Heartland Express Makes Announcement Concerning Chief Executive Officer Russell Gerdin

CORALVILLE, Iowa--March 24, 2006--Heartland Express, Inc. . The company's board of directors issued the following statement: "Recognizing our responsibility to make public significant events in our organization, we regret to announce that our chief executive officer, Russell Gerdin, was diagnosed with liver cancer this week. In the near term, we expect Mr. Gerdin to devote a significant amount of his time and energy to battling the disease. During this time, Heartland's day-to-day operations will be managed by the remaining senior management team. We have a deep and talented team that has produced industry-leading profitability for many years. The five senior executives other than Mr. Gerdin have a combined 111 years of management experience at Heartland. We have great confidence in the team's ability to continue executing Heartland's operating model."