Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
Thank you. (Operator instructions) The first question comes from the line of Alex Brand with Stephens. Please proceed.
Alex Brand – Stephens, Inc.
Thanks. Good morning, guys.
Bruce Campbell
Good morning.
Rodney Bell
Hi, Alex.
Alex Brand – Stephens, Inc.
Rodney, let me just start where you finished up on the yield because you said 1.9% positive yield net of fuel?
Rodney Bell
Correct.
Alex Brand – Stephens, Inc.
Okay. Which surprises me, if you took that much additional airline business and your length of haul is shrinking that you wouldn't have had a negative yield when I netted out the fuel. Does that make sense or I'm missing something there?
Rodney Bell
Essentially how the fuel trended over the course of the quarter and how we reimbursed our own operators in rising times, it's – we get more benefit than when fuel's declining. Does that make sense?
Alex Brand – Stephens, Inc.
Yes. So, should I expect some compression though as that business, your shorter haul business, grows? Sounds like its growing the fastest of anything.
Rodney Bell
You should.
Alex Brand – Stephens, Inc.
Okay.
Rodney Bell
The way the fuel worked out for the quarter just more than offset the compression that came with the short haul regional business from the two acquisitions as well as the airlines.
Alex Brand – Stephens, Inc.
Okay. And, I don't know if I missed this, but did you say in your – in your 30.5% revenue growth, if I ex out fuel, what that – how much that accounted for in the top line?
Rodney Bell
I'm sorry – just got to know that you – I want to clarify that the 1.9% includes the impact of fuel, right?
Bruce Campbell
Let's start over.
Rodney Bell
Okay.
Bruce Campbell
You asked one point – roughly 1.9%, that includes fuel. Our actual yield decline, on an overall basis, net of fuel, between 5% and 6%.
Alex Brand – Stephens, Inc.
Okay. That makes more sense. That's where I was confused.
Bruce Campbell
That was driven by two factors that – and both of them you've mentioned – one is, we're more heavily involved in the regional short haul type of traffic. A lot of that driven by our Chicago hub opening back in the early part of the year. The second thing that drives that is, while we like to have larger shipments and larger shipments can then indicate maybe the economy is getting a little bit better, larger shipments also drive down your yield, and what we saw was, as Rodney touched on, larger shipments – and we also found a little bit of spike in very large shipments and we're assuming that was driven by lack of truckload capacity especially during the month of June in certain areas, not across the board, but in certain areas. That will drive yield down also.
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