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We are sending you this Proxy Statement in connection with the solicitation of proxies by our Board of Directors (the “Board”) for the 20172018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Werner Enterprises, Inc. The 20172018 Annual Meeting will be held for the purposes set forth in the Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders on the cover page of this Proxy Statement. We are mailing the Proxy Statement, proxy and our Annual Report to Stockholders for the year ended December 31, 20162017 (the “2016“2017 Annual Report”) on or about April 6, 2017.5, 2018.

Regardless of how you hold your shares, your right to vote in person at the Annual Meeting is not affected by signing and returning the proxy by mail (as generally done by registered stockholders) or by submitting your proxy pursuant to your broker’s instructions (as done by beneficial owners, commonly by the Internet or telephone).

For purposes of the 20172018 Annual Meeting, Clarence L. (“C.L.”CL”) Werner will act as the appointed and authorized “Designated Proxy Holder.” Your executed proxy appoints the Designated Proxy Holder as your duly authorized attorney-in-fact and gives the Designated Proxy Holder the power to represent and vote at the Annual Meeting all shares of our outstanding common stock that you are entitled to vote. The Designated Proxy Holder will vote your shares as instructed by you on your proxy. If you do not provide voting instructions on the proposals discussed in this Proxy Statement, or for any other matters properly presented at the Annual Meeting, your proxy also gives the Designated

We will bear all costs of this proxy solicitation, including expenses for the preparation, printing, assembly and mailing of materials. Some of our directors, officers and employees may also solicit proxies in person or by the Internet, telephone or other electronic communications, and they will not receive any additional compensation for making such solicitations. We will also reimburse brokerage firms and other custodians and fiduciaries for all reasonable expenses incurred for forwarding Proxy Materials to beneficial owners of our stock in accordance with customary practice. Your cooperation in promptly voting your shares and submitting your proxy will help to avoid additional expense in the event the Company retains an outside firm to solicit proxies.

On the date of mailing this Proxy Statement, the Board of Directors knows of no other matters to be brought before stockholders at the Annual Meeting other than the matters described in this Proxy Statement. If any other matters are properly presented at the meeting, your signed proxy authorizes the Designated Proxy Holder to vote the shares represented thereby in his discretion and according to his best judgment.

Assuming the presence of a quorum, all other matters that properly come before the Annual Meeting will each require the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock, present or represented by proxy, at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote thereon.

Our Articles of Incorporation provide that the Board may be divided into two or three separate classes of directors. Each class must consist of not less than two, nor more than five, directors, and the classes should be nearly equal in number as possible. Our By-Laws provide for eight directors, divided into three classes (Class I, II and III), and each class should have the same number of directors to the extent possible. Directors hold office for a term of three years and until a successor is elected and qualified. The terms of office for each class of current directors expire at the annual meeting of stockholders in the following years: Class I, 2019; Class II, 2017;2020; and Class III, 2018.

You will be asked to elect three directors in Class IIIII to each serve for a three-year term expiring at the 20202021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and until his or her respective successor is elected and qualified. The three nominees for Class IIIII director at the 20172018 Annual Meeting are:

leadership and community service awards. He possesses significant overall board experience, administrative competence, executive and financial experience and proven leadership skills that enhance our Board’s diversity and discussions. As a result of these professional and other experiences, Dr. Bird brings to the Board a broad perspective of our community and an appreciation of corporate governance principles that contribute to the collective qualifications, skills and experience of our Board of Directors.

women, as one of the top 15 women in business. Prior to her employment at Union Pacific, she was a certified public accountant with Deloitte, Haskins & Sells in Omaha. Ms. Duren holds a bachelor'sbachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Creighton University. Ms. Duren is a member of the board of directors of U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. and serves on its audit and compensation committees. She has been active on multiple community and industry boards including Girl Scouts – Spirit of Nebraska and American Red Cross, of which she served as chair of the Heartland Chapter in 2010 and 2011. In 2014, Ms. Duren was appointed by Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert to the Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority Board of Directors and is the current Chairwoman of the Board. She also serves on the Board of Children’s Hospital and Medical Center as Vice Chair. Ms. Duren'sDuren’s vast experience in the transportation industry, multiple leadership roles, and accounting and financial experience are expected to add great value and insight to the Board. Ms. Duren serves as Chair of our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

The Board has affirmatively determined that all members of and nominees to our Board of Directors are independent pursuant to SEC rules and the listing standards adopted by NASDAQ, except for C.L.CL Werner and Gregory L. Werner. The Board has also determined that each member of the three Board committees satisfies the applicable independence requirements of NASDAQ and the SEC.

