Significant Accounting Policies Income Taxes (Details)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Income Tax Contingency
PortionOfTaxBenefitRecordedPositionsMoreLikelyThanNotToBeSustained	50.00%

PortionOfTaxBenefitRecordedPositionsMoreLikelyThanNotToBeSustained

No definition available.

Name:	htld_Portionoftaxbenefitrecordedpositionsmorelikelythannottobesustained
Namespace Prefix:	htld_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration