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Smithway Motor Xpress Corp. Announces Expectations

9 June 2000

Smithway Motor Xpress Corp. Announces Expectations

    FORT DODGE, Iowa - Smithway Motor Xpress Corp. announced today that it 
expects net income to be approximately break even for the second quarter.  The 
company attributed the anticipated results to lower than expected revenue and a 
lack of rate increases to recover higher operating costs.

    The company expects revenue for the second quarter to be lower than
revenue for the same period in 1999, as a result of fewer than expected
tractors operating in the company's fleet and lower than expected average
productivity per tractor.  Productivity per tractor in the van division
continues to lag behind the productivity of the company's flatbed operations.

    On the expense side, high fuel prices and a driver wage increase
implemented in October 1999 have not been fully recovered through higher
freight rates from customers.  In addition, rising interest rates and an
extremely poor market for used tractors have impacted the company's margins.

    Looking forward, the company expects revenue for the year to be
approximately the same as in 1999. The company has deferred deliveries of
additional tractors for the remainder of the year and intends to concentrate
on improving the productivity of the existing fleet.  A comprehensive review
of the possible actions to improve the company's financial results is ongoing.
It is anticipated that significant improvements in profitability will not
occur before the end of the year.

    Smithway is a truckload carrier that hauls diversified freight nationwide,
concentrating primarily on the flatbed segment of the truckload market.  Its
Class A Common Stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol
"SMXC."

    This press release and statements made by the Company in reports to its
stockholders and public filings, as well as oral public statements by Company
representatives, may contain certain forward-looking information that is
subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those projected.  Without limitation, these risks and
uncertainties include economic recessions or downturns in customers' business
cycles, excessive increases in capacity within truckload markets, decreased
demand for transportation services offered by the Company, rapid inflation,
fuel prices and fuel hedging, increases in interest rates, the availability
and compensation of qualified drivers and owner-operators, the resale value of
used equipment, and the ability to negotiate, consummate, and integrate
acquisitions.  Readers should review and consider the various disclosures made
by the Company in this press release and in its reports to stockholders and
periodic reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q.