At its annual meeting, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee reviewed the (i) legal and regulatory standards for assessing Board and Board committee independence, (ii) criteria for determining a director’s “audit committee financial expert,” “non-employee director” and “outside director” status and (iii) responses to annual and biannual questionnaires completed by our directors. After completing its review, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee submitted its independence recommendations to our Board. Our Board then made its independence determinations based on the committee’s recommendations and after considering the information available to the committee.

One of the primary roles of the Board of Directors is to oversee our senior management in the competent and ethical operation of our business and to ensure that our stockholders’ interests are being properly served. To achieve these objectives, the Board establishes and maintains high standards of responsibility and ethics that, when consistently applied and followed, contribute to our business’s overall success.

The Executive Chairman presides over each Board meeting and is actively involved in determining agendas for Board meetings and serving as a liaison between our Board and management. The Board elects our Executive Chairman each

year at its annual meeting. C.L.CL Werner serves as our Executive Chairman, and Derek J. Leathers serves as our President and Chief Executive Officer. Each individual was elected by our Board at its 20162017 annual meeting to serve in his current position for a one-year term or until his respective successor is duly elected and qualified, pursuant to Section 2 of Article III of our By-Laws.

The positions of Chairman and CEO are held by two individuals instead of the same person. We believe our current leadership structure is effective for us. This configuration demonstrates to our stockholders, employees and customers that our primary leadership roles are served by two qualified people who each have an extensive depth of knowledge about the Company’s business and industry and are committed to our development and success. Although C.L.CL Werner is not an independent director, as our founder he demonstrates a long-standing dedication to and significant ownership interest in the Company.

We believe that separating the Chairman and CEO positions, having the majority of our Board and each Board committee comprised of independent directors (who meet regularly in executive sessions) and having independent directors serve as Chairs of our Board committees provides an effective and strong leadership structure for the Company. Our Board has the flexibility to continue or modify our leadership structure in the future, as the Board deems appropriate.

Company management is responsible for risk assessment and mitigation on a Company-wide basis, and our Board oversees and reviews these risk management efforts overall. Our Board believes that risk oversight fundamentally includes understanding the material risks we confront and how management responds to such risks, as well as a comprehension of what risk levels are appropriate for us. Typically, management identifies and measures various risks facing the Company and analyzes the factors associated with such risks, such as the probability and frequency of occurrence and potential impact on our cash flow, financial results and overall business and operations. Diverse types of risk are identified which are generally competitive, economic, regulatory or technological in nature. Management then develops response plans to address, mitigate and monitor identified risks and also reports and discusses these risks and plans with the Board. In its risk oversight role, our Board regularly evaluates and confers with management about the objectives of and risks involved with each plan. The Board also considers risk when assessing our business strategies and objectives, which is also integral to the Board’s risk management and tolerance evaluations.

The members of our Board of Directors possess a variety of experience, knowledge and judgment, and the diversity of these skills complements our corporate governance structure. Our corporate governance policies are designed to enable effective and thorough decision-making and to allow proper and comprehensive monitoring of the Company’s performance and compliance. These policies are also meant to provide our Board with practical guidelines that are

regularly reviewed and can be appropriately revised and updated in response to regulatory developments and evolving business and governance practices. Our fundamental corporate governance principles and practices are set forth in our Code of Corporate Conduct and other policies, each of which is available on our website. Pursuant to SEC rules, we will disclose amendments to or waivers from our Code of Corporate Conduct, as they relate to our CEO, Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) and Chief Accounting Officer (“CAO”), on our website or in a Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC. To date, we have not granted any waivers from our Code of Corporate Conduct to the CEO, CFO or CAO.

