EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 928658
Filing Year: 2025
Filename: 928658_10-K_2025_0001437749-25-005696.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
ITEM 1.
BUSINESS
GENERAL
Background and Strategy
We were founded in 1986 as a provider of expedited freight transportation, primarily using two-person driver teams in transcontinental lanes. Since that time, we have grown from 25 tractors to approximately 2,300 tractors and expanded our services to include a wide array of transportation and logistics services for our customers. We are strategically focused on continuing to integrate into the supply chain of our customers and reducing our seasonal and cyclical volatility. Our 2018 acquisition of Landair Holdings, Inc., Landair Transport, LLC, Landair Logistics, LLC, and Landair Leasing, Inc. (collectively, "Landair"), our 2022 acquisition of AAT Carriers, Inc. ("AAT"), and our 2023 acquisitions of Lew Thompson & Son Trucking, LLC, Lew Thompson & Son Leasing LLC, Lew Thompson & Son Dedicated Leasing, LLC, Josh Thompson Trucking, LLC (collectively "LTST") and Sims Transport Services LLC ("Sims") are examples of that commitment. Landair is a leading dedicated truckload carrier and supplier of transportation management, warehousing, and logistics inventory management systems. AAT specializes in highly regulated, time-sensitive loads for the U.S. government. LTST specializes in poultry feed and live haul transportation. Sims is a specialized brokerage company.
As our fleet has grown over almost four decades and our service platform matured, several important trends dramatically affected the truckload industry and our business. First, supply chain patterns became more fluid in response to dynamic changes in labor and transportation costs, ocean freight and rail-intermodal service standards, retail distribution center networks, governmental regulations, and other industry-wide factors. Second, the cost structure of the truckload business rose dramatically, particularly equipment, driver wages, insurance premiums, and, at times, fuel prices, impacting us and our customers' freight decisions. Third, customers used technology to constantly optimize their supply chains, which necessitated expanding our own technological capability to optimize our asset allocation, manage yields, and drive operational efficiency. Fourth, a confluence of regulatory constraints, safety and security demands, and scarcity of qualified driver applicants, negatively impacted our asset productivity and reinforced what a precious resource professional truck drivers are (and we believe increasingly will be) in our industry.
We are proud of the operational improvements we have made in recent years, in spite of rising casualty insurance costs and the challenging supply shortage of professional drivers. We believe we have made significant progress in achieving our strategic plan, but remain focused on seven initiatives that fall under the following key tenets:
● Organizational Excellence and Entrepreneurial Spirit. In 2022, we initiated changes to our senior leadership team as part of our long term succession plan and continued to focus on metrics, accountability, and ownership.
● Focus on the Driver. Drivers are the lifeblood of our company and our industry. We employ a broad range of safety, lifestyle, compensation, equipment technology, and personal recognition methods to convey our respect and appreciation for our drivers and to improve their careers. A portion of these techniques involve analytics to identify likely candidates, match teams, evaluate recruiting spending, deliver training content to drivers, and design tractor specifications.
● Focus on the Customer Experience. We offer premium service in sectors where we can make a difference, and we use our brokerage services to cover loads that cannot be as efficiently serviced through our asset based transportation services. With each interaction, we seek to enhance the value we bring to the customer relationship.
● Rigorous Capital Allocation Process. Our senior management evaluates capital investment opportunities against available capital and acceptable leverage levels, and material investments must pass return on investment and capital investment committee approval processes. Our leverage ratio increased in 2024 as compared to the prior year, as we remain focused on investing capital when we can obtain acceptable returns while maintaining lower leverage than we have historically. During 2023 we completed our revenue equipment replacement plan to bring our trade cycle back to normalized levels. We believe our disciplined investment review has contributed to our improved results by allocating capital to more profitable business units and downsizing other units into greater profitability. In January 2022, our Board of Directors (the "Board") approved a quarterly cash dividend program of $0.03125 per share, which was increased to $0.04 per share in August 2022 and $0.055 per share in February 2023.
