Saia, Inc.

What they do

Through Saia LTL Freight, founded in 1924 and headquartered in Johns Creek, Georgia, the company picks up, consolidates and linehauls LTL shipments typically weighing 100 to 10,000 pounds. It serves the 48 contiguous states directly and Canada and Mexico via third-party interline carriers. As of December 31, 2025 it ran 213 owned and leased terminals plus three general offices and one warehouse, with roughly 7,700 tractors and 26,500 trailers. About 97% of revenue comes from LTL transportation, with the remainder from brokered truckload, expedited and other logistics services.

Revenue drivers

• LTL freight (Saia LTL Freight) — Core business at approximately 97% of revenue, priced by shipment weight and distance; in 2025 the average shipment weighed about 1,380 pounds and traveled about 897 miles.
• Brokered truckload — Non-asset truckload capacity arranged for customers, part of the value-added services making up the roughly 3% of revenue that is not LTL.
• Expedited and other logistics services — Time-definite and expedited options plus other logistics offerings across North America, sold alongside the LTL network.

Recent performance

Second quarter 2026 revenue was $956.5 million, up 17.1% year over year, with operating income of $125.2 million, up 26.0%, and an operating ratio of 86.9% versus 87.8%. Diluted EPS was $3.51 versus $2.67 in the second quarter of 2025. LTL shipments per workday rose 4.4% and tonnage per workday rose 8.4%, while revenue per hundredweight excluding fuel surcharge fell 2.2% and revenue per shipment excluding fuel surcharge rose 1.5%. Full-year 2025 revenue was $3.23 billion with net income of $255.0 million and diluted EPS of $9.52, down from $362.1 million and $13.51 in 2024.

Strategy

Management is expanding the terminal footprint in new and existing markets to be closer to customers and take share, funded by more than $2.5 billion of capital expenditures over the past five years. Investment has gone into real estate, revenue equipment and technology, including network optimization and data analytics. Second-quarter 2026 results were attributed to pricing and mix optimization, healthy volume trends and integration of network growth initiatives. The company guides 2026 net capital expenditures to roughly $350 million to $400 million, after $158.0 million in the first six months of 2026. It ended the second quarter of 2026 with $84.0 million of cash and $100.1 million of total debt.

Risks

• Pricing pressure in a competitive industry — Saia is a small player against much larger LTL carriers, and the 10-Q and 10-K flag downward pricing pressure, including in fuel surcharges, as a risk to revenue and margin.
• Economic and demand cyclicality — LTL volumes track customer business cycles, and the 10-K cites recessionary conditions, inflation, tariffs and trade policy as factors that could cut demand and prices.
• Cost and availability of labor and fuel — The 10-K lists driver, dockworker and mechanic availability, purchased transportation costs and diesel fuel prices and surcharges among the risks to operating results.
• Insurance and claims volatility — The 10-K notes risk from personal injury, cargo loss and damage, workers' compensation and group health claims, including judgments exceeding insurance coverage or raising its cost.

Outlook

The company has not provided explicit revenue or EPS guidance in the excerpts. Management points to continued pricing and mix optimization, healthy volume trends and core execution as the drivers of long-term shareholder value. It expects 2026 net capital expenditures of approximately $350 million to $400 million, subject to market conditions. The 10-K and 10-Q caution that results depend on general economic conditions, pricing, labor and fuel costs, and other factors outside the company's control.