USFreightways Corp. said today it would have first-quarter costs of $70 million for an accounting change. The trucking company will write down goodwill, the difference between the value of assets acquired and the price paid, for its USF Worldwide freight-forwarding unit under new accounting rules.
The Chicago-based company said it will no longer routinely write down goodwill gradually, a process that reduced per-share results by 17 cents last year. New guidelines call for companies to leave goodwill on balance sheets and test it periodically.