USA TRUCK INC - Quarter Report: 2009 September (Form 10-Q)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-Q

(Mark One)

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2009

OR

For the transition period from __________ to __________

Commission File Number           0-19858

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes    X     No         

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes         No         

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s Common Stock, par value $.01, as of October 28, 2009 is 10,495,307.

PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION

(1)The balance sheet at December 31, 2008 has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements at that date but does not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements.

See notes to consolidated financial statements.

See notes to consolidated financial statements.

See notes to consolidated financial statements.

See notes to consolidated financial statements.

USA TRUCK, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED)

September 30, 2009

NOTE 1 – BASIS OF PRESENTATION

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for interim financial information. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the three month and nine month periods ended September 30, 2009, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2009. For further information, refer to the financial statements, and footnotes thereto, included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008.

By agreement with our customers, and consistent with industry practice, we add a graduated fuel surcharge to the rates we charge our customers as diesel fuel prices increase above an agreed-upon baseline price per gallon. Base revenue in the consolidated statements of operations represents revenue excluding this fuel surcharge revenue.

NOTE 2 – REVENUE RECOGNITION

Revenue generated by our Trucking operating segment is recognized in full upon completion of delivery of freight to the receiver’s location. For freight in transit at the end of a reporting period, we recognize revenue pro rata based on relative transit time completed as a portion of the estimated total transit time. Expenses are recognized as incurred.

Revenue generated by our Strategic Capacity Solutions operating segment is recognized upon completion of the services provided. Revenue is recorded on a gross basis, without deducting third party purchased transportation costs because we have responsibility for billing and collecting such revenue.

Management believes these policies most accurately reflect revenue as earned and direct expenses, including third party purchased transportation costs, as incurred.

NOTE 3 – STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

The current equity compensation plans that have been approved by our stockholders are our 2004 Equity Incentive Plan and our 2003 Restricted Stock Award Plan. We do not have any equity compensation plans under which equity awards are outstanding or may be granted that have not been approved by our stockholders.

The USA Truck, Inc. 2004 Equity Incentive Plan provides for the granting of incentive or nonqualified options or other equity-based awards covering up to 1,025,000 shares of Common Stock to directors, officers and other key employees. On the day of each annual meeting of stockholders of the Company for a period of nine years, which commenced with the Annual Meeting of Stockholders in 2005 and will end with the Annual Meeting of Stockholders in 2013, the maximum number of shares of Common Stock that is available for issuance under the Plan is automatically increased by that number of shares equal to the lesser of 25,000 shares or such lesser number of shares (which may be zero or any number less than 25,000) as determined by the Board. No options were granted under this 2004 Equity Incentive Plan for less than the fair market value of the Common Stock as defined in the 2004 Equity Incentive Plan at the date of the grant. Although the exercise period is determined when options are granted, no option may be exercised later than 10 years after it is granted. Options granted under the 2004 Equity Incentive Plan generally vest ratably over three to five years. The option price under the 2004 Equity Incentive Plan is the fair market value of our Common Stock at the date the options were granted, except that the exercise prices of options granted to our Chairman of the Board are equal to 110% of the fair market value of our Common Stock at the date those options were granted. The exercise prices of outstanding options granted under the 2004 Equity Incentive Plan range from $11.47 to $30.22 as of September 30, 2009. At September 30, 2009, 477,846 shares were available for granting future options or other equity awards under this 2004 Equity Incentive Plan.

Compensation cost recognized in the first nine months of 2009 and 2008 includes: (a) compensation cost for all share-based payments granted prior to, but not yet vested as of January 1, 2006 and (b) compensation cost for all share-based payments granted subsequent to January 1, 2006. The compensation cost is based on the grant-date fair value calculated using a Black-Scholes-Merton option-pricing formula and is amortized over the vesting period. For the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2009, we recognized approximately $0.1 million and approximately $0.2 million, respectively, in compensation expense related to incentive and nonqualified stock options granted under our plans. For the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2008, we recognized approximately $0.1 million and approximately $0.2 million, respectively, in compensation expense related to incentive and nonqualified stock options granted under our plans.

