William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor | Sep 14, 2012 6:22PM EDT
Rising equipment costs and driver pay are cutting into earnings at Werner Enterprises, which lowered its third quarter earnings estimate after the stock market closed Thursday.
Werner said it expects earnings in the range of 33 to 36 cents per diluted share. Previous Wall Street estimates ranged from 41 to 46 cents, according to Stifel Nicolaus. Werner’s earnings were 42 cents per share in the second quarter.
With $2 billion in revenue in 2011, Werner is the third-largest U.S. truckload carrier, according to SJ Consulting Group data.
The Omaha, Neb.-based company said the costs of equipment depreciation, driver pay and healthcare “are increasing faster than our revenue per mile.” Werner also cited increased equipment maintenance costs and rising fuel prices.
In the second quarter, Werner boosted net profit 11 percent to $30.7 million despite a year-over-year decline in truckload miles and revenue.
Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter at @wbcassidy_joc.
