Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 10/26/15. Gary Helms, a master trainer for Covenant Transport, transports a load of soda ash from Chattanooga to Atlanta on October, 26, 2015.The Amazon lift
Covenant Transport said Tuesday that e-commerce shipments for Amazon and other online retailers boosted freight volume but cut into some profit margins last year. A better-than-expected net income in the fourth quarter of $13.2 million helped boost shares of Covenant by 10 percent in trading Tuesday. “Amazon may be the big gorilla, but there are a lot of smaller ones out there that are doing the same things,” Covenant Transportation CEO David Parker said.
David ParkerCovenant Transportation said Tuesday it is poised to grab a share of the growing e-commerce market, which delivered a mixed bag of blessings and curses for the Chattanooga trucking company last month during the Christmas holiday rush.
On the plus side, a growing e-commerce market – which represented more than 7 percent of all retail sales in the third quarter of last year – generated freight demand. Long-haul trucking companies like Chattanooga-based Covenant Transportation and U.S. Xpress are positioned to win long-distance shipping contracts with clients like Amazon.
“It’s every dot-com, e-shipper that’s out there,” said David Parker, founder and president of Covenant Transportation Group. “Amazon may be the big gorilla, but there are a lot of smaller ones out there that are doing the same things.”