Werner Sees Truckload Pickup

Werner Enterprises says a tough first quarter ended with an upturn in shipping demand that carried over into April.

The carrier says truckload shipping remains sharply weaker than last year but that it saw the improvement at the end of a first quarter in which its net profit fell 17.6 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago, to $6.8 million. Werner saw demand deteriorate across all its business lines.

Trucking revenue fell 11.6 percent to $308 million, but the Omaha, Neb.-based carrier also saw business retreat in its brokerage and used truck sales divisions amid what Werner called a “severe slowdown in freight shipments.”

But Werner also cut its non-fuel expenses more than $50 million and used an efficiency drive in operations, dropping 325 tractors during the quarter, to keep its cash and receivables in line with the first quarter of last year.

The company said shippers moved away from what it called “pre-booked” shipments in the quarter, suggesting a growing move toward competitive pricing in the spot market.

But the demand picture shifted as the quarter ended. “In the last few days of March 2009 and into the first half of April 2009, freight volumes began to improve from the very weak levels experienced for most of first quarter 2009,” Werner said. “However freight volumes remain well below the same period in the prior year.”