Hub Group (HUBG), a provider of transportation and logistics management services, significantly improved its third quarter financial results by changing its useful life estimates and estimated salvage values.

The new estimate— twenty years for certain transportation equipment— slashed depreciation expense and:

—Increased operating income $5 million, or 15.6%
—Increased net income $3.8 million, or 16.1%

The change also lifted earnings per share (EPS) $0.06, or 18.1%.

Later in the company’s latest quarterly filing, Hub Group revealed the equipment at the center of the change:

“...increases were partially offset by decreased container depreciation expense resulting from changes made in the third quarter of 2024 to the estimated useful lives of our containers.”

Though not perfect comparisons, Hub Group’s new treatment appears more aggressive than its competitor:

—FedEx (FDX) estimates the useful life for its trailers— similar to containers— at no more than fifteen years
—Forward Air (FWRD) estimates the useful life of all its equipment at no more ten years