Jerry Gahlhoff Jr.
President and Chief Operating Officer at Rollins
Thank you, John. Good morning, everyone. In early August, we announced that Ken Krause will be joining Rollins as our new Chief Financial Officer effective September 1st. Ken has many years of finance experience, most recently as the CFO of a large publicly-traded global manufacturer. You'll hear from him in a little bit, but for anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of speaking with him yet, he is passionate about business, very experienced and has a unique combination of strategic, operational and financial expertise. We are extremely pleased to have him as a member of our leadership team.
I'd now like to walk through our 2022 third quarter performance, focusing on items that directly impacted our operations during the period. Ken will address the financials in more detail in a moment. Looking at our financial results, Rollins' third quarter 2022 was highlighted by revenue growth of 12.2% to $730 million compared to $650 million in last year's third quarter.
Net income was $108 million or $0.22 per diluted share. This is compared to $94 million or $0.19 per diluted share for the same period in 2021. Operationally during the quarter, all of Rollins business lines continue to experience solid growth. Residential pest control increased 9.8%, commercial pest control was up 11.4%, and termite increased 18.9%. Overall, organic presented a strong 8.6% total growth for the quarter.
Next, I'd like to turn to the expense side. During the last few conference calls, we have discussed various inflationary pressures, primarily fleet-related costs, specifically fuel and vehicle repairs and materials and supplies. We've also provided insights into the proactive actions we've been implementing to mitigate these pressures. In this context, I'm pleased to note that during Q3, we're beginning to see a gradual improvement in fuel prices. We've also been reducing our overall mileage per service visit through routing and scheduling initiatives. Overall, when compared to last quarter, Q3 presented a 5% reduction in fuel expense.
On the fleet side, as we discussed previously, we're keeping our trucks longer forcing higher than normal cost for items like basic maintenance and tires, as well as some repairs outside of the norm. Recently, a small amount of new fleet vehicles are beginning to arrive from our primary manufacturers, which certainly will help. However, the quantities are less than what we historically received by this point of the year.
Looking ahead, we're told by our manufacturers that the supply environment is improving and that potentially we could expect an uptick in inflow levels for new vehicles in the coming quarters. As we've received similar assurances last year, we're certainly keeping a watchful eye on this and we'll keep you updated on future conference calls.
On the labor side, even through the tight labor market, Rollins remain well positioned in effectively attracting, retaining and deploying talent by prioritizing employee well being, workplace inclusion and professional development opportunities, while also providing attractive employee benefit offerings. We have a track record of being a premier destination for talent.
As we headed into peak hiring season this year, we successfully integrated a recruiting software platform to allow our hiring managers to more efficiently recruit and engage with potential new candidates. This talent recruitment platform makes it easier for prospective team members to explore open positions on our career portals and apply for open positions in just a few minutes and they can do so easily from a mobile device.
Our hiring managers can more easily pre-screen candidates, communicate with them and schedule interviews in a more streamlined way. As a result of this new improved process, we averaged 35,000 job applicant submittals per month for the third quarter. And over the last five months, we have almost matched the total year 2021 application submittals. In short, by offering candidates an enhanced hiring experience, we've been able to successfully source and add qualified talent across the country despite the tight labor market.
Next, I'd like to turn to acquisitions. Year-to-date, we have completed 27 acquisitions. Five of these were completed in the third quarter across Canada, Australia and the U.S. In August, we announced the acquisition of Bug House Pest Control. Bug House Pest Control was Founded by Mike Prosperi in 1993, and has grown to be one of the largest pest control companies in Georgia.
Bug House serves residential and commercial customers throughout Central and South Georgia. We are proud to welcome their more than 220 team members to Rollins. We continue to pursue potential opportunities as we look ahead to the remainder of the year and into 2023, our pipeline remains strong. Before I turn the call over to Ken, I want to emphasize how pleased we are with Rollins' strong third quarter performance. We are confident in our ability to continue driving growth and improving profitability in the business.
I'll now turn the call over to Ken.