● Risk Management-Assess and Mitigate. We evaluate risk areas with significant volatility, as well as the costs and benefits associated with mitigating the volatility. In 2022, the Board established a Risk Committee focused on identification, evaluation, and mitigation of operational, strategic, and environment risks, as well as monitoring and approving risk policies and associated practices for the Company. The Board believes an actively engaged Risk Committee is vital in recognizing and managing key risks facing the Company. Diesel fuel prices, interest rates, safety, driver retention, insurance and claims cost, and used equipment prices are all areas where we identified significant risk and volatility for our business. To manage these risks, we have at times employed fuel hedging contracts on a portion of our fuel usage not covered by customer fuel surcharges, maintain lower self-insured accident liability retention when economically feasible, and expanded our ability to sell our used equipment to increase bargaining power with the tractor and trailer manufacturers.
● Technology. We purchase and deploy technology that we believe will allow us to operate more safely, securely, and efficiently. Our operational information systems are tailored to the needs of our various service offerings, utilizing software developed internally and purchased off-the-shelf depending on the operational needs. We will continue to seek out technology to improve efficiencies and expand our resources while still providing enterprise wide visibility for critical operating functions.
● Safety. The Company experienced another record setting year, as measured by accident rates. The DOT accident rate per million miles, as defined by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ("FMCSA"), decreased 1% year over year and was the lowest in the Company’s history. We believe that the key to the improved safety results remains a combination of training, consistent and proactive coaching, utilizing proven safety technologies, and consistent collaboration between all of our business units. The expansion of our safety training program has allowed us to further increase new driver training and sustain consistent messaging around the culture of safety. During 2024, we continued to expand implementation of several safety related technologies, including telematics, predictive analytics programs, enhancing usage of our dorm/training facility, and ongoing adoption of truck manufacturer preventative systems. Each of these areas focus on sustainable safety performance for the enterprise.
We believe the ongoing execution of our strategic plan has contributed to the substantial improvement in operating results and profitability we have generated over the past several years. Some of the significant successes resulting from our strategic planning efforts include the Landair Acquisition in 2018; consolidation of our back-office operations; enhancements to recruiting, retention, and business intelligence; upgraded information technology; focus on service and on time delivery; sale of TFS; the acquisition of AAT in 2022; and the acquisition of LTST and Sims in 2023. Each of these accomplishments positively impacted the success of the key initiatives identified above, our overarching financial goals, and ultimately, the Company. However, we still have significant work ahead to achieve our goals, deliver a strong and stable product for our customers, provide a bright future for our employees and independent contractors, and create meaningful value for our stockholders.
The Company
We operate a relatively new tractor fleet and employ sophisticated tractor technology that enhances our operational efficiencies and our drivers' safety. Our company-owned tractor fleet has an average age of approximately 1.6 years, compared to an average U.S. Class 8 tractor age of approximately 5.7 years in 2024. Some of the technologies we employ include the following: (1) freight optimization software that can perform sophisticated analyses of profitability and other measures on each customer, route, and load; (2) routing software that selects the best route, identifies fuel stops, and warns of deviations from routing instructions; (3) a tracking and communications system that permits direct communication between drivers and fleet managers, as well as constant location and delivery updates; (4) electronic logging devices (“ELDs”) in all of our tractors; (5) aerodynamics and other fuel efficiency systems that have significantly improved fuel mileage; and (6) safety technology, including rollover stability control, collision mitigation, adaptive cruise control, and lane-change warning. We believe our modern fleet lowers maintenance costs, improves fuel mileage, improves safety, contributes to better customer service, and assists with driver retention.
Reportable Segments and Service Offerings
Our asset based transportation services include two separate reportable segments: (i) Expedited and (ii) Dedicated, both of which transport full trailer loads of freight from origin to destination with minimal intermediate stops or handling. We provide truckload transportation services primarily throughout the continental United States utilizing equipment we own or lease or equipment owned by independent contractors. Our Expedited reportable segment transports freight over nonroutine routes. Our Dedicated reportable segment provides similar transportation services, but does so pursuant to agreements whereby we make our equipment available to a specific customer for shipments over particular routes at specified times.
To complement our asset based transportation services, we also offer non-asset based or asset light logistics services through our Managed Freight reportable segment. Our Managed Freight reportable segment relies heavily on technology and provides: (i) freight brokerage ("Brokerage") and (ii) transportation management services (“TMS”) to our customers.
Lastly, to further our goal of becoming more critical throughout the supply chain, we offer day-to-day warehouse management services through our Warehousing reportable segment. At this point we own no Warehouse facilities but either lease space coterminous with the underlying customer contract or manage the customer's facility.
