Employee Benefit Plans

In the periods presented, certain 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 9, “Employee Benefit Plans,” of Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,” in Con-way’s 2013 Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information concerning its employee benefit 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 June 30,						Six Months Ended June 30,
(Dollars in thousands)	2014			2013			2014			2013
Interest cost on benefit obligation	$	18,767		$	17,422		$	37,638		$	35,011
Expected return on plan assets	(23,309		)	(23,005		)	(46,636		)	(45,662		)
Amortization of actuarial loss	2,375			4,486			4,850			9,136
Amortization of prior-service costs	405			417			809			835
Net periodic benefit income	$	(1,762	)	$	(680	)	$	(3,339	)	$	(680	)



	Non-Qualified Pension Plans
	Three Months Ended June 30,				Six Months Ended June 30,
(Dollars in thousands)	2014		2013		2014		2013
Interest cost on benefit obligation	$	864	$	803	$	1,726	$	1,607
Amortization of actuarial loss	219		280		438		559
Amortization of prior-service costs	1		2		2		3
Net periodic benefit expense	$	1,084	$	1,085	$	2,166	$	2,169

Con-way expects to make contributions of approximately $140 million to its qualified pension plans in 2014, including $29.5 million contributed through June 2014.

As reported in Con-way's 2013 Annual Report on Form 10-K, the Qualified Pension Plans’ investment strategy was to achieve a mix in investments of approximately 69% in fixed-income securities and 31% in equity securities by the end of 2014. As a result of a shift in asset mix to enhance the Plans’ liquidity, the investment strategy is now to achieve a mix in investments of approximately 75% in fixed-income securities, 24% in equity securities, and 1% in cash by the end of 2014.

Defined Contribution Retirement Plans

Con-way’s cost for defined contribution retirement plans was $14.1 million and $27.7 million in the second quarter and first half of 2014, respectively, compared to $13.9 million and $27.2 million in the same periods of 2013.

Postretirement Medical Plan

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



	Three Months Ended June 30,						Six Months Ended June 30,
(Dollars in thousands)	2014			2013			2014			2013
Service cost	$	271		$	313		$	542		$	742
Interest cost on benefit obligation	671			848			1,343			1,739
Amortization of actuarial gain	(656		)	—			(1,313		)	—
Amortization of prior-service credit	(716		)	(263		)	(1,432		)	(526		)
Net periodic benefit expense (income)	$	(430	)	$	898		$	(860	)	$	1,955