This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about Roadway below in the comments.

Once or twice a year, the family and I take a long, cross-country drive to one vacation spot or another. So when I heard that that the nickname of the freight hauler Roadway Express was "always on the Road and in the Way," I knew exactly what that meant. It never seems to fail: just as I'm about to catch up to a semi truck, it suddenly swings over into my lane, the passing lane, and then spends the next five to ten miles inching past a very slightly slower truck. In the meantime, I get a nice close-up view of the Yosemite Sam mud flaps, while impatient traffic builds up behind me.

According to their website, Roadway Express, now a division of YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) has been on the road and in the way since it was founded in 1930 by a pair of brothers hauling freight between Akron, Ohio, and St. Louis, Missouri. By the end of its first decade, it had offices in 22 cities and operating revenues of more than a million dollars. After the Interstate system was established, that expanded to 65 cities and more than $40 million in operating revenue from nearly 1,000 trucks. The company celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2005, and now delivers to all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Mexico with more than 8,500 trucks.

Continue reading Company nicknames: Roadway is on the road and in the way

Company nicknames: Roadway is on the road and in the way originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Aug 2008 06:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There are about 1.3 million heavy-duty diesel trucks - with sleeper cabs - in the US. Interestingly enough, there are federal rules that require these trucks to be idled, so as to maintain appropriate temperature, improve electric power and so on.

The problem? The idling consumes fuel, increases wear and tear, and results in excess noise and vibration.

Well, IdleAire has a solution. And, yes, the company has also filed for an IPO.

Basically, IdleAire has a patented set of technologies that allow for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. There are even other goodies, such as Internet access, satellite tv, phone and computer-based training.

About 900 truck fleets use the technology as well as 43,000 independent owner-operators. In other words, there is lots of room for growth.

Last year, IdleAire generated about $12 million in revenues. Although, there was a net loss of $60.2 million. But that's to be expected as the company continues to build its extensive network.

The lead underwriters on the IPO include JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) and Jefferies & Company.

The prospectus is located on the SEC website. Also, if you want to check out more IPOs, click here.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

IdleAire: Hitching a ride to an IPO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In July, trucking and transportation logistics company Werner Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: WERN) announced 2Q 2007 earnings that essentially repeated all of the problems that bedeviled the company in 1Q 2007: soft demand for freight shipping due to slowdowns in the housing and automotive industries; rising costs for fuel, insurance and claims; too many trucks chasing too few truckloads; too much lower profit margin freight; inefficiencies matching trucks to freight resulting in too many empty miles. Well, at least the weather was better in the spring quarter than during the winter. Given the continuing problems, it should come as no surprise that 2Q results pretty much mirror 1Q's disappointing results. Revenues were just above flat at $531 million for the quarter. EPS declined 15% to $0.30.

On a more positive note, Werner Enterprises has a very proactive management team that is trying to position Werner to be one of the survivors in the trucking industry when the dust settles over the next 18 months or so. At that time, Werner management is betting that freight shipment prices will rise, possibly dramatically, as demand will finally exceed supply of available trucks. Werner is reducing its truck fleet size to match demand, and has developed a much more efficient system to match cyclical freight load demands to available trucks. With increased scheduling efficiencies, Werner is going after higher profit margin freight loads and aggressively cutting the number of empty miles its trucks run. Werner is also running a truck remarketing program to clear its inventory of used trucks and trailers. During 2Q 2007, sales of used equipment added $7.6 million to the bottom line.

Werner repaid $30 million in debt during 2Q 2007, leaving $50 million in debt still on the books. The company repurchased 1.5 million worth of its own stock for a total of $28.6 million. Given that most of the news from Werner has been negative for months, why is the stock up 10% since the beginning of the year, reaching a 52-week high of $22.00 last week before closing Friday at $20.22?

Werner Enterprises (WERN) still stuck in neutral originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 12 Aug 2007 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.