On January 28, 2009, the Executive Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company approved the USA Truck, Inc. Executive Team Incentive Plan. The Executive Team Incentive Plan consists of cash and equity incentive awards. The cash incentives will be awarded upon the achievement of predetermined results in designated performance measurements, which will be identified by the Committee on an annual basis. Executive Team Incentive Plan participants will be paid a cash percentage of their base salaries corresponding with the level of results achieved. As determined by the Committee on an annual basis, Executive Team Incentive Plan participants are also eligible for an annual Equity Incentive Award consisting of Company Common Stock, issued under the 2004 Equity Incentive Plan. The Equity Incentive Awards will consist of a combination of Restricted Stock Awards (“RSAs”) and Incentive Stock Options (“ISOs”). The value of the equity award to each participant will be granted fifty percent in the form of RSAs and fifty percent in the form of ISOs, as defined. To the extent options fail to qualify as “incentive stock options” under IRS regulations, they will be non-qualified stock options. Annual awards approved by the Committee will be granted quarterly and will vest one-third each year on August 1, beginning the year following the year in which the shares are awarded. The following grants were made in accordance with the terms of the Executive Team Incentive Plan:

The table below sets forth the assumptions used to value stock options granted during the years indicated. No options were granted during the year ended December 31, 2008.

Expected volatility is a measure of the expected fluctuation in our share price. We use the historical method to calculate volatility with the historical period being equal to the expected life of each option. This calculation is then used to determine the potential for our share price to increase over the expected life of the option. Expected life represents the length of time we anticipate the options to be outstanding before being exercised. Based on historical experience, that time period is best represented by the option’s contractual life. The risk-free interest rate is based on an implied yield on United States zero-coupon treasury bonds with a remaining term equal to the expected life of the outstanding options. In addition to the above, we also include a factor for anticipated forfeitures, which represents the number of shares under options expected to be forfeited over the expected life of the options.

At September 30, 2009, we had 182,897 outstanding stock options with a weighted average exercise price of $16.76, and there were 86,250 vested options. The weighted average remaining contractual life of the exercisable options was approximately 1.1 years.

Information related to option activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 is as follows:

Information related to the weighted average fair value of stock option activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 is as follows:

The exercise price, number, weighted average remaining contractual life of options outstanding and the number of options exercisable as of September 30, 2009 is as follows:

The 2003 Restricted Stock Award Plan, which terminated on August 31, 2009, allowed us to issue up to 150,000 shares of Common Stock as awards of restricted stock to our officers, 100,000 shares of which had been awarded. The Chairman of the Board contributed 100,000 shares of his Common Stock to the Company for purposes of issuance under the 2003 Restricted Stock Award Plan. Shares issued as restricted stock awards under the 2003 Restricted Stock Award Plan consisted solely of shares of Common Stock contributed to the Company by its Chairman of the Board. Awards under the 2003 Restricted Stock Award Plan vested over a period of no less than five years and vesting of awards is also subject to the achievement of such performance goals as set by the Board of Directors based on criteria set forth in the 2003 Restricted Stock Award Plan. Currently, the performance goals require the attainment of an annual retained earnings growth rate of 10.0% in order for the shares to qualify for full vesting (with 50.0% vesting if a 9.0% growth rate is achieved). The fair value of the 100,000 shares of Common Stock subject to the awards previously granted is being amortized over the vesting period as compensation expense based on management’s assessment as to whether achievement of the performance goals is probable. To the extent the performance goals are not achieved and there is not full vesting in the shares awarded, the compensation expense recognized to the extent of the non-vested and forfeited shares will be reversed. The performance goal for 2008 was not met. As a result, no compensation expense was recognized for the 14,000 shares that were to have vested on March 1, 2009, based on 2008 performance. The shares remained outstanding until their scheduled vesting date of March 1, 2009, at which time their forfeiture became effective. For financial statement purposes, the previously recorded expense in the amount of $0.2 million relating to the forfeited shares was recovered on December 31, 2008, the date on which it was determined that the achievement of the performance goal was not met. As a result, such shares have been recorded as treasury stock and are not reflected as nonvested shares in the table below as of December 31, 2008. As of September 30, 2009, management determined that the performance goal for 2009 will not be met. As a result, the 4,000 shares that were scheduled to vest on March 1, 2010 have been deemed to be forfeited. For financial statement purposes, the previously recorded expense in the amount of $0.1 million relating to the forfeited shares was recovered on September 30, 2009, the date on which it was determined that the achievement of the performance goal would not be met. As a result, such shares have been recorded as treasury stock and are not included in the nonvested shares in the table below as of September 30, 2009. The shares will remain outstanding until their scheduled vesting date of March 1, 2010, at which time their forfeiture will become effective. Pursuant to the provisions of the Plan, any shares that remained in the Plan that were not subject to outstanding awards when the Plan terminated and any previously awarded shares that are forfeited after the Plan terminates are to be returned to Mr. Robert M. Powell, Chairman of the Board of Directors. Accordingly, the 38,000 previously forfeited shares were returned to Mr. Powell on September 1, 2009.

The compensation expense recognized is based on the market value of our Common Stock on the date the restricted stock award is granted and is not adjusted in subsequent periods. For the three months ended September 30, 2009 and 2008, the compensation expense related to our restricted stock awards was approximately $0.03 million and $0.1 million, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2009 and 2008, the compensation expense related to our restricted stock awards was approximately $0.2 million and $0.2 million, respectively.

