Werner Enterprises announced it is restructuring its one-way truckload business in an effort to improve fleet utilization and return the unit to profitability. The changes are expected to be completed in the first quarter, but impacts on financial results may not be noticeable until the second quarter. The announcement was made in conjunction with the carrier’s fourth-quarter report released Thursday after the market closed.
Werner (NASDAQ: WERN) reported a headline net loss of $27.8 million, or 46 cents per share, for the quarter. However, the number included $44.2 million in restructuring and impairment charges, the bulk of which were noncash. Excluding the charges and other one-off items, adjusted net income was $3.3 million, or 5 cents per share. That was 5 cents below the consensus estimate and 3 cents lower year over year.
The company is transitioning its one-way business to more profitable services like expedited, cross-border, and long-haul delivery using driver teams. It is also looking for ways to better engage the unit with its power-only offering. Werner has begun exiting unprofitable regional and short-haul business, and it is continuing to further integrate past fleet acquisitions.
The move comes as Werner is making a bigger push into dedicated trucking—a more defensible business model featuring multiyear contracts with shippers.
Werner acquired dedicated carrier FirstFleet and its real estate last month in a $283 million deal. The transaction added over 2,400 tractors and $615 million in revenue, making Werner the fifth-largest dedicated provider in the U.S. The deal is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings and free cash flow.
Table: Werner’s key performance indicators
Q4 by the numbers; 2026 outlook
Consolidated revenue of $738 million was 2% lower y/y and below the $761 million consensus estimate.
Total TL revenue was down 3% y/y to $513 million. The segment reported a 97.2% adjusted operating ratio (inverse of operating margin), which was 30 basis points worse y/y.
One-way revenue fell 8% y/y as average trucks in service declined 10% and revenue per truck per week was up 2%. Miles per truck per week improved 2% but revenue per total mile was off slightly.
The one-way fleet topped out at nearly 3,300 tractors in 2022 but stood at less than 2,400 units in the recent quarter, a 28% decline. The company said that even after downsizing the one-way business, it still expects to be able to play in an improving spot market.
Dedicated revenue increased 1% y/y as a 2% increase in the average truck count was partially offset by a 1% decline in revenue per truck per week.
Chart: SONAR: National Truckload Index (linehaul only – NTIL.USA) for 2026 (blue shaded area), 2025 (yellow line), 2024 (green line) and 2023 (pink line). The NTIL is based on an average of booked spot dry van loads from 250,000 lanes. The NTIL is a seven-day moving average of linehaul spot rates excluding fuel. Spot rates stepped higher through peak season as new constraints on the driver pool took hold. Severe winter weather amid a tighter capacity backdrop is keeping rates elevated in recent days.
Werner issued guidance calling for one-way revenue per total mile to be flat to up 3% y/y in the first half of 2026. Revenue per truck per week in dedicated is expected to be down 1% to up 2% y/y in 2026.
The guide assumes Werner will capture mid-single-digit contractual rate increases in one-way and low- to mid-single-digit increases in dedicated. Werner said there is a lag when implementing new contract rates and that efforts to extend length of haul in one-way will be a modest headwind to rate-per-mile results. Werner negotiates 25% of its bids in the first quarter and 33% in the second quarter.
Shares of WERN were down 7.1% at 10:29 a.m. EST on Friday compared to the S&P 500, which was up 1.2%. The stock was up 64% from the week before Thanksgiving into the Thursday print. The move was largely in lockstep with a steep rise in tender rejections and spot rates.
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