J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. profits fell 8.3% in the third quarter, the company announced Oct. 13, coming up short of the Bloomberg News consensus forecast of analysts.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. announced it will acquire Houston-based Special Logistics Dedicated for $136 million.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. kicked off the earnings reporting season on a sour note for the truckload industry, announcing profits dropped 6.8% year-over-year and missing the Bloomberg News consensus forecast of industry analysts.

Intermodal rail and trucking companies are competing to meet the transportation needs of e-commerce businesses while adapting to how these new supply chains differ from those of traditional brick-and-mortar retailers.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. announced it will spend $500 million over the next five years to enhance its operating systems, develop cloud infrastructure and create what it said would be “innovative and disruptive technologies” for use in its supply chain.

The truckload earnings season began with J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. announcing a 2.6% increase in profits year-over-year in the first quarter, mainly due to a one-time tax benefit that otherwise would have put the carrier behind 2016 earnings.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. opened an “enterprise sales branch” in Toronto, its first such office in Canada, the intermodal and truckload carrier said.

Intermodal and truckload carrier J.B. Hunt Transport Services posted gains in net income and revenue for the fourth quarter of 2016 and for the year, the Lowell, Arkansas-based company said Jan. 19.