Werner earnings decline 15 percent in 3Q

Due to softer freight demand, rising fuel prices and other cost increases that outpaced rate increases, Omaha, Neb.-based Werner Enterprises said in its third quarter report that it had a 15 percent year-over-year decline in both earnings per diluted share and net income. Its net income in the quarter was $25,128, compared to 2011’s third quarter of $29,578.

Its total revenue in the quarter was $506,504, down from 2011’s $509, 587. Year to date, however, Werner’s revenue has risen to $1,526,692 from $1,494,913 at the same point in 2011. Its year-to-date net income is $77,053, up from $73,389 in 2011.

The company says in its report that freight demand in the quarter did not show “normal seasonal improvement from mid-August through September; in contrast, we experienced seasonal strengthening in demand during the same period in third quarter 2011. In third quarter 2012, our customers generally chose to keep their inventory levels leaner in a market with economic and political uncertainty. Freight trends for October 2012 to date have continued to trend below levels for the same period in 2011.”