C.H. Robinson Announces It Will Expense Stock Options.

Business Editors

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 5, 2004

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. ("C.H. Robinson") (Nasdaq:CHRW), today reported that it has adopted the fair value recognition method of accounting as provided in Financial Accounting Standards Board SFAS No. 123, rather than the intrinsic value method as previously used, effective for 2004. With the adoption of the SFAS 123 fair value method, C.H. Robinson will expense its stock options and the discount granted to employees on C.H. Robinson shares purchased through the company's employee stock purchase program. C.H. Robinson will retroactively apply this provision to its financial information for prior periods in order to provide investors with comparable results in the current and coming years.

The income statement impact of this adoption was discussed in Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in C.H. Robinson's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 15, 2004. The adoption results in an increase to personnel expenses of $7.5 million in 2003 and $7.6 million in 2002, and a decrease to diluted earnings per share of $0.08 in 2003 and $0.07 in 2002. C.H. Robinson expects the impact for 2004 to be approximately the same as 2003, with the personnel expense impacts in future years declining by approximately $2.0 million per year until 2008 when all existing option grants have fully vested.

"We have recently switched our primary equity incentives for employees to restricted stock grants which vest based on company performance. We believe that restricted stock will better align our employees' interests with those of our shareholders," said Chad M. Lindbloom, vice president and chief financial officer of C.H. Robinson. "With the move to restricted stock, we believe retroactively adopting the fair value provisions of SFAS 123 will provide the most meaningful comparisons of our results."

Founded in 1905, C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc., is one of the largest third-party logistics companies in North America. C.H. Robinson is a global provider of multimodal transportation services and logistics solutions, serving 16,000 customers through a network of 159 offices in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. C.H. Robinson maintains one of the largest networks of motor carrier capacity in North America through contracts with more than 25,000 motor carriers, and is one of the largest third-party providers of intermodal services in the United States.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this release are forward-looking statements that represent our expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies concerning future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our historical experience or our present expectations, including, but not limited to such factors as market demand and pressures on the pricing for our services; competition and growth rates within the third-party logistics industry; freight levels and availability of truck capacity or alternative means of transporting freight, and changes in relationships with existing truck, rail, ocean and air carriers; changes in our customer base due to possible consolidation among our customers; the impact of new Hours of Service regulations adopted by the United States Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration; our ability to integrate the operations of acquired companies with our historic operations successfully; risks associated with litigation and insurance coverage; risks associated with operations outside of the U.S.; changing economic conditions such as general economic slowdown, decreased consumer confidence, fuel shortages and the impact of war on the economy; and other risk and uncertainties detailed under "Cautionary Statement" in Exhibit 99.1 to C.H. Robinson's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 15, 2004.

                    C. H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC.
          CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT - Restated
                              (unaudited)
                 (In thousands, except per share data)



                                     Quarters Ended 2003,
                          March    June   September December    YTD
                        ----------------------------------------------
Gross profits           $133,091 $136,025  $135,821 $139,911 $544,848

Personnel expenses        69,192   69,629    69,178   71,009  279,008
Other selling, general
 and administrative
 expenses                 22,412   22,126    21,755   23,501   89,794
                        ----------------------------------------------
Total selling, general
 and administrative
 expenses                 91,604   91,755    90,933   94,510  368,802
                        ----------------------------------------------

Income from operations    41,487   44,270    44,888   45,401  176,046
Total investment and
 other income                344    1,050       344      850    2,588
                        ----------------------------------------------
Income before provision
 for income taxes         41,831   45,320    45,232   46,251  178,634

                        ----------------------------------------------
Provision for income
 taxes                    16,691   18,099    18,020   18,455   71,265
                        ----------------------------------------------
Net income               $25,140  $27,221   $27,212  $27,796 $107,369

Diluted weighted average
 shares outstanding       85,623   86,126    86,228   86,299   86,069
Diluted net income per
 share                     $0.29    $0.32     $0.32    $0.32    $1.25

                                     Quarters Ended 2002,
                          March    June   September December    YTD
                        ----------------------------------------------
Gross profits           $113,597 $121,570  $123,084 $125,527 $483,778

Personnel expenses        60,769   60,563    61,189   61,800  244,321
Other selling, general
 and administrative
 expenses                 20,873   21,965    21,486   26,201   90,525
                        ----------------------------------------------
Total selling, general
 and administrative
 expenses                 81,642   82,528    82,675   88,001  334,846
                        ----------------------------------------------

Income from operations    31,955   39,042    40,409   37,526  148,932
Total investment and
 other income                328      352       180      474    1,334
                        ----------------------------------------------
Income before provision
 for income taxes         32,283   39,394    40,589   38,000  150,266
Provision for income
 taxes                    12,990   15,844    16,382   15,252   60,468
                        ----------------------------------------------
Net income               $19,293  $23,550   $24,207  $22,748  $89,798

Diluted weighted average
 shares outstanding       85,978   85,980    85,500   85,569   85,757
Diluted net income per
 share                     $0.22    $0.27     $0.28    $0.27    $1.05