Executive Summary

Q4 2024 showed sequential stabilization and year-over-year improvement in earnings across all segments, with Operating Revenues of $1.339B, Diluted EPS of $0.18, and Adjusted EPS of $0.20; Intermodal margins expanded meaningfully as OR improved 380 bps YoY to 93.8% and orders rose 3% .
Management introduced FY2025 guidance: Adjusted EPS $0.90–$1.20 and net capex $400–$450M; assumptions include a 23–24% tax rate and focus on restoring Truckload Network profitability in 2H25 via price, variable cost capacity, and efficiency actions .
Dedicated mix structurally higher (70% of Truckload after closing Cowan Systems in December), supporting margin resilience through cycles; Cowan was immediately EPS-accretive, with targeted $20–$30M synergies after year 1 and ~$629M pro forma 2024 revenue, ~1,900 trucks and ~7,600 trailers .
Non-GAAP factors: ~$7.0M reserve refinement tied to prior-year accident claims (≈$0.03 EPS impact) and $1.4M Cowan transaction costs in Q4; management emphasized industry-wide insurance/litigation inflation despite record-low accident frequency .
Potential stock catalysts: sustained Intermodal volume/price tailwinds (including Mexico lanes), Dedicated growth/synergies from Cowan, and visible 2H25 Truckload Network recovery if rate restoration and variable capacity scaling continue .

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

Intermodal delivered its second consecutive YoY earnings increase; OR improved to 93.8% (from 97.6%), driven by volume (+3%), higher revenue/order (+2%), cost actions, network optimization, and improved dray productivity .
Dedicated remained resilient with organic new business and Cowan acquisition lift; Dedicated avg truck count +8% YoY; Truckload revenue/truck/week improved to $4,100 .
Cowan Systems’ December acquisition aligned with strategy to make Dedicated the Truckload cornerstone; CEO: “Bringing Cowan Systems into our family… aligns with our long-term strategic vision...” . CFO: FY2025 plan prioritizes restoring margins and asset returns .

What Went Wrong

Truckload Network remains challenged; Q4 Truckload OR 96.5% (flat YoY), with increased insurance expense and lower Network volumes offsetting Dedicated gains .
Insurance/litigation inflation pressured results; enterprise incurred ~$7M reserve refinement related to prior-year claims (≈$0.03 EPS) and cited rising nuclear verdicts and settlement costs .
Brokerage environment soft on volume/pricing; Logistics revenue ex-fuel -5% YoY, though operating income still improved on net revenue management and Cowan contribution .

Financial Results

Metric	Q2 2024	Q3 2024	Q4 2024
Operating Revenues ($USD Millions)	$1,316.7	$1,315.7	$1,339.1
Revenues ex-Fuel ($USD Millions)	$1,167.9	$1,177.6	$1,205.7
Income from Operations ($USD Millions)	$51.0	$43.1	$42.4
Adjusted EBITDA ($USD Millions)	$152.9	$143.8	$152.2
Operating Ratio (%)	96.1%	96.7%	96.8%
Adjusted Operating Ratio (%)	95.5%	96.2%	96.3%
Diluted EPS ($)	$0.20	$0.17	$0.18
Adjusted Diluted EPS ($)	$0.21	$0.18	$0.20

Reported vs S&P Global Consensus – Q4 2024

Metric	Reported	Consensus
Revenue	$1,339.1M	N/A – S&P Global data unavailable due to request-limit error
Diluted EPS	$0.18	N/A – S&P Global data unavailable due to request-limit error

Note: Attempt to fetch S&P Global consensus failed due to provider request limit. We will update when available.

Segment Revenues ex-Fuel ($USD Millions)

Segment	Q2 2024	Q3 2024	Q4 2024
Truckload	$540.3	$532.2	$560.1
Intermodal	$253.1	$264.7	$276.2
Logistics	$318.8	$313.7	$323.9

Segment Operating Income ($USD Millions)

Segment	Q2 2024	Q3 2024	Q4 2024
Truckload	$30.7	$23.7	$19.8
Intermodal	$14.6	$15.7	$17.2
Logistics	$11.2	$7.6	$8.5

Key KPIs

KPI	Q2 2024	Q3 2024	Q4 2024
Truckload: Rev per Truck per Week ($)	$3,933	$3,971	$4,100
Dedicated: Average Trucks	6,683	6,617	7,174
Network: Average Trucks	3,982	3,780	3,745
Intermodal: Orders	103,088	106,345	109,906
Intermodal: Revenue per Order ($)	$2,446	$2,470	$2,536
Intermodal: Operating Ratio (%)	94.2%	94.1%	93.8%

Non-GAAP/Adjustments – Q4 2024 highlights

Transaction costs (Cowan): $1.4M; Q4 Adjusted EPS $0.20 vs GAAP $0.18 .
Prior-year accident reserve refinement: ~~$7.0M (~~$0.03 EPS impact) .

