larger Proficient Auto shows various signs of improvement

It’s a bigger Proficient Auto Logistics that reported its earnings for the third quarter, with small signs of improvement in its performance.

Proficient had a significant increase in deliveries fueled in part by its acquisition of Brothers Auto Transport in April. Brothers was the second acquisition Proficient (NASDAQ: PAL) has made since it went public last year; its first was ATG in August 2024.

Total deliveries made by Proficient trucks–which management has said it wants to increase as a percentage of business–were up 24.8% to 209,340, while subhauler deliveries rose 19.4% to 396,001. Total Units delivered were 605,341, an increase of 21% from Q3 2024. But in the second quarter, the number of units hauled was 631,426.

Proficient recorded a 250 basis point improvement in operating ratio (OR) to 96.3% in the quarter compared to the corresponding quarter of last year. The sequential gain from the second quarter was just 40 bps.

Even with the growth in deliveries, Proficient still had an operating loss of $101,000. However, that was a significant improvement from the $2.2 million in operating loss from the third quarter of 2024. But it was down from the second quarter 2025 operating profit of $125,000.

The higher volumes hauled at Proficient showed up in operating revenue. It rose to $114.3 million from $91.5 million a year earlier.

The EBITDA margin was flat from a year earlier at 10.5%. Sequentially, it increased from 9.8%.

Rick O’Dell, the company’s CEO, said in the company’s prepared statement accompanying the earnings a theme heard by many trucking CEOs this quarter: things will get better.

Given what he said was “excess transportation supply relative to current demand,” O’Dell added that “we do not expect this to persist long-term, as smaller carriers will face acute challenges related to equipment age and reinvestment, rising insurance costs, driver recruitment and driver fallout, and increasingly stringent service, quality, technology, and regulatory requirements.”

Investors liked the PAL earnings in post-market trade. At approximately 4:30 pm EST, PAL stock was up 10.94% to $7.30, per Barchart data. Although the 12-month performance has been weak, down about 31.5%, recent gains have sent Proficient’s stock up about 13.2% in the last month and 10.2% in the last three months.

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