Document And Entity Information (USD $)	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jul. 31, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Public Float			$ 1,505,809,294
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Jun. 30, 2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q2
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Entity Registrant Name	Con-way Inc.
Trading Symbol	cnw
Entity Central Index Key	0000023675
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		55,937,588