FreightWaves LIVE @HOME: Industry Keynote With The CEO of Werner Enterprises (With Vdeo) FreightWaves President George Abernathy spent time with Derek Leathers, President and CEO of truckload (TL) carrier and transportation provider Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: WERN ) to talk all things freight at FreightWaves LIVE @HOME. When asked about the current state of the business, Leathers referred to it as "hectic." The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shelter-in-place mandates have created volume surges for some of the carrier's customers while others have seen volumes drop. Leathers said that demand for items like consumer staples is up 30% to 50%, while consumer durables and apparel have moved significantly lower. Leathers said that its network has been disrupted given the drastic changes in inventory needs. Werner, as well as most transportation providers, is seeing an imbalance in freight flows. He said that some of the markets that have seen inbound volumes surge due to increased demand are some of the same markets that provide the fewest outbound load opportunities.