Werner CEO Leathers: just the 3rd inning in driver attrition

Werner’s quarterly earnings released Tuesday made it the first carrier that could be considered something of a pure play truckload company to publish numbers, and it was difficult to find much bad news in the report.

Most other carriers that have reported their earnings so far have their truckload operations as less a share of revenue, such as intermodal-focused J. B. Hunt, mixed LTL and truckload carrier TFI International or refrigerated-heavy Marten.

Werner CEO Derek Leathers came into the earnings call with analysts riding a strong 2026 performance in the company’s stock. Before a recent selloff, Werner had been up about 54% since the start of the year. window. googletag = window. googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag. cmd. push(function() {googletag.

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push(function() {googletag. display('div-gpt-ad-1709668545404-0'); }); A year ago, on the second quarter 2025 Werner earnings call, Leathers gave an optimistic outlook on how he thought the then still-beleaguered trucking market might turn around.

Predicted a year ago “We’ve said all along, we think it’s going to be supply-driven up cycle, if you will, more than demand,” he said at the time. And according to Leathers a year later, that’s pretty much what happened.

This year, while praising his company’s own steps behind several key metrics improving year on year in the 2026 second quarter, he also described the supply shift–driven by the disappearance of thousands of drivers–as being only in “the third inning.”

“The structural capacity attrition we’ve been talking about for several quarters is playing out as predicted,” Leathers said. “This tightness is being driven by intensifying regulatory pressure, specifically around non-domiciled CDOs, English language proficiency, and cabotage enforcement.” He revisited the issue again during the call. window.

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pubads(). collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag. enableServices(); }); googletag. cmd. push(function() {googletag. display('div-gpt-ad-1665767553440-0'); }); “Enforcement efforts are continuing, and in our view, greater agency collaboration and exchange of data, combined with utilization of technology, will further accelerate enforcement from here,” Leathers said.

ELDs disappearing Leathers also noted the statistic that has been getting an increasing amount of attention as a factor in shrinking driver supply: FMCSA’s ongoing withdrawal of its approval of various ELDs. Leathers said about one-third of all ELDs either are gone or on the way out.

“This reduction in ELD options is dismantling shadow capacity and compounding structural supply contractions,” he said. Leather also said he sees a boost from the fallout from Montgomery vs. Caribe and the greater liability risk now faced by brokers, evidenced clearly last week in a Dallas jury decision against C. H. Robinson.

Montgomery ”has resulted in shippers and brokers taking an even more cautious view of who they do business with that plays directly into Werner’s strengths, given our strong track record and reputation,” Leathers said. window. googletag = window. googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag. cmd. push(function() {googletag.

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push(function() {googletag. display('div-gpt-ad-1709668086344-0'); }); The adjusted operating margin for all of Werner’s (NASDAQ: WERN) trucking operations rose to 4. 6% from 2. 5% a year ago. On the call, Leathers said the One-Way segment’s operating margin was up more than 700 basis points year-on-year.

Although the company’s One-Way Truckload division has far less revenue than Werner’s Dedicated segment–$138 million versus $434 million in the quarter, respectively–the number that was highlighted both in the earnings’ prepared statements and in the call–was the big jump in One-Way’s revenue per truck per week. A year ago in the second quarter it was $4,787.

This year it was $6,114. By contrast, Dedicated’s figure–which would be expected to fluctuate less in the short term–rose to $4,789 from $4,542. Margins weren’t huge The numbers overall were strong but not spectacul