The fourth quarter 2012 financial results for America’s leading truckload carriers tell a story of an industry going through transformation and change.  The most dramatic poster boy of this change can be seen at the largest carrier in the group, JB Hunt.  Basic point to point truckload carriage has fallen so far that it is almost irrelevant in its overall business results.

In Q4, Hunt generated about $1.33 billion in revenue (including fuel surcharges), but only about $112 million of that came from regular truckload carriage (not including fuel surcharge). That's just about 9% of revenue, down from 12% the previous year. Basic truckload's percentage of total profit at Hunt is even smaller, at just 4%.

But Hunt's strategy of focusing on intermodal and dedicated transportation seems to be working. Its intermodal business, which now accounts for 73% of total profits, saw revenue grow another 12.7% in Q4 and over 14% for the year.

Other carriers in the sector have taken notice.  Werner's trucking revenue declined .1% for the full year while its Value Added Services business, which includes dedicated and intermodal, rose 10%, as it has followed in the footsteps of JB Hunt.   Werner's Specialized Services unit, primarily Dedicated, ended the quarter with 3,295 trucks equal to 46% of its total fleet.

While the major truckload carriers reported growth in these two business sectors, growth in their core business was restrained by several key factors.  Werner reported that “there are several truckload capacity constraints including an older industry truck fleet, the higher cost of new trucks and trailers, significant safety regulatory changes and a challenging driver market.”