Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule Of Income Tax Expense

Income tax expense consisted of the following (in thousands):

	Years Ended December 31,
	2012			2011		2010
Current:
Federal	$	69,590		$	6,275	$	56,030
State	10,088			6,664		11,195
Foreign	(478		)	1,347		894
	79,200			14,286		68,119
Deferred:
Federal	(8,630		)	50,297		(8,523		)
State	(438		)	7,566		(3,398		)
	(9,068		)	57,863		(11,921		)
Total income tax expense	$	70,132		$	72,149	$	56,198

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation

The effective income tax rate differs from the federal corporate tax rate of 35% in 2012, 2011 and 2010 as follows (in thousands):

	Years Ended December 31,
	2012			2011			2010
Tax at statutory rate	$	60,608		$	61,217		$	47,683
State income taxes, net of federal tax benefits	6,273			9,250			5,068
Non-deductible meals and entertainment	2,686			2,571			2,943
Income tax credits	(758		)	(1,517		)	(525		)
Other, net	1,323			628			1,029
Total income tax expense	$	70,132		$	72,149		$	56,198

Schedule Of Deferred Tax Assets And Liabilities

At December 31, deferred tax assets and liabilities consisted of the following (in thousands):

	December 31,
	2012		2011
Deferred tax assets:
Insurance and claims accruals	$	73,211	$	72,613
Allowance for uncollectible accounts	7,813		6,913
Other	9,416		8,382
Gross deferred tax assets	90,440		87,908
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property and equipment	288,032		295,429
Prepaid expenses	6,774		6,710
Other	3,026		2,964
Gross deferred tax liabilities	297,832		305,103
Net deferred tax liability	$	207,392	$	217,195

Schedule Of Income Tax Assets And Liabilities Financial Position

These amounts are presented in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31 as follows (in thousands):

	December 31,
	2012		2011
Current deferred tax asset	$	25,139	$	25,805
Non-current deferred tax liability	232,531		243,000
Net deferred tax liability	$	207,392	$	217,195

Reconciliation Of Unrecognized Tax Benefits

The reconciliations of beginning and ending gross balances of unrecognized tax benefits for 2012 and 2011 are shown below (in thousands).

	December 31,
	2012			2011
Unrecognized tax benefits, beginning balance	$	10,827		$	7,482
Gross increases – tax positions in prior period	279			2,184
Gross increases – current-period tax positions	788			1,219
Settlements	(331		)	(58		)
Unrecognized tax benefits, ending balance	$	11,563		$	10,827