Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Income Taxes

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Income Taxes
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2013
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Income Taxes

The Company or one of its subsidiaries files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction, various states and Canada. With a few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to U.S. federal, state and local, or Canadian examinations by tax authorities for years before 2007.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 and 2012, the effective income tax rates varied from the statutory federal income tax rate of 35.0%, primarily as a result of the effect of state income taxes, net of the federal benefit, and permanent differences between book and tax net income. The combined federal and state effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2013 was 36.1% compared to a rate of 38.0% for the same period in 2012.  The reduction in the effective tax rate was primarily due to the 2013 retroactive reinstatement of alternative fuel tax credits for 2012 and benefits obtained from disqualified dispositions by employees of previously non-deductible incentive stock options.