Guidance Changes

Metric	Period	Previous Guidance	Current Guidance	Change
Adjusted Diluted EPS	FY2025	—	$0.90–$1.20	New (introduced)
Net Capital Expenditures	FY2025	—	$400–$450M	New (introduced)
Effective Tax Rate (assumption)	FY2025	—	23–24%	New (introduced)
Adjusted Diluted EPS	FY2024	$0.66–$0.72 (as of 11/6/24)	— (year concluded)	Retired (year-end)
Net Capital Expenditures	FY2024	~ $330M (as of 11/6/24)	— (year concluded)	Retired (year-end)
Dividend	Quarterly	$0.095 declared Oct 2024, paid Jan 8, 2025	$0.095 declared Jan 27, 2025, payable Apr 9, 2025	Maintained

Earnings Call Themes & Trends

Topic	Previous Mentions (Q2 2024, Q3 2024)	Current Period (Q4 2024)	Trend
Pricing/Rate Restoration	Q2: disciplined but below expectations; Q3: renewals strongest since 1Q22 in Network	Customers more receptive to rate restoration; spot > contract from Thanksgiving into January	Improving pricing backdrop
Intermodal Momentum	Q2: OR 94.2%, productivity actions; Q3: OR 94.1%, orders +1%	Orders +3%, rev/order +2%, OR 93.8%; Mexico growth >30%; capacity to grow ~30% without more boxes	Strengthening; volume-led with selective pricing
Truckload Network	Q2: pressured by lower pricing/volumes; Q3: still challenged	Sequential improvement; plan to return to profitability in 2H25 via price, variable cost capacity, productivity	Early recovery actions
Dedicated Strategy	Q2/Q3: pipelines robust; resilient earnings	Cowan completed; Dedicated now ~70% of Truckload; several hundred startup trucks in 1H25 pipeline	Mix shift supportive of resilience
Insurance/Litigation	Q2/Q3: higher premiums and settlements YoY	~$7M reserve refinement; record-low DOT accident frequency, but litigation inflation persists	Cost headwind, managed via safety
Tariffs/Ports, Macro	Q3: seasonality mixed; macro cautious	Some pull-forward on tariff/strike fears; seasonality returned; capacity exiting market	Normalizing seasonality

Management Commentary

CEO (Mark Rourke): “The fourth quarter reflected the cumulative effects of actions we have taken to expand margins, which resulted in year over year earnings improvement across all our reportable segments…” .
CEO on Cowan: “Bringing Cowan Systems into our family… aligns with our long-term strategic vision to provide customer-centric dedicated solutions as the cornerstone of our Truckload segment…” .
CFO (Darrell Campbell): “Our 2025 full year adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance is $0.90 - $1.20… full year net capital expenditure guidance is $400 to $450 million…” .
CEO on freight backdrop: “Starting around Thanksgiving, spot price exceeded contract price and accelerated through the end of the year and into 2025.” .
EVP (Jim Filter) on Intermodal: capacity to grow ~30%; Mexico volumes >30%; Intermodal price typically lags Truckload .

Q&A Highlights

Rate environment: Early 2025 customer discussions “more constructive” than prior years; focus on moving Network growth into variable cost capacity and leveraging power-only .
Intermodal pricing dynamics: Expect bigger increases in over-the-road than Intermodal; Q4 Intermodal rev/order strength aided by project work; expect normal seasonality from Q4 levels .
Capacity trends: Continued small-fleet exits; large carriers not expanding; SNDR has ~10% boxes stacked and can grow Intermodal ~30% without capex .
Logistics margin targets: Long-term Logistics margin target refined to 3–5% (from 5–7%) due to mix shift toward traditional brokerage, including Cowan operations; still bullish on power-only economics .
Insurance expense: Q4 included ~$7M prior-year reserve refinement; not expected to recur each quarter; frequency at record lows .

Estimates Context

We attempted to retrieve S&P Global consensus for Q4 2024 revenue and EPS but encountered a provider request-limit error; therefore we cannot state beats/misses versus consensus at this time. We will update when S&P Global data becomes available [GetEstimates error].

Key Takeaways for Investors

Intermodal momentum is tangible: orders, price, and OR improved; structural capacity to scale ~30% without additional boxes positions SNDR for operating leverage as demand tightens .
Dedicated mix (now ~70% of Truckload) and Cowan synergies should cushion cycle volatility and support margin rebuild in 2025; Cowan accretive from day one with $20–$30M synergy target after year 1 .
Truckload Network is on a recovery path contingent on rate restoration and variable capacity growth; management targets profitability in 2H25 .
Insurance/litigation remains a managed headwind; record-low accident frequency is positive, but reserve volatility can create quarterly noise .
FY2025 guide ($0.90–$1.20 adjusted EPS) implies improvement versus late-2024 “normalized” run-rate if market tightens as expected; upside tied to pricing cadence and Intermodal conversion (including Mexico lanes) .
Watch near-term: bid season outcomes in Truckload, Intermodal pricing lag vs OTR, and cadence of Dedicated startups in 1H25 .

Additional Q4 2024 Items and Prior-Quarter Context

Dividend maintained at $0.095/share; declared Jan 27, 2025 (payable Apr 9, 2025); follows $0.095 declared Oct 2024 (paid Jan 8, 2025) .
Q3 2024 context: Operating Revenues $1.316B; Diluted EPS $0.17; FY2024 adjusted EPS guide updated to $0.66–$0.72 and net capex ≈$330M (now retired with year-end) .
Q2 2024 context: Operating Revenues $1.317B; Diluted EPS $0.20; emphasized cost containment and asset efficiency; adjusted OR 95.5% .

All figures and statements sourced from Schneider’s Q4 2024 8-K and press release, the Q4 2024 earnings call transcript, and prior-quarter releases as cited above:

Q4 2024 8-K and exhibit (press release):
Q4 2024 press release:
Q4 2024 earnings call transcript (prepared remarks + Q&A): – –
Q3 2024 materials: – –
Q2 2024 materials: – –
Dividend PR around Q4:

Schneider National, Inc. (SNDR)·Q4 2024 Earnings Summary