Werner Enterprises capital expenditures are slated to drop this year to between $260 million and $310 million, down from $409 million in 2023.
The projected expenditure represents 8% to 10% of the company’s revenue, which is a lower percentage compared to recent years. The carrier said that’s occurring as its asset-light business grows.
CapEx in 2023 represented an outsized investment to improve its fleet age, CEO Derek Leathers noted on a Q4 earnings call this month.
Other firms, including Schneider National and J.B. Hunt Transport Services, also noted declines in larger fleet investments this year compared to last year.
Consequently, Werner reduced its average truck age to 2.1 years, down from 2.2 years in 2021 and 2.3 years in 2022. The carrier made the investments to position itself for when the market turns.
Earlier this month at a Citi investor conference, President and Chief Legal Officer Nathan Meisgeier said the carrier aims to refresh its equipment at the right pace.
“We’ve guided to a long-term range of 11 to 13% of revenue as our CapEx number,” he said.
The carrier will also seek to keep its replenishment cycles stable. Meisgeier said he didn’t expect a big spike in CapEx spending prior to tougher emissions requirements coming for 2027 and later models.
