Werner's Net Income Rises 24%

Rate increases and fleet additions helped Werner Enterprises Inc. raise second-quarter net income 24% to $31.8 million, or 44 cents per share.

Werner, which ranks No. 16 on the Transport Topics list of the top 100 for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada, achieved a $10 million increase in profit before interest and taxes despite a 1% drop in revenue to $534.6 million. Year-earlier period net income was $25.6 million, or 35 cents.

The company also added 240 trucks to its fleet, compared with last year’s second quarter. Trucking revenue fell 3% to $417 million, including fuel surcharges, and rose 6% excluding those fees.

“We are making continued progress implementing sustainable rate increases,” Werner’s statement said. Higher rates are helping the company to offset rising costs linked to equipment, drivers and regulatory requirements.

"Constrained truck capacity combined with a gradually improving economy in the retail, consumer products and grocery products markets primarily served by us are contributing to strong freight demand,” the Werner statement noted.

Werner, which is based in Omaha, Nebraska, raised revenue per tractor per week by 3.5% to $3,748.

Value-added services revenue from logistics, brokerage and intermodal offerings rose 3%. Werner's profit before interest and taxes more than doubled, to $5 million.

The company’s trucking operating ratio excluding fuel-related collections was 86.8, an improvement of 1.8 percentage points.