Information related to the 2003 Restricted Stock Award Plan for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 is as follows:

On July 16, 2008, the Executive Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company, pursuant to the 2004 Equity Incentive Plan, granted thereunder awards totaling 200,000 restricted shares of the Company’s Common Stock to certain officers of the Company. The grants were made effective as of July 18, 2008 and were valued at $12.13 per share, which was the closing price of the Company’s Common Stock on that date. Each officer’s restricted shares of Common Stock will vest in varying amounts over the ten year period beginning April 1, 2011, subject to the Company’s attainment of defined retained earnings growth. Management must attain an average five-year trailing retained earnings annual growth rate of 10.0% (before dividends) in order for the shares to qualify for full vesting (pro rata vesting will apply down to 50.0% at a 5.0% annual growth rate). Any shares that fail to vest as a result of the Company’s failure to attain a performance goal will revert to the 2004 Equity Incentive Plan where they will remain available for grants under the terms of that Plan until that Plan expires in 2014 and the related expense will be reversed.

Information related to the restricted stock awarded under the 2004 Equity Incentive Plan for the nine months ended September 30, 2009, is as follows:

As of September 30, 2009, we had approximately $0.3 million and $2.2 million in unrecognized compensation expense related to stock options and restricted stock, respectively, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of approximately 2.7 years for stock options and 6.6 years for restricted stock.

NOTE 4 – REPURCHASE OF EQUITY SECURITIES

On January 24, 2007, we publicly announced that our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to 2,000,000 shares of our outstanding Common Stock over a three-year period ending January 24, 2010. We may make Common Stock purchases under this program on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions at prices determined by our Chairman of the Board or President. During the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2009, we did not repurchase any shares of our Common Stock. Our current repurchase authorization has 1,165,901 shares remaining.

On October 21, 2009, the Board of Directors of the Company approved an authorization for the repurchase of up to 2,000,000 shares of the Company’s Common Stock expiring on October 21, 2012. Subject to applicable timing and other legal requirements, repurchase under authorization may be made on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions on terms approved by the Company’s Chairman of the Board or President. Repurchased shares may be retired or held in treasury for future use for appropriate corporate purposes including issuance in connection with awards under the Company’s employee benefit plans. The new authorization is in addition to the existing repurchase.

NOTE 5 – SEGMENT REPORTING

The service offerings we provide relate to the transportation of truckload quantities of freight for customers in a variety of industries. The services generate revenue, and to a great extent incur expenses, primarily on a per mile basis. Our business is classified into the Trucking operating segment and the Strategic Capacity Solutions operating segment, which we previously designated as operating divisions. These two operating segments are aggregated into one segment for financial reporting purposes. Trucking consists primarily of our General Freight and Dedicated Freight service offerings, as well as our Trailer-on-Flat-Car rail intermodal service offering. We previously referred to our Freight Brokerage operations as our “Strategic Capacity Solutions” division. We now use “Strategic Capacity Solutions” to refer to the operating segment, which now consists primarily of our Freight Brokerage service offering and our Container-on-Flat-Car rail intermodal service offering. These service offerings within the Strategic Capacity Solutions operating segment are intended to provide services that complement our Trucking services, primarily to existing customers of our Trucking operating segment. A majority of the customers of Strategic Capacity Solutions have also engaged us to provide services through one or more of our Trucking service offerings. Our Strategic Capacity Solutions operating segment represents a relatively minor part of our business, generating approximately 4.7% and 4.1% of our total base revenue for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2009, respectively, and approximately 4.9% and 4.3% of total base revenue for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2008, respectively. Our rail intermodal service offering classifications are dependent upon whether or not Company equipment is used in providing the service. If Company equipment is used, those results are included in our Trucking operating segment (Trailer-on-Flat-Car). If Company equipment is not used, those results are included in our Strategic Capacity Solutions operating segment (Container-on-Flat-Car). For the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2009, rail intermodal service offerings generated approximately 2.5% and 2.2% of total base revenue, respectively. For the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2008, rail intermodal service offerings generated approximately 2.0% and 1.0% of total base revenue, respectively.

Our decision to aggregate our two operating segments into one reporting segment was based on factors such as the similar economic and operating characteristics of our service offerings and our centralized internal management structure. Except with respect to the relatively minor components of our operations that do not involve the use of our trucks, key operating statistics include, for example, revenue per mile and miles per tractor per week. While the operations of our Strategic Capacity Solutions service offerings do not involve the use of our equipment and drivers, we nevertheless provide truckload freight services to our customers through arrangements with third party carriers who are subject to the same general regulatory environment and cost sensitivities imposed upon our Trucking operations.

