UPDATE 1-Knight Transportation Q3 profit meets market

* Q3 EPS $0.16

* Q3 revenue $173.1 mln, down 17 pct

* Says total loads hauled up 10 pct

Oct 21 (Reuters) - Truckload carrier Knight Transportation Inc (KNX.N) posted a quarterly profit that met estimates, but revenue came in ahead of Wall Street expectations as total loads hauled in the quarter increased 10 percent.

For the third quarter, net income was down 18 percent to $13.1 million, or 16 cents a share, compared with $16 million, or 19 cents a share, a year ago.

Revenue fell 17 percent to $173.1 million.

Analysts were expecting earnings of 16 cents a share on revenue of $164.6 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Knight Transportation said it saw sequential improvement in freight demand and that it does not plan to cut its fleet size.

Shares of the company were up 1 percent at $18 after the bell. They closed at $17.79 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by A.Ananthalakshmi in Bangalore; Editing by Unnikrishnan Nair) ((ananthalakshmi.as@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 4135 5800; Reuters Messaging: ananthalakshmi.as.reuters.com@reuters.net))