Holding The Course. Annual Report 2001 Selected Financial Data Year Ended December 31, (Dollars in thousands except per share amounts) 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 Operating Revenue .................................. $252,411 $226,585 $166,363 $145,216 $129,507 Operating Income ................................... Net Income .............................................. Diluted Earnings Per Share ...................... 6,486 1,078 0.12 5,795 94 0.01 15,837 8,642 0.92 18,960 10,497 1.11 14,168 7,903 0.83 Total Assets .............................................. 182,411 189,919 182,040 119,611 113,518 Long – Term Obligations ......................... 56,451 Stockholders’ Equity ................................ 71,173 Operating Ratio ....................................... 97.4% Total Tractors (end of period) ................. Total Trailers (end of period) ................... Average Miles Per Tractor Per Week ........ 1,775 3,643 2,364 65,660 69,981 97.4% 1,759 3,400 2,190 64,453 70,108 90.5% 1,713 3,525 2,405 19,058 62,734 86.9% 1,132 2,004 2,441 27,057 52,373 89.1% 1,007 1,928 2,475 To Our Stockholders USA Truck took some important steps during 2001 to improve its operating declined 10.4% in 2001 compared to 2000. Despite a 10.6% increase in performance. We posted record revenues (for the 13th consecutive year) of fleet miles, the frequency of accidents involving our revenue equipment $252.4 million, an 11.4% increase over 2000 despite the September 11th declined 25.7% in 2001 when compared to 2000, yielding a 5.8% decline effect on freight volumes, the broader economic recession and practically in insurance and claims costs during the year. The reduced driver no fleet growth. turnover and unmanned tractor rates reduced driver recruiting and training expenses. Our benchmarking program also led to an aggressive The top line revenue growth was made possible by several related factors. cost reduction campaign targeting all areas of the company. Most importantly, tractor utilization improved 7.9% mostly due to a dramatic reduction in unmanned tractors to 1.2% of the fleet in 2001 Not all factors went our way, however. The October 2000 driver pay compared to 9.2% in 2000. Our success in manning our tractors was increase exerted pressure on our margins throughout the year, increasing attributable to our October 2000 pay increase, a loosening labor market driver pay 11.6% in 2001 when compared to 2000. In response, we and a 27.3% improvement in the driver turnover rate. Further, our implemented three targeted pay reductions in 2001 that will affect all Mexican and logistics divisions grew by 23% and 42%, respectively. newly hired drivers. Savings from those reductions will steadily grow Those two divisions represented 16.2% of our total company through fleet attrition. revenues in 2001, up from 13.2% in 2000. Finally, our revenue per mile increased almost one penny in 2001 compared to 2000 despite lower fuel The used tractor market also had a negative impact on surcharge revenue. our earnings in 2001. Losses on tractor trades were $511,000 in 2001, compared to $150,000 in 2000. We were able to cut over $300,000 from Though our operating ratio was 97.4% in 2000 and 2001, a our originally estimated 2001 losses on tractor trades closer look reveals a positive trend developing. During 2000, through direct sales to end-users. In response to the we experienced steadily rising quarterly operating ratios that peaked at 101.0% in the fourth quarter. In 2001, those quarterly ratios were steadily falling from a high of 99.0% in the first quarter to 96.7% in the fourth quarter. Those operating improvements were aided significantly by the improved equipment utilization, but there were also cost elements at work. Fuel prices continued depression in that market, we do not plan to trade tractors in 2002, which will result in slightly higher depreciation and maintenance costs, but no trading losses. We continue to focus on equipment utilization and cost controls as we are committed to once again achieving industry-leading operating results. As always, thank you for your support. Robert M Powell Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jerry D. Orler President Directors and Officers Robert M. Powell Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and Director Jerry D. Orler President and Director Clifton R. Beckham Vice President, Finance, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer Jerry W. Cottingham Vice President, Dedicated Services/Logistics-Sales Gary I. Davis Vice President, Maintenance Dwain R. Key Vice President, Dedicated Services/Logistics Garry R. Lewis Vice President, Operations Patrick N. Majors Vice President, Sales Eric R. Olsen Vice President, Human Resources and Safety Darron R. Ming Controller Roland S. Boreham Director (Chairman of the Board, Baldor Electric Company) Jim L. Hanna Director (President, Hanna Oil and Gas) George R. Jacobs Director Joe D. Powers Director (Chairman of the Advisory Board of Regions Bank of Fort Smith, Arkansas) James B. Speed Director Corporate Information This annual report and the statements contained herein are submitted for the general information of stockholders of the Company and are not intended