Werner’s 1Q Net Income Falls
Werner Enterprises’ first-quarter profit slipped 18% from a year ago, the company said late Thursday, citing colder-than-normal weather and startup business costs in several of its units.
Net income fell to $17.5 million, or 24 cents per share, from $21.2 million, or 29 cents, a year ago. Revenue slipped 1% to $493 million, the truckload carrier said.
Werner said it “experienced more severe winter weather” in the quarter, “which had a modest negative impact on truck productivity and caused operating expenses in the current quarter to be somewhat higher.”
It also cited startup costs for new business in its logistics, dedicated and one-way truckload business units, and said that year to date, it is “experiencing softer freight demand trends” compared with the same period last year.
The company said the average age of its truck fleet was 2.4 years as of March 31, and that its goal is to maintain that average this year.
Werner Enterprises is ranked No. 11 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.
