Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Derek Leathers: Thank you. I would just like to thank everyone for joining us on our second quarter earnings call. And while Q2 represented a further extension of an already challenging freight environment, capacity rightsizing is gaining momentum across the industry. The consumer is holding up strong. Inventory destocking is largely complete, and the labor market has held up well nationally. We’ve remained and will remain disciplined on price across our organization while staying focused on growth in Dedicated and Logistics. And our tech investments are maturing, as is our disciplined approach to lowering our cost to execute. We remain committed to operational excellence, and I thank the entire Werner team for their passion to deliver it every day.

And then speaking of the Werner team, I just want to take one last moment here and comment on a situation yesterday. It was our driver, a million-mile professional driver that’s been with us for a long time that was part of the situation in Ohio, where two fugitives abducted a truck with our driver in it and held him hostage for a multi-hour standoff with police. They kept him in the truck in a high-speed police chase. And he was, thankfully through the efforts of the men and women of the police force in Ohio, able to exit that very vulnerable situation safely. Our thoughts and unfettered support are with him and his family. But also, I just would like to add for all truck drivers out there because this is a tough industry; these folks are the backbone of this country.

And I think we have quickly moved on from COVID and often forgot about the efforts and the work that they do to make America what it is every day to keep this economy moving. And so I want to thank all of them for those efforts. And I want to thank the men and women of the – in blue in the state of Ohio for having eliminated that threat and safely returned our driver to both us, but more importantly, to his family. Thank you.

Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect.