Saia, Inc. Q4 FY2025 earnings call

Resilience and Focus

• The team demonstrated resilience and focus despite dynamic demand patterns throughout 2025.

National Network Completion

• Completed the first full year at the national network, providing opportunities with new and existing customers and enabling industry-leading service in more markets, contributing to increased market share.

Capital Investments

• Record capital investments of over $2,000,000,000 over the last three years to expand the footprint, still in the early stages of capitalizing on the national network opportunity.

Operational Challenges

• Fourth quarter operating ratio impacted by self-insurance costs due to unexpected adverse developments in accident-related claims, requiring reserve increases of approximately $4,700,000.

Safety Initiatives

• Invested in industry-leading training and safety technology, seeing a 21% reduction in preventable frequency and a 10% decline in lost time injuries in 2025 despite a larger fleet and increased internal miles.

Volume and Revenue

• Fourth quarter volumes muted with shipments per day down 0.5% and tonnage per day down 1.5% year over year, but revenue was a record. Mix headwinds from weight per shipment and length of haul, with Southern California region volume decline reducing revenue by an estimated $4,000,000. GRI implementation led to volume shifts, but customer acceptance trends were above historic levels, and contractual renewals were strong.

Expenses

• Salaries, wages, and benefits increased due to a company-wide wage increase and accident claim developments. Depreciation and amortization up due to investments in revenue equipment, real estate, and technology.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, Saia, Inc. reported revenue of $790,000,000, which is a record for any quarter. Full-year 2025 revenue was a record, increasing 0.8% compared to 2024. Operating income was $352,200,000, and adjusting for one-time real estate transactions, it was $337,700,000. The cargo claims ratio in the fourth quarter was 0.47%, a company record, and the full-year cargo claims ratio was 0.5%, also a company record. Revenue per shipment excluding fuel surcharge decreased 0.5% year over year in the fourth quarter, but there was a 1.1% sequential increase from the third quarter.

Full-Year Improvement

• Expect full-year operating ratio improvement of 100 to 200 basis points.

Sequential Margin

• Anticipate sequential margin improvement, with potential to outperform historic seasonality from Q4 to Q1.

Return on Investments

• Focus on getting return on over $2,000,000,000 invested over the past three years, expecting to be fairly compensated for these investments as the national network scales.

• Self-insurance costs rising due to increased litigation costs, settlement values, and general inflation.
• Unexpected adverse developments in accident-related claims leading to reserve increases, as seen with prior year accidents.
• Macro-economic uncertainties impacting volume patterns and pricing dynamics.

Q: Can you discuss how monthly tonnage data ties into sequential margin seasonality 4Q to 1Q?

A: October shipments per day down 3.4%, tonnage per day down 3.3%; November shipments per day up 2.6%, tonnage up 1.8%; December shipments up 0.6%, tonnage down 2.2%; January shipments per day down 2.1%, tonnage per day down 7%. Historic seasonality shows Q4 to Q1 typically degrades 30-50 basis points, but expect to outperform, with potential for full-year OR improvement 100-200 basis points.

Q: What is the sense on restocking from customers?

A: Not seeing accelerated restocking, but supply chain appears to be stabilizing with less volatility than six months ago.

Q: Any thought on upping self-insurance level due to nuclear verdicts?

A: Always looking at insurance tower, factor in various things during negotiations, invest in safety technology, and progress seen in preventable accidents, but environment is inflationary.