The Board of Directors conducts its business through (i) meetings of the Board, (ii) actions taken by written consent in lieu of meetings, (iii) actions of its committees and (iv) discussions with management, the independent auditors and other consultants retained from time to time. The Board has three standing committees: the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (the “Governance Committee”). The Governance Committee evaluates each committee’s composition and appoints committee members annually. Theannually, subject to Board then approves each committee’s members appointed by the Governance Committee at the Board’s first meeting held thereafter. The Boardapproval, and such assignments may also make further changes to committee assignmentschange from time to time as the Board deems appropriate or as advised by the Governance Committee.time. A majority of full committee membership elects committee Chairs, unless elected by the full Board. Committee members cannot be removed except by a majority vote of independent directors in office at the time. The responsibilities and duties of each committee are discussed below.

Our Board delegates various responsibilities and authority to the committees to foster the effective governance of the Company. Each committee also meets periodically or when appropriate and reports their respective activities and actions to the full Board. The committees operate pursuant to written charters (including any amendments thereto) approved and adopted by the Board. Each committee charter is available on our website.

The composition of each Board committee is as follows:

The Audit Committee meets in executive session with our independent auditors and also in a separate executive session with the head of our internal audit department. These meetings are conducted without the presence of our management and occur at each quarterly Audit Committee meeting. In 2016,2017, as Audit Committee Chair, Mr. Jung also participated in four additional meetings with management and the independent auditors for the purpose of reviewing the Company’s financial results prior to the issuance of our quarterly earnings press releases.

The Compensation Committee is responsible for determining and approving the compensation of our executive officers. The Compensation Committee may consider the recommendations of our Executive Chairman and President & CEO. Prior to making any such compensation determinations, the committee performs an annual review of all compensation elements for our executive officers, including but not limited to base salary, incentive cash bonuses and stock awards. Our Compensation Committee is tasked with evaluating and approving our overall executive compensation strategy and elements to ensure such components align with our business objectives, stockholder interests and responsible corporate practices and culture. Additionally, the Compensation Committee is responsible for recommending to the Board the compensation policies for our independent directors and overall Board members. The Compensation Committee has responsibility for oversight of and determining awards of equity compensation pursuant to the Werner Enterprises, Inc. Amended and Restated Equity Plan (the “Equity Plan”).

“outside director” as defined in Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code and U.S. Treasury Regulation Section 1.162-27.

The Board of Directors established a process by which stockholders and other parties may communicate directly with members of the Board or the independent directors as a group. This process is described in our Stockholder Communications Procedure for Communicating with the Board of Directors, included on our website. You may direct any matter intended for the Board or independent directors by writing to the intended recipients in care of our Corporate Secretary at our executive offices. Generally, the Corporate Secretary will forward any received correspondence according to the stockholder’s instructions. The Corporate Secretary, however, reserves the right not to forward any abusive, threatening or otherwise inappropriate materials. A majority of our independent directors approved the process for collecting stockholder communications received by our Corporate Secretary on the Board’s behalf.

Generally, the Governance Committee considers director candidates recommended by Board members, management and stockholders. Nominees for the Board of Directors are then selected by the Governance Committee according to the process summarized below and described in our current Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Directorship Guidelines and Selection Policy (the “Directorship Guidelines Policy”) and Policy Regarding Director Recommendations by Stockholders (the “Stockholder Recommendation Policy”). Both policies are available free of charge on our website. Stockholders may also request a copy of these policies by contacting our Corporate Secretary

is an individual stockholder or group of stockholders that has beneficially owned at least 2% of our issued and outstanding common stock for at least one year (and will hold such percentage of stock through the date of the annual meeting, and if the recommended candidate is elected, through his or her term of service). Such stock ownership is determined as of the date the stockholder recommendation is submitted. You must submit stockholder director candidate recommendations in a written proposal, and each proposal must include all information required and requested by the Stockholder Recommendation Policy.

