Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Q3 2021 Results Conference Call October 28, 2021 5:00 PM ET
Company Participants
Derek Leathers - Chief Executive Officer
John Steele - Chief Financial Officer
Conference Call Participants
Christian Wetherbee - Citi
Scott Group - Wolfe Research
Jack Atkins - Stephens Inc
Bascome Majors - Susquehanna Financial Group
Michael Triano - UBS
Ken Hoexter - Banc of America Merrill Lynch
Jeffrey Kauffman - Vertical Research Partners
Brian Ossenbeck - JP Morgan
Jonathan Chappell - Evercore ISI
Derek Leathers
Thank you and good afternoon everyone. With me today is our CFO, John Steele. I’m pleased to report that Werner delivered record third quarter earnings, our fifth consecutive record setting quarter.
During third quarter freight demand remained strong and the driver market remained very challenging. Our strategic investments in driver sourcing and driver pay in a competitive labor market enabled us to grow our fleet sequentially by 75 trucks.
In addition, we grew another 500 trucks with the ECM truckload acquisition that closed at the beginning of the third quarter. We were very pleased with ECM’s performance during our first four months of ownership. ECM service and safety record is excellent. Their driver turnover post acquisition remains low, their financial performance of stellar and our integration is going well and tracking on scheduled.
Employment in the trucking industry remains 1% below pre-COVID levels, while the cast truckload freight index is 16% higher. Strong consumer demand combined with extraordinary supply chain bottlenecks are keeping retail inventory to sales ratios at historically low levels, which were boost inventory replenishment for multiple quarters going forward.
At the same time, truckload industry capacity is significantly constrained by an ultra competitive driver market and shortfalls in new truck bills. We expect a strong freight market through the balance of this year and well into 2022.
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