NOTE 6 - NEW ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

In June 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued TheFASB Accounting Standards Codification^TM (“Codification”). The Codification will become the source of authoritative U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) recognized by the FASB to be applied by nongovernmental entities. Rules and interpretive releases of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) under authority of federal securities laws are also sources of authoritative GAAP for SEC registrants. On the effective date, the Codification superseded all then-existing non-SEC accounting and reporting standards. All other non-grandfathered non-SEC accounting literature not included in the Codification will become non-authoritative. The Codification is effective for financial statements issued for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009, and it has not had a material impact on our financial reporting.

As set forth in the Subsequent Events Topic of the Codification, general standards have been established for the accounting for and disclosure of events that occur after the balance sheet date but before financial statements are issued or are available to be issued. In particular, the Subsequent Events Topic sets forth the period after the balance sheet date during which management should evaluate events or transactions that may occur for potential recognition or disclosure in the financial statements, the circumstances under which an entity should recognize events or transactions occurring after the balance sheet date in its financial statements and the disclosures that an entity should make about events or transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date. We are now required to disclose the date through which we have evaluated subsequent events and the basis for that date, that is, whether that date represents the date the financial statements were issued or were available to be issued. The Subsequent Events Topic is effective for financial statements issued for interim and annual periods ending after June 15, 2009, and it has not had a material impact on our financial reporting.

As required by the Derivatives and Hedging Topic of the Codification (ASC 815), enhanced disclosures about (a) how and why an entity uses derivative instruments, (b) how derivative instruments and related hedged items are accounted for and (c) how derivative instruments and related hedged items affect an entity’s financial position, financial performance and cash flows are now required. The enhanced disclosures requirement of the Derivatives and Hedging Topic became effective for us on January 1, 2009, and it has not had a material impact on our financial reporting.

NOTE 7 - DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

We record derivative financial instruments in the balance sheet as either an asset or liability at fair value based on the active market in which the derivative financial instrument is traded, with classification as current or long-term depending on the duration of the instrument.

Changes in the derivative instrument’s fair value must be recognized currently in earnings unless specific hedge accounting criteria are met. For cash flow hedges that meet the criteria, the derivative instrument’s gains and losses, to the extent effective, are recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income and reclassified into earnings in the same period during which the hedged transaction affects earnings.

On February 6, 2009, we entered into a $10.0 million interest rate swap agreement with an effective date of February 19, 2009.  The rate on the swap is fixed at 1.57% until February 19, 2011. The interest rate swap agreement is being accounted for as a cash flow hedge, the fair value of this liability at September 30, 2009, was approximately $0.1 million and it is included in accrued expenses in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet.

NOTE 8 - COMPREHENSIVE LOSS

Comprehensive loss was comprised of net loss plus the market value adjustment on our interest rate swap that will expire on February 19, 2011, which is designated as a cash flow hedge. Comprehensive loss consisted of the following components:

NOTE 9 - ACCRUED EXPENSES

Accrued expenses consisted of the following:

NOTE 10 - NOTE PAYABLE

At December 31, 2008, we had an unsecured note payable of $1.3 million. The note, which was payable in monthly installments of principal and interest of approximately $145,600, was scheduled to mature on September 1, 2009, bearing interest at 4.8%. The note payable was being used to finance a portion of the Company’s annual insurance premiums. The note payable was paid in full in the approximate amount of $0.6 million on May 8, 2009.

On October 21, 2009, the Company’s Board of Directors approved an unsecured note payable of $1.4 million, scheduled to mature on September 1, 2010 and bearing interest at 3.4%. The note payable will be used to finance a portion of the Company’s annual insurance premiums.

NOTE 11 – LONG-TERM DEBT

Long-term debt consisted of the following:

The Facility matures on September 1, 2010. Accordingly, during the quarter we reclassified that debt from long-term to short-term. We have begun the process of negotiating a new revolving credit facility, and do not expect difficulty obtaining credit. However, we do anticipate that the pricing spreads on any new facility will be materially higher than the favorable spreads we enjoy today due to widely reported dislocations in the credit markets.

NOTE 12 – LEASES AND COMMITMENTS

The Company leases certain revenue equipment under capital leases with terms of 42 months. At September 30, 2009, property and equipment included capitalized leases, which had capitalized costs of $67.8 million, accumulated amortization of $14.6 million and a net book value of $53.2 million. At December 31, 2008, property and equipment included capitalized leases, which had capitalized costs of $81.6 million, accumulated amortization of $18.8 million and a net book value of $62.8 million. Amortization of leased assets is included in depreciation and amortization expense and totaled $8.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009, and $9.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2008.