Our combined asset based and non-asset based capabilities, allow us to transport many types of freight for a diverse customer base. We concentrate on service offerings where we believe our capacity in relation to sector size and our operating proficiency can make a meaningful difference to customers. The primary service offerings are further described below:
●
Expedited: In our Expedited business, we operate approximately 900 tractors substantially all of which are driven by two-person driver teams. The Expedited reportable segment primarily provides truckload services to customers with high service freight and delivery standards, such as 1,000 miles in 22 hours, or 15-minute delivery windows. Expedited services generally require two-person driver teams on equipment either owned or leased by the Company.
●
Dedicated: In our Dedicated business, we operate approximately 1,400 tractors, substantially all of which are driven by a solo driver. The Dedicated reportable segment provides customers with committed truckload capacity over contracted periods with the goal of three to five years in length. Equipment is either owned or leased by the Company.
●
Managed Freight: Our Managed Freight reportable segment, includes our brokerage services and TMS. Brokerage services provide logistics capacity by outsourcing the carriage of customers' freight to third-parties. TMS provides comprehensive logistics services on a contractual basis to customers who prefer to outsource their logistics needs.
●
Warehousing: The Warehousing reportable segment provides day-to-day warehouse management services to customers who have chosen to outsource this function. We also provide shuttle and switching services related to shuttling containers and trailers in or around freight yards and to/from warehouses.
Additionally, we participate in the market for used equipment sales and leasing through our 49% ownership of Transport Enterprise Leasing, LLC (“TEL”).
The following table reflects the size of each of our reportable segments measured by 2024 total revenue, net of fuel surcharge revenue, which we refer to as "freight revenue":
Distribution of Freight Revenue Among Service Offerings
Expedited
%
Dedicated
%
Managed Freight
%
Warehousing
%
Total
%
In our Expedited and Dedicated reportable segments, we generate revenue by transporting freight for our customers. Generally, we are paid a predetermined rate per mile for our truckload services. We enhance our truckload revenue by charging for tractor and trailer detention, loading and unloading activities, and other specialized services, as well as through the collection of fuel surcharges to mitigate the impact of increases in the cost of fuel. The main factors that could affect our Expedited and Dedicated revenue are the revenue per mile we receive from our customers, the percentage of miles for which we are compensated, and the number of shipments and miles we generate. These factors relate, among other things, to the general level of economic activity in the United States, inventory levels, specific customer demand, the level of truck capacity in the trucking industry, and driver availability.
The main expenses that impact the profitability of our Expedited and Dedicated reportable segments are the variable costs of transporting freight for our customers. These costs include fuel expenses, driver-related expenses, such as wages, benefits, training, and recruitment, and purchased transportation expenses, which primarily include compensating independent contractors. Expenses that have both fixed and variable components include maintenance and tire expense and our total cost of insurance and claims. These expenses generally vary with the miles we travel, but also have a controllable component based on safety, self-insured retention versus insurance premiums, fleet age, efficiency, and other factors. Historically, our main fixed costs include rentals and depreciation of long-term assets, such as revenue equipment and terminal facilities, and the compensation of non-driver personnel.
We measure the productivity of our Expedited reportable segment with three key performance metrics: average freight revenue per total mile, average miles per tractor and average freight revenue per tractor per week. We primarily measure the productivity of our Dedicated reportable segment with the average freight revenue per tractor per week metric. A description of each follows:
Average Freight Revenue Per Total Mile. Our average freight revenue per total mile is primarily a function of 1) the allocation of assets among our subsidiaries, 2) the macro U.S. economic environment including supply/demand of freight and carriers, and 3) individual negotiations with customers.
Average Miles Per Tractor. Average miles per tractor reflect 1) economic demand, 2) driver availability, 3) regulatory constraints, and 4) the allocation of tractors among the service offerings.
Average Freight Revenue Per Tractor Per Week. We use average freight revenue per tractor per week as our main measure of asset productivity. This operating metric accumulates the effects of freight rates, non-revenue miles, and miles per tractor. In addition, because we calculate average freight revenue per tractor using all of our tractors, it takes into account the percentage of our fleet that is unproductive due to lack of drivers, repairs, and other factors.