In order for a stockholder’s candidate to be evaluated and considered as a prospective nominee, you must submit your recommendation to our Corporate Secretary not less than 120 days before the one-year anniversary of the release date of the previous year’s proxy statement. (For example, the release date of the 20162017 proxy statement was April 7, 2016.6, 2017. Stockholder recommendations intended for consideration for the director elections at the 20172018 Annual Meeting hadneeded to be submitted on or before December 8, 2016.7, 2017.) Stockholder recommendations for director nominees must be submitted no later than the close of business on December 7, 20176, 2018 for the 20182019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

Stockholder recommendations for director candidates must be accompanied by a description of each candidate’s qualifications in sufficient detail to permit the Governance Committee to evaluate whether each candidate satisfies the independence, financial literacy and experience requirements of the SEC, NASDAQ or other applicable laws or regulations. Director candidates proposed by stockholders in accordance with the Stockholder Recommendation Policy are evaluated by the Governance Committee in the same manner as any other prospective candidate during the director nominee selection process. We have not engaged and have not paid any fees to any third party for assistance with the director nomination process.

The Governance Committee also considers other relevant factors, such as the balance of management and independent directors, the need for Audit Committee or other Board committee expertise, relevant industry experience and the candidate’s understanding of financial matters and financial sophistication, literacy and proficiency. Our Governance Committee does not have a formal policy with respect to diversity; however, the Governance Committee considers it

desirable if potential nominees complement and contribute to the Board’s overall diversity and composition. In this respect, we broadly construe diversity to mean an array of opinions, perspectives, skills, personal and professional experiences and backgrounds and other distinguished attributes. Diversity is not solely limited to gender, race and ethnicity distinctions; rather, our interpretation of diversity also includes one’s ability to positively contribute to the chemistry and collaborative nature of our Board, as well as one’s personal and professional experiences, aptitude and expertise relevant to our transportation and logistics services industry.

Only independent directors on our Board receive compensation for their service as one of our directors. The independent directors receive an annual compensation package that is designed to attract, motivate and retain highly qualified independent professionals to represent our stockholders. Directors who are employees of the Company do not receive any compensation for their service on our Board of Directors.

Our By-Laws provide that each executive officer holds his or her respective office for a term of one year or until his or her successor becomes duly elected and qualified, except that a term may be (i) longer than one year if such service is specified in an employment contract or (ii) terminated sooner than one year because of death, resignation or otherwise. Pursuant to the By-Laws, our Board of Directors elects our executive officers at the Board’s annual organizational meeting immediately following the annual meeting of stockholders.

The table that follows identifies our current executive officers and the capacities in which they now serve. Set forth following the table is certain biographical information provided to us by these executive officers regarding their acquired business skills and experience.

Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our executive officers and directors, and persons who own more than 10% of our registered class of equity securities (common stock), to file with the SEC reports of beneficial ownership and changes in such beneficial ownership. Executive officers, directors and greater than 10% beneficial owners are required by SEC rules to furnish us copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file. We file Section 16(a) reports on behalf of our executive officers and directors to report their initial and subsequent changes in beneficial ownership of our common stock.

Based solely upon our review of (i) the reports (including any amendments thereto) we filed on behalf of our officers and directors, (ii) copies of such forms furnished to us and (iii) written representations from certain reporting persons that no other reports were required for those persons, we believe that all Section 16(a) filing requirements applicable to our officers, directors and greater than 10% beneficial owners were complied with, in a timely manner, during 2016.2017.

The table below summarizes and compares our key 20162017 and 20152016 financial results.

The Consultant assists the Committee in its evaluation of the compensation for our executives. As part of the 20162017 engagement, the Compensation Committee specifically requested that the Consultant (i) review and recommend a newany changes to the competitive peer group selected in 2016, (ii) prepare an executive compensation benchmarking review to include a competitive analysis of the compensation of the Company'sCompany’s executives in comparison to our peer group, and (iii) review the Company's existingCompany’s new compensation program and philosophy adopted in early 2017 and recommend changes based on the Company'sCompany’s business objectives, compensation trends and best practices to incorporate an appropriate mix of short-term and long-term incentive components and better align pay for performance.

The Consultant reports directly to the Compensation Committee, although it may work in cooperation with management only as required to carry out its obligations to the Compensation Committee. Without the Compensation Committee'sCommittee’s prior approval, the Consultant will not perform any services for us or our management. During 2016,2017, the Company paid fees to the Consultant only for advising the Compensation Committee on the amount or form of executive and director compensation. The Company did not pay the Consultant any fees for additional projects or services.

to create Knight-Swift Transportation and (ii) to add Schneider National, a transportation competitor that became a public company in April 2017. Our competitive peer group for 20162017 is shown in the table below.