We have entered into leases with lenders who participate in our Senior Credit Facility. Those leases and our Facility contain cross-default provisions. We have also entered into leases with other lenders who do not participate in our Facility. Multiple leases with lenders who do not participate in our Facility generally contain cross-default provisions.

We routinely monitor our equipment acquisition needs and adjust our purchase schedule from time to time based on our analysis of factors such as new equipment prices, the condition of the used equipment market, demand for our freight services, prevailing interest rates, technological improvements, fuel efficiency, equipment durability, equipment specifications and the availability of qualified drivers.

As of September 30, 2009, we had commitments for purchases of revenue equipment in the aggregate amount of approximately $10.8 million for the remainder of 2009, none of which is cancelable by us upon advance written notice.

NOTE 13 – INCOME TAXES

During the three months ended September 30, 2009 and 2008, our effective tax rates were 22.6% and 46.5%, respectively. During the nine months ended September 30, 2009 and 2008, our effective tax rates were 21.1% and 56.7%, respectively. Income tax expense varies from the amount computed by applying the statutory federal tax rate to income before income taxes primarily due to state income taxes, net of federal income tax effect, adjusted for permanent differences, the most significant of which is the effect of the per diem pay structure for drivers. Drivers may elect to receive non-taxable per diem pay in lieu of a portion of their taxable wages. This per diem program increases our drivers’ net pay per mile, after taxes, while decreasing gross pay, before taxes. As a result, salaries, wages and employee benefits are slightly lower, and our effective income tax rate is higher than the statutory rate. Generally, as pre-tax income increases, the impact of the driver per diem program on our effective tax rate decreases because aggregate per diem pay becomes smaller in relation to pre-tax income. Due to the partially nondeductible effect of per diem pay, our tax rate will fluctuate in future periods based on fluctuations in earnings and in the number of drivers who elect to receive this pay structure.

We account for any uncertainty in income taxes by determining whether it is more likely than not that a tax position we have taken in a tax return will be sustained upon examination by the appropriate taxing authority based on the technical merits of the position.  In that regard, we have analyzed filing positions in our federal and applicable state tax returns as well as in all open tax years.  The only periods subject to examination for our federal returns are the 2006, 2007 and 2008 tax years.  We believe that our income tax filing positions and deductions will be sustained on audit and do not anticipate any adjustments that will result in a material change to our consolidated financial position, results of operations and cash flows.  In conjunction with the above, our policy is to recognize interest related to unrecognized tax benefits as interest expense and penalties as operating expenses. We have not recorded any unrecognized tax benefits through September 30, 2009.

NOTE 14 – CHANGE IN ACCOUNTING ESTIMATE

Effective April 1, 2009, we changed our method of accounting for tires. Commencing when the tires, including recaps, are placed into service, we account for them as prepaid expenses and amortize their cost over varying time periods, ranging from 18 to 30 months, depending on the type of tire. Prior to April 1, 2009, the cost of tires was fully expensed when they were placed into service. We believe the new accounting method more appropriately matches the tire costs to the period during which the tire is being used to generate revenue. For the three months ended September 30, 2009, this change in estimate effected by a change in principle resulted in a reduction of operations and maintenance expense on a pre-tax basis of approximately $1.5 million and on a net of tax basis of approximately $0.9 million ($0.09 per share). For the nine months ended September 30, 2009, this change in estimate effected by a change in principle resulted in a reduction of operations and maintenance expense on a pre-tax basis of approximately $2.9 million and on a net of tax basis of approximately $1.8 million ($0.17 per share).

NOTE 15 – (LOSS) EARNINGS PER SHARE

Basic (loss) earnings per share is computed based on the weighted average number of shares of Common Stock outstanding during the period. Diluted (loss) earnings per share is computed by adjusting the weighted average number of shares of Common Stock outstanding by Common Stock equivalents attributable to dilutive stock options and restricted stock. The computation of diluted (loss) earnings per share does not assume conversion, exercise, or contingent issuance of securities that would have an antidilutive effect on (loss) earnings per share.

The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted (loss) earnings per share:

NOTE 16 - LITIGATION

We are party to routine litigation incidental to our business, primarily involving claims for personal injury and property damage incurred in the transportation of freight. We maintain insurance to cover liabilities in excess of certain self-insured retention levels. Though management believes these claims to be routine and immaterial to our long-term financial position, adverse results of one or more of these claims could have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations in any given reporting period.

