Ownership Submission
FORM 3
 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940
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(Print or Type Responses)
1. Name and Address of Reporting Person *
  Balius Brian A
 2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year)
04/26/2012		 3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
SAIA INC [SAIA]
(Last)
(First)
(Middle)
11465 JOHNS CREEK PARKWAY, SUITE 400		 4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
(Check all applicable)
_____ Director _____ 10% Owner
__X__ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below)
VP-Linehaul & Ind Engineering
 5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year)
(Street)

JOHNS CREEK, GA 30097		 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line)
_X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person
(City)
(State)
(Zip)
Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security
(Instr. 4)		 2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned
(Instr. 4)		 3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 5)		 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 5)
Common Stock 11,793
D
 

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly. SEC 1473 (7-02)
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Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security
(Instr. 4)		 2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date
(Month/Day/Year)		 3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security
(Instr. 4)		 4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security 5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 5)		 6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 5)
Date Exercisable Expiration Date Title Amount or Number of Shares
Phantom Stock   (2)   (3) Common Stock 8,821.318 $ (1) D  
Stock Options (Right to Buy) 01/28/2009 01/27/2013 Common Stock 1,790 $ 27.38 D  
Stock Options (Right to Buy) 02/02/2010 02/01/2014 Common Stock 2,220 $ 26.72 D  
Stock Options (Right to Buy) 02/01/2011 01/31/2015 Common Stock 4,910 $ 14.71 D  
Stock Options (Right to Buy) 02/03/2012 02/02/2016 Common Stock 4,650 $ 11.96 D  
Stock Options (Right to Buy) 02/02/2013 02/01/2017 Common Stock 4,640 $ 12.1 D  
Stock Options (Right to Buy) 05/02/2014 05/01/2018 Common Stock 4,100 $ 16.39 D  
Stock Options (Right to Buy) 02/02/2015 02/02/2019 Common Stock 6,710 $ 16.5 D  

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address Relationships
Director 10% Owner Officer Other
Balius Brian A
11465 JOHNS CREEK PARKWAY
SUITE 400
JOHNS CREEK, GA 30097		       VP-Linehaul & Ind Engineering  

Signatures

/s/ Stephanie R. Maschmeier 05/07/2012
**Signature of Reporting Person Date

Explanation of Responses:

* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1) Conversion rate of this derivative security on May 2, 2012 is 0.8472 resulting in 7,473.71 shares of common stock (underlying security in column 7).
(2) Immediate
(3) The shares of phantom stock become payable, in stock, upon reporting person's termination of service as an employee

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