LOWELL, Oct. 16 -- J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ: JBHT) booked 20% more revenue in the third quarter and kept almost none of it. Operating income rose 2%, to $247.1 million, and the company's own accounts show where the rest went.

Revenue reached $3.68 billion, according to the earnings release the trucking and intermodal group issued after the market closed Thursday. Strip out fuel surcharges, the fees it bills customers to cover diesel, and growth shrinks to 13%. Surcharge revenue alone jumped 74%, to $670.8 million from $385.6 million, a rise that follows the record diesel prices TEH reported in September.

Several costs moved faster than the sales. Fuel and fuel taxes rose 59%, to $260.4 million. Rents and purchased transporta...