On May 22, 2006, a former independent sales agent filed a lawsuit against us entitled All-Ways Logistics, Inc. v. USA Truck, Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Jonesboro Division, alleging, among other things, breach of contract, breach of implied duty of good faith and fair dealing, and tortious interference with business relations. The plaintiff alleged that the Company breached and wrongfully terminated the commission sales agent agreement with it and improperly interfered with its business relationship with certain of its customers. In early August 2007, the jury returned an unfavorable verdict in this contract dispute. The jury held that the Company breached the contract and awarded the plaintiff damages of approximately $3.0 million, which was accrued during the quarter ended September 30, 2007. In its December 4, 2007 order, the court denied substantially all of USA Truck’s motions for post-trial relief and granted the plaintiff’s motions for pre-judgment interest, attorney’s fees and costs in an amount totaling approximately $1.7 million, which was accrued during the fourth quarter of 2007. The court’s order also awarded the plaintiff post-judgment interest, of which we accrued approximately $0.05 million and $0.1 million for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2009, respectively. On January 2, 2008, we filed an appeal of the verdict and the court’s order, and on September 25, 2008, we presented an oral argument before the 8^th Circuit United States Court of Appeals seeking to overturn the verdict. On October 1, 2009, the Court of Appeals entered an order affirming the decision of the District Court. As we have previously reported, the award has been accrued and it was paid on October 19, 2009. On October 20, 2009, the Court issued its final mandate, effectively concluding the litigation.

NOTE 17 - SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

Effective for the three month period ended June 30, 2009, we implemented a new accounting pronouncement, which establishes general standards of accounting for and disclosure of events that occur after the balance sheet date but before the consolidated financial statements are issued. The adoption of the pronouncement did not impact our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. We evaluated all events or transactions that occurred after September 30, 2009 and through October 30, 2009, the date we issued these consolidated financial statements. Other than the October 1, 2009 Court of Appeals order mentioned in Note 16 – Litigation, above, the October 21 Board of Directors authorization of the $1.4 million note payable mentioned in Note 10 – Note Payable, above, and the October 21, 2009 Board of Directors authorization for the repurchase of up to 2,000,000 shares of our outstanding Common Stock mentioned in Note 4 – Repurchase of Equity Securities, above, during this period we did not have any material recognizable or non-recognizable subsequent events.

Forward-Looking Statements

This report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements generally may be identified by their use of terms or phrases such as “expects,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “believes,” “plans,” “intends,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “potential,” “continue,” “future,” and terms or phrases of similar substance.  Forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of our management and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, which could cause future events and actual results to differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements.  Accordingly, actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.  Readers should review and consider the factors that may affect future results and other disclosures by the Company in its press releases, Annual Report on Form 10-K, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additional risks associated with our operations are discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 under the heading “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of that report and updates, if any, to that information are included in Item 1A of Part II of this report. We disclaim any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results or changes in the factors affecting the forward-looking information. In light of these risks and uncertainties, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this report might not occur.

All forward-looking statements attributable to us, or persons acting on our behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

References to the “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our” and words of similar import refer to USA Truck, Inc. and its subsidiary.

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto and other financial information that appears elsewhere in this report.

Overview

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) is intended to help the reader understand USA Truck, Inc., our operations and our present business environment. MD&A is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with, our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto and other financial information that appears elsewhere in this report. This overview summarizes the MD&A, which includes the following sections:

Our Business – a general description of our business, the organization of our operations and the service offerings that comprise our operations.

Results of Operations – an analysis of our consolidated results of operations for the periods presented in our consolidated financial statements and a discussion of seasonality, the potential impact of inflation and fuel availability and cost.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements – a discussion of significant financial arrangements, if any, that are not reflected on our balance sheet.

Liquidity and Capital Resources – an analysis of cash flows, sources and uses of cash, debt, equity and contractual obligations.

Critical Accounting Estimates – a discussion of accounting policies that require critical judgment and estimates.

Our Business

We operate in the for-hire truckload segment of the trucking industry. Customers in a variety of industries engage us to haul truckload quantities of freight, with the trailer we use to haul that freight being assigned exclusively to that customer’s freight until delivery. Our business is classified into the Trucking operating segment and the Strategic Capacity Solutions operating segment, which we previously designated as operating divisions. Our Trucking operating segment includes those transportation services in which we use Company-owned tractors and owner-operator tractors, as well as Trailer-on-Flat-Car rail intermodal service. Our Strategic Capacity Solutions operating segment consists of services such as freight brokerage, transportation scheduling, routing and mode selection, as well as Container-on-Flat-Car rail intermodal service, which

typically do not involve the use of Company-owned or owner-operator equipment. Both Trucking and Strategic Capacity Solutions have similar economic characteristics and are impacted by virtually the same economic factors as discussed elsewhere in this report. Accordingly, they have been aggregated into one segment for financial reporting purposes.

