Werner Says Weather Hits Q1 Earnings; Capacity 'Cavalry' Not Coming
Appearing at the Barclays Industrial Select Conference, management from Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN ) said the negative impacts from recent winter storms would result in a 3- to 4-cent hit to first-quarter earnings. The current consensus earnings estimate for the Omaha, Nebraska-based transportation and logistics provider is 67 cents per share. Weather challenges "Q1 weather has been a significant challenge to say the least," said Derek Leathers, vice chairman, president and CEO of the 7,800-truck carrier. Poor weather has forced drivers to park their trucks, resulting in a freight backlog that could take a couple of weeks to unwind. The costs of paying drivers on downtime along with a higher frequency in roadside service events has created a "clear-cut impact to the quarter." The company has had to shut down more than 1,000 trucks per day recently. In past winters, it would only see up to a couple hundred trucks idled for a few hours at a time, mostly waiting for the storms to pass and roads to reopen.
Werner Says Weather Hits Q1 Earnings; Capacity 'Cavalry' Not Coming
Appearing at the Barclays Industrial Select Conference, management from Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN ) said the negative impacts from recent winter storms would result in a 3- to 4-cent hit to first-quarter earnings. The current consensus earnings estimate for the Omaha, Nebraska-based transportation and logistics provider is 67 cents per share. Weather challenges "Q1 weather has been a significant challenge to say the least," said Derek Leathers, vice chairman, president and CEO of the 7,800-truck carrier. Poor weather has forced drivers to park their trucks, resulting in a freight backlog that could take a couple of weeks to unwind. The costs of paying drivers on downtime along with a higher frequency in roadside service events has created a "clear-cut impact to the quarter." The company has had to shut down more than 1,000 trucks per day recently. In past winters, it would only see up to a couple hundred trucks idled for a few hours at a time, mostly waiting for the storms to pass and roads to reopen.