Werner sees big Q3 gains

Revenues, income rise for the carrier, but challenges remain.    Werner posted an 8-percent, year-over-year, increase in revenues during the third quarter, finishing the period at $551.96 million. During the first three quarters of the year, revenues are up 5 percent compared to the same period in 2013.
   Net income rose 22 percent during the quarter to $25.97 million. On the year, income is up 2 percent.
   The company noted that freight demand, which started increasing in November 2013, is still strong. Tight capacity and a strengthening economy are continuing to help the market, but challenges exist.
   “Truck capacity is being challenged by an increasingly competitive driver market, trucking company failures and heightened regulatory cost increases for truck ownership and safety; thus, we expect this favorable demand trend relative to constrained supply will continue,” Werner said in a statement.
   Werner officials said they “expect that competition for drivers will remain high in the coming months.”
   Even after Werner increased driver wages, it is still facing a troubling trend in the driver market. The carrier noted that the number of driving school graduates is decreasing at the same time that competition for those graduates is increasing. Competition is also present from the construction, fracking and manufacturing industries.
   “We increased pay by varying percentage amounts for many drivers in certain fleets within our One-Way Truckload unit in mid-August 2014,” the company said. “Following these changes, our driver recruiting and retention metrics improved. Additionally over the last several months, we increased driver pay in multiple Dedicated fleets, almost always after obtaining rate increases from these customers.”
   The company said it was able to implement “sustainable rate increases” during the quarter to combat rising expenses.