Substantially all of our base revenue from both operating segments is generated by transporting, or arranging for the transportation of, freight for customers and is predominantly affected by the rates per mile received from our customers and similar operating costs. For the nine months ended September 30, 2009 and 2008, Trucking base revenue represented 95.9% and 95.7% of base revenue, respectively, with the remaining base revenue being generated through Strategic Capacity Solutions.

We generally charge customers for our services on a per-mile basis. The main factors that impact our profitability on the expense side are the variable costs of transporting freight for our customers. The variable costs include fuel expense, insurance and claims and driver-related expenses, such as wages and benefits.

Trucking. Trucking includes the following primary service offerings provided to our customers:

Strategic Capacity Solutions. Strategic Capacity Solutions includes the following primary service offerings provided to our customers:

Our Strategic Capacity Solutions service offerings provide services complementary to Trucking. We provide these services primarily to our existing Trucking customers, many of whom prefer to rely on a single carrier, or a small group of carriers, to provide all of their transportation needs. To date, a majority of the customers of Strategic Capacity Solutions have also engaged us to provide services through one or more of our Trucking service offerings.

Intermodal shipping is a method of transporting freight using multiple modes of transportation between origin and destination, with the freight typically remaining in a trailer or special container throughout the trip. Our rail intermodal service offerings involve transporting, or arranging the transportation of, freight on trucks to a third party who uses a different mode of transportation, specifically rail, to complete the other portion of the shipment. For the three months ended September 30, 2009 and 2008, rail intermodal service offerings generated approximately 2.5% and 2.0%, respectively, of total base revenue. For the nine months ended September 30, 2009 and 2008, rail intermodal service offerings generated approximately 2.2% and 1.0%, respectively, of total base revenue.

Results of Operations

Executive Overview

Truckload industry conditions remain challenging. Businesses continue to operate at reduced inventory levels, which has made the recession seem much worse than the actual macroeconomic contraction would suggest. The lack of freight demand has created excess tractor capacity industry wide, which, when coupled with shippers’ needs to cut transportation costs, has put severe downward pressure on freight pricing.

However, we believe that conditions have likely bottomed and continue to remain in the current recessionary trough of freight demand. We experienced slight seasonal improvement throughout the third quarter, which resulted in our fundamental operating metrics and results improving sequentially in each month of the quarter.

The challenging freight conditions and our resulting net loss have overshadowed the progress we have made in each initiative associated with our VEVA (Vision for Economic Value Added) strategic plan:

We believe our operating model is lean and efficient, but it simply does not yet have enough freight volume to be reflected on the bottom line. Compared to a year ago, our miles per tractor per week have declined by 12.0% and our average tractor count has fallen by 10.2% to 2,292. That combination has produced insufficient revenue volume to generate an operating profit. Though things are difficult economically, we believe we have a plan to produce more revenue volume.

For the past year, we have been methodically crafting a freight network, which we refer to as the Spider Web. This network is designed to maximize operating profit by optimizing the combination of velocity, pricing and variable costs. The design was completed and introduced to our organization in August. As we transition from our current network to the Spider Web, we anticipate that:

Currently, approximately one-third of our weekly loads are in Spider Web lanes, so we have significant opportunities for improvement. That improvement will not be easy in this economic environment, but we believe we can make steady progress, albeit at a slow pace. Realistically, we believe it will take a full economic cycle for us to transition to the Spider Web, and we expect the transition to be an ongoing process as the Spider Web continues to be refined. Regardless, as the lane density transition occurs, we will still retain the ability and the capacity, through our Strategic Capacity Solutions service offerings, to service customers in those lanes being affected.

Fortunately, our cash flow continues to be relatively strong. Our debt was $15.2 million lower than at this time a year ago, and we have produced positive free cash flow (cash flow from operations less net capital expenditures) this year despite the operating loss. In addition, we have no material off-balance sheet debt. Our financial projections forecast continued compliance with our debt covenants. We are comfortable with our current liquidity, as our borrowing availability stands at approximately $44.2 million.

Our Senior Credit Facility matures on September 1, 2010. Accordingly, during the quarter we reclassified that debt from long-term to short-term. We have begun the process of negotiating a new revolving credit facility and do not expect difficulty obtaining credit. However, we do anticipate that the pricing spreads on any new facility will be materially higher than the favorable spreads we enjoy today due to widely reported dislocations in the credit markets.

As we previously stated, we believe industry conditions have bottomed. However, we anticipate the next two quarters will be similar to recent ones, and there will likely be sequential downward pressure on industry pricing as lower priced second and third quarter bids take effect. We believe the imbalance between industry tractor capacity and freight demand will not improve materially until businesses begin restocking their inventories, which we do not expect in the near term.