The Compensation Committee reviews compensation practices and levels at peer companies during the executive compensation decision-making process so that the Compensation Committee can determine compensation levels in an informed manner and at levels the Compensation Committee believes are reasonably competitive. The Compensation Committee has not historically set compensation elements for each executive to meet specific benchmarks based on peer group data. Instead, we consider these comparisons as one factor in determining executive compensation levels. Generally, the Compensation Committee reviews total compensation levels annually and makes adjustments when job responsibilities, individual performance or market data warrants such modifications. Actual total compensation can vary from year to year based on Company and individual performance.

When determining total compensation, we apply a consistent approach for all Named Executive Officers. The structure and levels of our executive compensation program are determined, in large part, by considering all elements of compensation, rather than only a few components in isolation. Our Compensation Committee evaluates each element individually and also takes into account the position and current total direct compensation of the individual being considered. The Compensation Committee’s determination of compensation levels for our Named Executive Officers therefore differs depending upon these factors. Our Compensation Committee also exercises appropriate business judgment in how it applies these standard approaches to the facts and circumstances involving each respective Named Executive Officer.

The Compensation Committee determines each component of a Named Executive Officer’s compensation based on its collective assessment of the officer’s performance, the Company’s overall financial performance and recommendations of our Executive Chairman and President & CEO. Our Compensation Committee may also request executive compensation guidance and advice from an independent outside consultant when deciding compensation for our Named Executive Officers. The Compensation Committee meets annually (near the end of the year) to review the compensation of our Named Executive Officers. The Compensation Committee also meets during the first quarter of each year to determine the level of attainment of prior year performance objectives as they relate to the cash annual incentive program and the grant of performance stock in the prior yearyears and to consider the cash annual incentive program and granting new equity or incentive compensation awards for the current year and setting performance objectives related to any such grant.each.

When structuring overall compensation practices for our non-executive employees, we consider whether our practices incentivize unreasonable risk-taking behavior and could consequently impact our risk management and oversight. We also evaluate the mix of pay and the elements of our executive compensation programprograms as they apply to employees generally. Our non-executive employee compensation practices are reviewed in the context of current and significant risks to determine if the practices encourage or induce employees to take unreasonable risks, and we also take into account our other policies and procedures that operate to monitor and deter unreasonable risk (such as disciplinary or record-keeping policies). Management also notifies our BoardCompensation Committee of significant and across-the-board modifications to employee compensation practices. We concluded that our non-executive employee compensation practices do not encourage risks that are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on us.

of the compensation to the executive. For 2017, Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code prevents us from taking a tax deduction, in any one taxable year, for non-performance-based compensation in excess of $1 million paid to the CEO and the three next highest compensated executive officers (other than the CFO). We collectively refer to these executives as the “covered employees.” Certain compensation of the covered employees is specifically exempt from the deduction limit to the extent that such compensation does not exceed $1 million during any fiscal year or is “performance-based” as defined in Section 162(m). The Compensation Committee carefully considers and monitors the effect of Section 162(m) on the elements of our executive compensation program and will structure executive compensation to preserve its tax deductibility under Section 162(m) while maintaining our ability to attract, motivate and retain high-quality

Effective January 1, 2018, under the Tax Act, (i) the performance-based exception to Section 162(m) is eliminated and (ii) the definition of compensation paidcovered employee is expanded to include the CFO and certain former executive officers, resulting in 2016 that waspay in excess of $1 million in 2018 or later generally not being deductible under Section 162(m).for the Company, subject to the transition rule for plans and agreements in place on November 2, 2017.

Each of our Named Executive Officers has been an employee of the Company for at least ten years. None of our Named Executive Officers has any type of written employment agreement with us.

Our contributions on behalf of the Named Executive Officers to the 401(k) plan and employee stock purchase plan as well as the years-of-service awards, are made on the same terms as provided to all of our eligible employees in the United States. In addition to the above-mentioned compensation, the Named Executive Officers may also participatedparticipate in voluntary health and welfare benefit programs that are available for all eligible U.S. employees.