Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule Of Income Tax Expense

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

	Years Ended December 31,
	2014		2013			2012
Current:
Federal	$	51,260	$	55,227		$	69,590
State	6,606		6,616			10,088
Foreign	220		1,472			(478		)
	58,086		63,315			79,200
Deferred:
Federal	4,503		(9,668		)	(8,630		)
State	535		1,279			(438		)
	5,038		(8,389		)	(9,068		)
Total income tax expense	$	63,124	$	54,926		$	70,132

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation

The effective income tax rate differs from the federal corporate tax rate of 35% in 2014, 2013 and 2012 as follows (in thousands):

	Years Ended December 31,
	2014			2013			2012
Tax at statutory rate	$	56,621		$	49,599		$	60,608
State income taxes, net of federal tax benefits	4,641			5,132			6,273
Non-deductible meals and entertainment	1,497			1,577			2,686
Income tax credits	(1,600		)	(1,574		)	(758		)
Other, net	1,965			192			1,323
Total income tax expense	$	63,124		$	54,926		$	70,132

Schedule Of Deferred Tax Assets And Liabilities

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

	December 31,
	2014		2013
Deferred tax assets:
Insurance and claims accruals	$	74,651	$	76,596
Allowance for uncollectible accounts	8,260		5,672
Other	14,724		8,437
Gross deferred tax assets	97,635		90,705
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property and equipment	295,628		282,642
Prepaid expenses	6,913		6,906
Other	2,634		3,079
Gross deferred tax liabilities	305,175		292,627
Net deferred tax liability	$	207,540	$	201,922

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,
	2014		2013
Current deferred tax asset	$	34,066	$	25,315
Non-current deferred tax liability	241,606		227,237
Net deferred tax liability	$	207,540	$	201,922

Reconciliation Of Unrecognized Tax Benefits

The reconciliations of beginning and ending gross balances of unrecognized tax benefits for 2014 and 2013 are shown below (in thousands).

	December 31,
	2014			2013
Unrecognized tax benefits, beginning balance	$	8,644		$	11,563
Gross increases – tax positions in prior period	244			286
Gross increases – current-period tax positions	745			742
Settlements	(1,050		)	(3,947		)
Unrecognized tax benefits, ending balance	$	8,583		$	8,644