By agreement with our customers, and consistent with industry practice, we add a graduated surcharge to the rates we charge our customers as diesel fuel prices increase above an agreed-upon baseline price per gallon. The surcharge is designed to approximately offset increases in fuel costs above the baseline. Fuel prices are volatile, and the fuel surcharge increases our revenue at different rates for each period. We believe that comparing operating costs and expenses to total revenue, including the fuel surcharge, could provide a distorted comparison of our operating performance, particularly when comparing results for current and prior periods. Therefore, we have used base revenue, which excludes the fuel surcharge revenue, and instead taken the fuel surcharge as a credit against the fuel and fuel taxes and purchased transportation line items in the table setting forth the percentage relationship of certain items to base revenue below.

We do not believe that a reconciliation of the information presented on this basis and corresponding information comparing operating costs and expenses to total revenue would be meaningful. Data regarding both total revenue, which includes the fuel surcharge, and base revenue, which excludes the fuel surcharge, is included in the Consolidated Statements of Operations included in this report.

Base revenue from our Strategic Capacity Solutions operating segment, consisting primarily of base revenue from our Freight Brokerage service offering, has fluctuated in recent periods. This service does not involve the use of our tractors and trailers. Therefore, an increase in this revenue tends to cause expenses related to our operations that do involve our equipment—including fuel expense, depreciation and amortization expense, operations and maintenance expense, salaries, wages and employee benefits and insurance and claims expense—to decrease as a percentage of base revenue. Likewise, a decrease in this revenue tends to cause those expenses to increase as a percentage of base revenue with a related increase in purchased transportation expense. Since changes in Strategic Capacity Solutions revenue generally affect all such expenses, as a percentage of base revenue, we do not specifically mention it as a factor in our discussion of increases or decreases in those expenses in the period-to-period comparisons below. Base revenue from our Strategic Capacity Solutions operating segment decreased approximately 24.1% and 23.4% for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2009, respectively, compared to the same periods of the prior year.

Relationship of Certain Items to Base Revenue

The following table sets forth the percentage relationship of certain items to base revenue, for the periods indicated. The period-to-period comparisons below should be read in conjunction with this table and our Consolidated Statements of Operations and accompanying notes.

Three Months Ended September 30, 2009 Compared to Three Months Ended September 30, 2008

Results of Operations – Combined Services

Our base revenue decreased 20.6% from $103.7 million to $82.3 million, for the reasons addressed in the Trucking and the Strategic Capacity Solutions sections below.

Net loss for all service offerings was $1.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2009, as compared to a net income of $2.4 million for the same period of 2008.

Overall, our operating ratio increased by 7.6 percentage points of base revenue to 102.0% because of the following factors:

partially offset by the above-mentioned increase in owner-operator tractors. Fuel costs may continue to be affected in the future by price fluctuations, the terms and collectability of fuel surcharges, the percentage of total miles driven by owner operators, the diversification of our business model into less asset-intensive operations and fuel efficiency.

Results of Operations – Trucking

Key Operating Statistics:

Base Revenue

Base revenue from Trucking decreased by 20.4% to $78.4 million. The decrease was the result of several factors:

Overall, the weighted average size of our Trucking segment’s tractor fleet decreased 10.2%. We reduced the weighted average size of the Company-owned tractor fleet by 12.7% to 2,149 tractors and grew our weighted average owner-operator fleet by 58.9% to 143 tractors.

We are committed to improving the pricing yield within our Trucking segment. Consistent with that philosophy, our Velocity and Yield Management initiatives helped us reduce our average length-of-haul by 21.3% and increase our Trucking base revenue per loaded mile by 1.9%.

Results of Operations – Strategic Capacity Solutions

Base revenue from Strategic Capacity Solutions decreased 24.1% to $3.9 million from $5.1 million primarily due to a decline in our Freight Brokerage base revenue of 20.2% as a result of the overall decline in freight demand. Also, base revenue from our Container-on-Flat-Car service offering decreased from $0.3 million to $0.1 million. Although our Strategic Capacity Solutions base revenue declined, we have strategically targeted our Freight Brokerage and Intermodal service offerings for growth and have continued to build our Freight Brokerage infrastructure by establishing or developing branches in Van Buren, AR, Springdale, AR and Atlanta, GA.

Nine Months Ended September 30, 2009 Compared to Nine Months Ended September 30, 2008

Results of Operations – Combined Services

Our base revenue decreased 19.1% from $304.7 million to $246.4 million, for the reasons addressed in the Trucking and the Strategic Capacity Solutions sections below.

Net loss for all service offerings was $4.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2009, as compared to a net income of $2.5 million for the same period of 2008.

Overall, our operating ratio increased by 4.6 percentage points of base revenue to 101.5% as a result of the following factors:

Results of Operations – Trucking

Key Operating Statistics: