Financing Arrangements, Interest Rates and Maturities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Effective interest rate	5.15%
Capital lease obligations	$ 20,092	$ 19,306
Debt issuance costs	(2,491)	(3,156)
Total debt, capital lease obligations, and notes payable	919,984	1,141,910
Less: current maturities	27,835	3,847
Total long-term debt, capital lease obligations, and notes payable	$ 892,149	1,138,063
Senior Notes \| Senior Unsecured Notes 3.81% Due May 2018
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate	3.81%
Long-term debt	$ 25,000	25,000
Senior Notes \| Senior Unsecured Notes 4.60% Due May 2021
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate	4.60%
Long-term debt	$ 75,000	75,000
Senior Notes \| Senior Unsecured Notes 3.13% Due December 2020
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate	3.13%
Long-term debt	$ 100,000	100,000
Notes payable and other
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Stated interest rate	3.50%
Long-term debt	$ 12,383	13,618
Revolving Credit Facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Revolving loan facility	$ 0	172,142
Term loan
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Average interest rate at September 30, 2017	2.52%
Revolving loan facility	$ 690,000	$ 740,000

Amount equal to the present value (the principal) at the beginning of the lease term of minimum lease payments during the lease term (excluding that portion of the payments representing executory costs such as insurance, maintenance, and taxes to be paid by the lessor, together with any profit thereon) net of payments or other amounts applied to the principal through the balance sheet date.

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Sum of the carrying values as of the balance sheet date of all debt, including all short-term borrowings, long-term debt, and capital lease obligations.

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Effective interest rate for the funds borrowed under the debt agreement considering interest compounding and original issue discount or premium.

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Contractual interest rate for funds borrowed, under the debt agreement.

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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.

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

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Amount, after unamortized (discount) premium and debt issuance costs, of long-term debt. Includes, but not limited to, notes payable, bonds payable, debentures, mortgage loans and commercial paper. Excludes capital lease obligations.

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Amount of long-term debt and capital leases due within one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer.

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The remaining balance of debt issuance expenses that were capitalized and are being amortized against income over the lives of the respective bond issues. This does not include the amounts capitalized as part of the cost of the utility plant or asset.

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