Werner’s Fourth Quarter Income, Revenue Dip

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Truckload carrier Werner Enterprises’ fourth-quarter profit fell 16% to $24 million or 31 cents a share, from $28.8 million or 36 cents a year earlier.Revenue fell 1% to $518.4 million, from $526.3 million, the carrier said late Monday.For the year, the company’s earnings rose to $98.6 million or $1.25 a share, from $98.5 million or $1.22 a share. Revenue grew to $2.08 billion from $1.97 billion.Werner cited an “increased supply of trucks competing in the company’s primary market segments” caused by last year’s industrywide accelerated purchase of new trucks in advance of this year’s new emissions regulations.“The accelerated purchase of new trucks disrupted the supply and demand balance in the second half of 2006, contributing to a more challenging freight market for truckload carriers,” Werner said in a statement.Werner is ranked No. 16 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies.