Note 1. Principal Accounting Policies (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]

Business Description and Accounting Policies [Text Block]

Organization

Con-way Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries (“Con-way”) provide transportation, logistics and supply-chain management services for a wide range of manufacturing, industrial and retail customers. Con-way’s business units operate in regional, inter-regional and transcontinental less-than-truckload and full-truckload freight transportation, contract logistics and supply-chain management, multimodal freight brokerage, and trailer manufacturing. As more fully discussed in Note 3, “Segment Reporting,” for financial reporting purposes, Con-way is divided into three reporting segments: Freight, Logistics and Truckload.

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Text Block]

Basis of Presentation

These unaudited interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. for interim financial information and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X, and should be read in conjunction with Con-way’s 2013 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Accordingly, significant accounting policies and other disclosures normally provided have been reduced or omitted. In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments, including normal recurring adjustments, necessary to present fairly Con-way’s financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented. Results for the interim periods presented are not necessarily indicative of annual results.

Earnings Per Share [Text Block]

Earnings per Share (“EPS”)

Basic EPS is computed by dividing net income by the weighted-average common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted EPS is calculated as follows:

(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2014		2013
Numerator:
Net income	$	12,893	$	14,005
Denominator:
Weighted-average common shares outstanding	56,957,433		56,096,637
Stock options and nonvested stock	582,635		635,335
	57,540,068		56,731,972
Diluted Earnings per Share	$	0.22	$	0.25
Anti-dilutive stock options excluded from the computation of diluted EPS	899,241		1,141,137

Property, Plant and Equipment Disclosure [Text Block]

Property, Plant and Equipment

Con-way periodically evaluates whether changes in estimated useful lives or salvage values are necessary to ensure that these estimates accurately reflect the economic use of the assets. In response to conditions in the used-trailer market, Con-way Truckload increased the estimated salvage values for certain of its trailers in the fourth quarter of 2013. The effect of the change in estimate decreased depreciation expense and increased operating income for the first quarter of 2014 by $1.8 million. As a result of this change, net income in the first quarter of 2014 increased by $1.1 million and basic and diluted EPS increased $0.02 per share.

New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy [Policy Text Block]

New Accounting Standards