Document And Entity Information (USD $)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 29, 2012
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Public Float		$ 1,658,974,756
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2013
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2013
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	56,890,911