P.A.M. Transportation Services, Inc. Announces Results for the First Quarter Ended March 31, 2008

TONTITOWN, Ark., April 29 -- P.A.M. Transportation Services, Inc. today reported net loss of $2,828,326 or diluted and basic loss per share of $0.29 for the quarter ended March 31, 2008. These results compare to net income of $1,264,931 or diluted and basic earnings per share of $0.12 for the quarter ended March 31, 2007. Operating revenues were $105,820,696 for the first quarter of 2008, a 7.1% increase compared to $98,808,456 for the first quarter of 2007.

Robert W. Weaver, President of the Company, commented, "The results for the current quarter are humbling, and are reflective of the continued economic weakness in truckload freight demand and upward volatility of fuel.

The unprecedented rise in fuel costs, net of fuel surcharge, has negatively impacted our operating income by approximately $4.4 million, or seven cents per mile for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 compared to March 31, 2007. Excluding the increase in net fuel costs, total operating expenses decreased by two cents per mile during this same period, which adds additional emphasis to fuel being the primary driver of decreased profits from the cost side. Among other measures to control fuel costs, the Company has reduced the governed speed of its fleet from 67 to 65 miles per hour.

The lack of truckload freight demand and resulting pricing competition continues to exert downward pressure on rates, impeding our ability to negotiate rate increases and often resulting in rates that are unacceptable in light of current costs. As a result of these downward rate pressures we have opted to walk away from some business and reduce fleet capacity to compensate when replacement freight was not added. This has also impacted our automotive business which has historically comprised a large portion of our total revenue. As a result, the percentage of our revenue generated by automotive business has decreased from 46% of total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2007 to 42% at the end of March 2008. Our rate per total mile has decreased three cents per mile, before fuel surcharge, when the first quarter 2008 is compared to the first quarter 2007. This decrease negatively impacted operating income by approximately $1.9 million. Depending on the balance of freight with acceptable rates versus our available capacity, fleet size reductions may continue.

The Company continuously seeks ways to reduce operating costs through price negotiation, gains in efficiency and cost control. Through efforts to eliminate non-essential personnel we have been able to further improve our driver to non-driver ratio from an average of 5.9:1 for the first quarter of 2007 to 6.2:1 for the first quarter of 2008.

Looking forward, we don't see much improvement in truckload freight demand in the near future. However, we do hear that capacity reductions are occurring in the industry, both by fleet reduction and through bankruptcies. This reduction is reported to be approximately 42,000 trucks or 2.1% of the nation's over-the-road heavy truck capacity that was idled in the first quarter of 2008. As we continue to aggressively seek and capitalize on ways to control costs we hope to see industry capacity reductions resolve the current imbalance between truckload freight and available capacity in the industry and create opportunities for us to negotiate rate increases that more fairly compensate us for our services."

P.A.M. Transportation Services, Inc. is a leading truckload dry van carrier transporting general commodities throughout the continental United States, as well as in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The Company also provides transportation services in Mexico through its gateways in Laredo and El Paso, Texas under agreements with Mexican carriers.