Employee Benefit Plans

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Defined Benefit Pension Plans and Defined Benefit Postretirement Plans Disclosure [Abstract]

Employee Benefit Plans

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
	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
(Dollars in thousands)	2012			2011			2012			2011
Interest cost on benefit obligation	$	17,542		$	17,827		$	52,626		$	53,482
Expected return on plan assets	(21,102		)	(21,483		)	(63,308		)	(64,451		)
Amortization of net loss	4,862			2,636			14,585			7,909
Net periodic benefit expense (income)	$	1,302		$	(1,020	)	$	3,903		$	(3,060	)
	Non-Qualified Pension Plans
	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
(Dollars in thousands)	2012			2011			2012			2011
Interest cost on benefit obligation	$	860		$	946		$	2,579		$	2,840
Amortization of net loss	240			170			763			509
Net periodic benefit expense	$	1,100		$	1,116		$	3,342		$	3,349

Con-way has made $51.4 million in contributions to its Qualified Pension Plans in 2012, including $8.4 million contributed in October 2012. Con-way does not anticipate making any further contributions to the plans in 2012.

Defined Contribution Retirement Plans

Con-way’s expense for defined contribution retirement plans was $12.0 million and $37.6 million in the third quarter and first nine months of 2012, respectively, compared to $8.4 million and $26.2 million in the same periods 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 2011, Con-way used 461,151 shares of treasury stock to fund $17.3 million of contributions.

Postretirement Medical Plan

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

	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
(Dollars in thousands)	2012			2011			2012			2011
Service cost	$	419		$	360		$	1,259		$	1,081
Interest cost on benefit obligation	1,080			1,123			3,239			3,369
Amortization of prior service credit	(302		)	(303		)	(905		)	(909		)
Net periodic benefit expense	$	1,197		$	1,180		$	3,593		$	3,541