exceeded normal seasonality. The successful launch of our digital fleet, ongoing success in reducing overhead costs, better safety performance, and lower fuel costs more than offset a sequential decrease in revenue per mile in our Over-the-Road division as there continued to be excess tractor capacity relative to freight demand in the market for a majority of the quarter due in part to COVID-19.

“A major digital initiative that we have been working on over the last two years has been the development, launch, and ramp of our digital fleet. This fleet is largely recruited, planned, dispatched, and managed using artificial intelligence and digital platforms. We developed the concept as a hypothesis in 2018 based in part on the business models of the digital freight brokerages. During 2019, we began building our technology leadership and teams to construct the necessary databases, applications, and processes to launch a pilot fleet with a small number of trucks in the fourth quarter of 2019. The test was successful and we expanded the pilot fleet to approximately 100 trucks in the first quarter. Given the positive results of the first quarter pilot we moved to a full production model, scaling the business to approximately 400 trucks in the second quarter of 2020. Phase one of our plan is to convert a total of 900 Over-the-Road solo trucks, with the lowest returns, to our digital platform over the next few quarters. Phase two of our plan will be to potentially convert an additional 1,200 trucks over the next couple of years. While the conversion will not be linear, we expect our margins to expand further.”

Operating revenue was $422.5 million, an increase of $8.6 million compared to the second quarter of 2019. The increase was primarily attributable to increased revenues in the Company’s Truckload division of $16.2 million, an increase of $6.6 million in Brokerage revenue, and decreased fuel surcharge revenues of $14.2 million. Excluding the impact of fuel surcharges, second quarter revenue increased $22.8 million to $394.0 million, an increase of 6.1% as compared to the prior year quarter.

Operating income for the second quarter of 2020 was $16.3 million which compares favorably to the $8.8 million in the second quarter of 2019. Operating ratio for the second quarter of 2020 was 96.1% compared to 97.9% in the prior year quarter.

Net income attributable to controlling interest for the second quarter of 2020 was $9.5 million compared to $2.7 million in the prior year quarter. Adjusted net income attributable to controlling interest for the second quarter of 2020 was $9.5 million, compared to $2.9 million in the 2019 quarter. Earnings per diluted share were $0.18 for the second quarter of 2020 and adjusted earnings per diluted share were $0.18.