INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — When Steve Russell launched Celadon Trucking 24 years ago, he named it, he says, after the "prettiest word" in the English language.

This year, his description of the company’s fortunes is anything but pretty.

Compared to this time last August, Celadon’s profits are down a whopping 60 percent. On the other hand, it’s still in the black, which is more than you can say for some of Celadon’s competitors.

In 2008, fourth quarter profits for Celadon rang in at $6.5 million on revenues of $565.9 million. This year, revenues were down to $490.30; and net income sunk to $2.6 million.

Also, just around this time last year, Russell told a Canadian audience at Truck World that the American recession had just about hit bottom. 

And according to the report that came with his 2009 P&L statement, he might be right, at least as far as volumes go. 

"Although the freight environment continued to reflect the weakness of the U.S. economy," he said in his annual statement, "we did achieve more than a seasonal pickup in shipments progressively through the June quarter. The growth in business with customers added in the past year helped drive the improvement." 

Shipments are picking up, but rates are still
scraping along the bottom says Celadon’s Steve Russell

June was the first month of the year that Celadon finally billed more miles than the same month of the prior year.

This positive trend continued through July and the first two weeks of August.

On the other hand, in his speech last year, Smith said he thought rates had hit bottom too. On that one, things actually got worse.

"Further rates have dropped significantly," Russell said in his year-end wrap up.

"Some fleets are willing to bid at clearly non-compensatory levels to keep their trucks running. Although spot rates in certain pockets of the market have shown some strength in the last two months, bid process by many shippers has resulted in very aggressive low pricing.

Your predictions can’t be spot on all the time. And Russell knows this for a fact. That’s why he included, in his list of sagacious tips last year, "always marry your second wife first."

Celadon runs about 3,300 tractors and 10,000 trailers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, including a dedicated fleet out of Kitchener, Ont.