Employee Benefit Plans

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Employee Benefit Plans [Abstract]

Employee Benefit Plans

5. Employee Benefit Plans

In the periods presented, employees of Con-way and its subsidiaries in the U.S. were covered under several retirement benefit plans, including defined benefit pension plans, defined contribution retirement plans and a postretirement medical plan. See Note 10, "Employee Benefit Plans," of Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," in Con-way's 2011 Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information concerning its employee benefit plans, including changes to its defined contribution retirement plans.

Defined Benefit Pension Plans

As a result of plan amendments in previous years, no additional benefits accrue under these plans and already-accrued benefits will not be adjusted for future increases in compensation. The following table summarizes the components of net periodic benefit expense (income) for Con-way's domestic defined benefit pension plans:

	Qualified Pension Plans						Non-Qualified Pension Plans
	Three Months Ended March 31,							Three Months Ended March 31,
(Dollars in thousands)	2012			2011				2012		2011
Interest cost on benefit obligation	$	17,502		$	17,970			$	856	$	937
Expected return on plan assets		(21,111	)		(21,542	)			--		--
Amortization of net loss		4,830			2,739				281		157
Net periodic benefit expense (income)	$	1,221		$	(833	)		$	1,137	$	1,094

Con-way expects to make required contributions of $51.4 million to its Qualified Pension Plans in 2012, including $11.9 million contributed through April 2012. Con-way's estimate of its 2012 contribution is subject to change based on variations in interest rates, asset returns, Pension Protection Act requirements and other factors.

Defined Contribution Retirement Plans

Con-way's expense for the defined contribution retirement plans was $12.9 million in the first quarter of 2012, compared to $9.0 million in the same period of 2011. In the periods presented, Con-way's contributions included cash and Con-way common stock. From January 2009 through June 2011, the common stock contributions were made with repurchased common stock (also referred to as treasury stock). In the first three months of 2011, Con-way used 237,184 shares of treasury stock to fund $8.6 million of contributions. Effective in July 2011, Con-way's contributions were in the form of cash, rather than in treasury stock.

Postretirement Medical Plan

The following table summarizes the components of net periodic benefit expense for the postretirement medical plan:

	Three Months Ended March 31,
(Dollars in thousands)	2012			2011
Service cost	$	423		$	405
Interest cost on benefit obligation		1,021			1,121
Amortization of prior service credit		(302	)		(303	)
Net periodic benefit expense	$	1,142		$	1,223