Credit Facilities (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Total of committed credit facilities with banks	$ 325,000
Borrowings outstanding	75,000	$ 180,000
Stand-by letters of credit	28,700
Mature September 15, 2019
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Total of committed credit facilities with banks	$ 75,000
Committed credit facilities maturity	Sep. 15, 2019
Line of credit facility, interest rate	1.83%
Interest rate swap facility, fixed interest	2.50%
Borrowings outstanding	$ 75,000
Mature July 12, 2020
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Total of committed credit facilities with banks	$ 100,000
Committed credit facilities maturity	Jul. 12, 2020
Mature July 13, 2020
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Total of committed credit facilities with banks	$ 75,000
Committed credit facilities maturity	Jul. 13, 2020
Mature March 5, 2020
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Total of committed credit facilities with banks	$ 75,000
Committed credit facilities maturity	Mar. 05, 2020

Fixed interest rate related to the interest rate derivative.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeFixedInterestRate
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The total amount of the contingent obligation under letters of credit outstanding as of the reporting date.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LettersOfCreditOutstandingAmount
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The carrying value as of the balance sheet date of the current and noncurrent portions of long-term obligations drawn from a line of credit, which is a bank's commitment to make loans up to a specific amount. Examples of items that might be included in the application of this element may consist of letters of credit, standby letters of credit, and revolving credit arrangements, under which borrowings can be made up to a maximum amount as of any point in time conditional on satisfaction of specified terms before, as of and after the date of drawdowns on the line. Includes short-term obligations that would normally be classified as current liabilities but for which (a) postbalance sheet date issuance of a long term obligation to refinance the short term obligation on a long term basis, or (b) the enterprise has entered into a financing agreement that clearly permits the enterprise to refinance the short-term obligation on a long term basis and the following conditions are met (1) the agreement does not expire within 1 year and is not cancelable by the lender except for violation of an objectively determinable provision, (2) no violation exists at the BS date, and (3) the lender has entered into the financing agreement is expected to be financially capable of honoring the agreement.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(22))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03(16))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03(16))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCredit
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Date the credit facility terminates, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityExpirationDate1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:dateItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The effective interest rate at the end of the reporting period.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityInterestRateAtPeriodEnd
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Maximum borrowing capacity under the credit facility without consideration of any current restrictions on the amount that could be borrowed or the amounts currently outstanding under the facility.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityMaximumBorrowingCapacity
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityAxis=wern_LineofCreditFacilityMatureDateatSeptemberFifteenTwoThousandandNineteenMemberDomain
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityAxis=wern_LineofCreditFacilityMatureDateatJulyTwelveTwoThousandandTwentyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityAxis=wern_LineofCreditFacilityMatureDateatJulyThirteenTwoThousandandTwentyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityAxis=wern_LineofCreditFacilityMatureDateatMarchFifthTwoThousandandTwentyMemberDomainDomain
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: