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“While we continue to see strong results in our newer markets, the overall shipment trends reflect a continued cautious approach from customers,” CEO Fritz Holzgrefe said. (Saia Inc.)

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A muted environment for freight volume contributed to a decline in revenue and profit for Saia Inc. during the second quarter of 2025, the company reported July 25.

The Johns Creek, Ga.-based less-than-truckload carrier posted net income of $71.4 million, or $2.67 a diluted share, for the three months ending June 30. That compared with $102.5 million, $3.83, during the same time the previous year. Total revenue slid 0.7% to $817.1 million from $823.2 million.

“We operate our business with a focus on the customer and managing the things that are within our control,” Saia CEO Fritz Holzgrefe said during a call with investors. “Our efforts to optimize our variable costs and improve our network efficiency contributed to this outperformance, and these results reflect our ongoing efforts to manage the business in the short term with an intense focus on executing our long-term strategy.”

Holzgrefe cited the broader macroeconomic landscape and aforementioned soft freight volume for the revenue decline, noting that overall shipments per workday were down 2.8% year over year to 2.26 million from 2.33 million. But LTL revenue per shipment increased 1.8% during the same time to $351.36 from $345.07. Pounds per shipment also increased 4% to 1,394 from 1,340.

Customer acceptance in newer markets remains strong, which he said supports the value of the company’s long-term strategy of getting closer to customers.

“While we continue to see strong results in our newer markets, the overall shipment trends reflect a continued cautious approach from customers,” Holzgrefe said. “That said, we remain pleased with the opportunities we’re seeing with both new and existing customers, which is reinforced by the volume trend seen in our newer facilities.”

Holzgrefe added, “Our pricing and mix optimization initiatives remain an intense focus. Sequentially, our mix of business shifted to the handling slightly more national and retail customers, which partially led to lower weight per shipment compared to the first quarter. Additionally, we saw muted trends out of our Los Angeles region partially contributed to the shorter length of haul compared to the first quarter, which is a headwind to sequential revenue per shipment.”

The report noted that Saia adjusted its cost structure throughout the quarter to align with volume that remained below seasonal norms. Its tonnage for the quarter rose just 0.4% compared with the prior quarter. That being said, June trended more in the line of historical seasonality on a per-workday basis.

“We remain steadfast in our approach to providing industry-leading service levels while also managing controllable costs and productivity,” Holzgrefe said. “While we cannot control the external factors, our focus remains intently on what we can control, and taking care of our customers is at the forefront. Customers value certainty and reliability in their supply chain; we believe we are well positioned to provide that service in every market.”

Saia ranks No. 17 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America and No. 7 on the LTL sector list.

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