US forwarder Expeditors International said its third-quarter profits were heavily impacted by capacity reductions across both the air and ocean sectors.
Total revenue for the three months ending 30 September saw a 34% decline to US$1bn from $1.5bn in the same period last year.
Operating income fell 29% to $96m from $135m last year.
Expeditors chairman and CEO Peter Rose said: "There certainly were significant challenges during the latter part of this quarter as both air and ocean carriers imposed capacity reductions in order to implement very aggressive price increases."
"While we wouldn't call it 'The Perfect Freight Storm,' the rapidity of these carrier moves created a pricing environment that resulted in our experiencing single digit air freight yields out of Asia during the first several weeks of September.
"Ocean yields were also significantly impacted. Market conditions required that we absorb these increases for several weeks as we worked with customers to raise rates in a commercially acceptable manner."
However, he also said year-on-year declines in freight volumes for September were at the lowest levels for the year.
"Air freight tonnage was down 6% while ocean freight container counts were down 17%. Lower yields aside, it was somewhat reassuring to experience freight volumes that, while albeit still negative, seemed to be moving in the right direction," he said.
"While we'll be the first to acknowledge 2009 has been a tough year, we remain very positive on how we're positioned for the future, particularly as the global economy gradually strengthens."
Over the first nine months of the year, revenues fell 34% from $4.3bn to $2.8bn this year, while operating income fell 16% from $1.2bn to $1bn.