to induce any sale or purchase of securities or to be used in connection therewith. The 2001 Annual Report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 10-K is available to stockholders upon request by writing to the Secretary at the executive offices. AUDITORS Ernst & Young LLP 425 West Capitol, Suite 3600 Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 TRANSFER AGENT AND REGISTRAR Registrar and Transfer Company 10 Commerce Drive Cranford, New Jersey 07016-3572 CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS 3200 Industrial Park Road Van Buren, Arkansas 72956 Telephone: 501-471-2500 ANNUAL MEETING May 8, 2002 10:00 a.m. local time USA Truck, Inc. 3200 Industrial Park Road Van Buren, Arkansas 72956 COMMON STOCK Traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. under the Symbol: USAK WEB SITE http://www.usa-truck.com Upon written request of any stockholder, the Company will furnish without charge a copy of the Company’s 2001 Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the financial statements and sched- ules thereto. The written request should be sent to Clifton R. Beckham, Secretary of the Company, at the Company’s execu- tive offices, 3200 Industrial Pak Road, Van Buren, Arkansas 72956. The written request must state that as of March 6, 2002, the person making the request was a beneficial owner of shares of the common stock of the Company. Printed on recycled paper Ten Year Statistical History Balance Sheet Statistics (Dollars in thousands) Current assets Total assets Current liabilities Long-term debt - less current maturities Total liabilities Total shareholders' equity Income Statement Statistics (Thousands - except per share amounts) Revenue Operating expenses Operating income Other expenses, net Income before income taxes Income taxes Net income Diluted or Primary (*) shares outstanding Diluted or Primary (*) earnings per share Revenue - year-to-year change Operating ratio Financial Statistics (Thousands - except per share amounts) EBIT EBIT per share EBITDA EBITDA per share Operating cash flow per share Book value per share Return on Average Assets Return on Average Equity Funded debt to total capital Maintenance and repairs to fixed assets Times interest earned Revenue per non-driver Operating Statistics Total tractors (end of period) Average months in service - tractors Total trailers (end of period) Average months in service - trailers Trailer to tractor ratio Avg. miles per tractor per week Drivers Non-drivers Total employees Driver to non-driver ratio 2001 $ 34,414 182,411 31,770 56,451 111,238 71,173 2001 $ 252,411 245,925 6,486 4,707 1,779 692 $ 1,087 9,279,268 0.12 $ 11.4% 97.4% $ $ 2001 6,123 0.66 32,542 3.52 3.90 7.68 0.6% 1.5% 48.6% 9.4% 1.4 480 2001 1,775 22 3,643 51 2.1:1 2,364 1,781 526 2,307 3.39 $ $ $ $ $ $ December 31, 2000 41,739 189,919 30,357 65,660 119,938 69,981 $ 1999 39,449 182,040 28,278 64,453 111,932 70,108 $ 1998 20,459 119,611 21,151 19,058 56,877 62,734 Year ended December 31, 2000 226,585 220,790 5,795 5,640 155 61 94 9,260,044 0.01 36.2% 97.4% $ $ $ 1999 166,363 150,526 15,837 1,624 14,213 5,571 8,642 9,354,441 0.92 14.6% 90.5% $ $ $ 1998 145,216 126,256 18,960 1,780 17,180 6,683 10,497 9,465,971 1.11 12.1% 86.9% Year ended December 31, 2000 5,562 0.60 32,355 3.50 3.15 7.53 0.1% 0.1% 51.2% 8.0% 1.0 464 1999 15,869 1.70 34,460 3.70 1.45 7.47 5.7% 13.0% 51.1% 6.1% 9.6 355 $ $ $ $ December 31, 2000 1,759 23 3,400 43 1.9:1 2,190 1,667 488 2,155 3.42 1999 1,713 23 3,525 46 2.1:1 2,405 1,600 469 2,069 3.41 1998 18,895 2.01 35,074 3.73 3.03 6.65 9.0% 18.2% 27.2% 6.4% 11.0 418 1998 1,132 19 2,004 39 1.8:1 2,441 1,057 347 1,404 3.05 $ $ $ $ $ $ 1997 20,292 113,518 20,762 27,057 61,145 52,373 1997 129,507 115,339 14,168 1,187 12,981 5,078 7,903 9,484,570 0.83 19.6% 89.1% 1997 14,361 1.54 27,969 2.99 3.02 5.59 7.9% 16.3% 36.2% 7.0% 10.4 379 1997 1,007 19 1,928 33 1.9:1 2,475 962 342 1,304 2.81 $ $ $ $ $ $ 1996 16,825 86,330 15,193 15,867 41,906 44,424 $ December 31, 1995 16,008 78,980 13,295 13,361 35,823 43,157 $ 1994 12,516 66,435 10,764 9,427 27,790 38,645 Year ended December 31, 1996 108,313 102,061 6,252 717 5,535 2,153 3,382 9,619,919 0.35 5.8% 94.2% $ $ $ 1995 102,400 91,961 10,439 646 9,793 3,756 6,037 10,028,478 0.60 10.7% 89.8% $ $ $ 1994 92,511 78,625 13,886 801 13,085 5,018 8,067 9,903,682 0.81 21.9% 85.0% Year ended December 31, 1996 6,265 0.66 18,104 1.91 1.57 4.68 4.1% 7.7% 31.5% 8.9% 8.6 372 1996 862 23 1,510 34 1.8:1 2,407 922 291 1,213 3.17 1995 10,592 1.09 21,737 2.24 1.85 4.44 8.3% 14.8% 25.8% 8.7% 13.3 402 $ $ $ $ December 31, 1995 782 19 1,378 32 1.8:1 2,382 778 255 1,033 3.05 1994 13,866 1.37 22,991 2.28 2.08 3.99 13.3% 23.3% 22.6% 8.7% 17.8 390 1994 711 17 1,202 31 1.7:1 2,565 712 237 949 3.00 $ $ $ $ $ $ 1993 11,371 54,711 8,627 10,898 24,233 30,478 1993 75,875 65,853 10,022 679 9,343 3,764 5,579 9,873,665 0.57 20.4% 86.8% 1993 10,052 1.00 17,524 1.75 1.31 3.16 11.6% 20.2% 29.5% 9.3% 14.2 383 1993 571 18 1,023 35 1.8:1 2,551 563 198 761 2.84 $ $ $ $ $ $ 1992 8,860 41,846 7,829 7,023 17,147 24,699 1992 63,038 55,167 7,871 1,093 6,778 2,724 4,054 9,150,214 0.44 20.0% 87.5% 1992 8,021 0.88 14,858 1.62 1.32 2.70 10.1% 25.5% 25.2% 10.1% 6.5 354 1992 496 25 840 37 1.7:1 2,508 508 178 686 2.85