A summary of these metrics for our Expedited reportable segment for 2024 and 2023 is as follows:
Average freight revenue per total mile
$ 2.09
$ 2.13
Average miles per tractor
185,340
183,717
Average freight revenue per tractor per week
$ 7,416
$ 7,501
A summary of the key performance metrics for our Dedicated reportable segment for 2024 and 2023 is as follows:
Average freight revenue per total mile
$ 2.88
$ 2.67
Average miles per tractor
80,556
81,387
Average freight revenue per tractor per week
$ 4,436
$ 4,162
Within our Managed Freight reportable segment, we derive revenue from providing Brokerage and TMS services, particularly arranging transportation services for customers directly and through relationships with thousands of third-party carriers and integration with our Expedited reportable segment. Additionally, utilizing technology and process management to provide detailed visibility into a customer’s movement of freight - inbound and outbound - throughout the customer’s network providing focused customer support through multi-year contracts. We provide Brokerage services directly and through agents, who are paid a commission for the freight they provide. The main factors that impact profitability in terms of expenses are the variable costs of outsourcing the transportation freight for our customers and managing fixed costs, including purchased transportation, salaries, facility warehousing costs, and selling, general, and administrative expenses.
Within our Warehousing reportable segment we empower customers to outsource warehousing management including moving containers and trailers in or around freight yards. The main factors that impact profitability in terms of expenses are managing fixed costs, including salaries, facility warehousing costs, and selling, general, and administrative expenses.
In May 2011, we acquired a 49.0% interest in TEL. TEL is a tractor and trailer equipment leasing company and used equipment reseller. We have accounted for our investment in TEL using the equity method of accounting and thus our financial results include our proportionate share of TEL's net income since May 2011, or $14.7 million in 2024 and $21.4 million in 2023.
Refer to Note 17, "Segment Information," of the accompanying consolidated financial statements for further information about our reportable segments' operating and financial results.
Customers and Operations
We focus on targeted markets throughout the United States where we believe our service standards can provide a competitive advantage. We are a major carrier for transportation companies such as parcel freight forwarders, less-than-truckload carriers, and third-party logistics providers that require a high level of service to support their businesses, as well as for traditional truckload customers such as manufacturers, retailers, and food and beverage shippers. Additionally, we provide poultry feed and live haul transportation, as well as highly regulated, time sensitive loads for the U.S. government.
We had one customer, serviced by our Expedited, Managed Freight, and Warehousing reportable segments, that accounted for more than 10% of our consolidated revenue in 2024 and one customer, serviced by our Expedited and Managed Freight reportable segments, that accounted for more than 10% of our consolidated revenue in 2023. Our top ten customers accounted for approximately 45% and 44% of our total revenue in 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Within our asset based transportation service offerings (Expedited and Dedicated), we operate tractors driven by a single driver and also tractors assigned to two-person driver teams. Our single driver tractors generally operate in shorter lengths of haul, generate fewer miles per tractor, and experience more non-revenue miles, but the lower productive miles are expected to be offset by generally higher revenue per loaded mile and the reduced employee expense of compensating only one driver. In contrast, our two-person driver tractors generally operate in longer lengths of haul, generate greater miles per tractor, and experience fewer non-revenue miles, but we typically receive lower revenue per loaded mile and incur higher employee expenses of compensating both drivers. We expect operating statistics and expenses to shift with the mix of single and team operations.
Our reportable segments operate on a variety of operating systems to maximize the effectiveness of the unique attributes associated with each service offering. We have one primary financial system and continue to focus on cloud based solutions for data storage versus storing on local servers when possible. We continue to evaluate where we can leverage technology to add further efficiencies across the Company and for our customers.
Drivers and Other Personnel
Driver recruitment, retention, and satisfaction are essential to our success, and we have made each of these factors a primary element of our strategy. We recruit both experienced and student drivers as well as independent contractor drivers who own and drive their own tractor and provide their services to us under contract. We conduct recruiting and/or driver orientation efforts from four of our locations, and we offer ongoing training throughout our terminal network. We emphasize driver-friendly operations throughout our organization. We have implemented automated programs to signal when a driver is scheduled to be routed toward home, and we assign fleet managers specific tractors, regardless of geographic region, to foster positive relationships between the drivers and their principal contact with us.
The truckload industry has experienced difficulty in attracting and retaining enough qualified truck drivers. It is also common for the driver turnover rate of individual carriers to exceed 100% in a year. At times, there are driver shortages in the trucking industry. In past years, when there were driver shortages, the number of qualified drivers had not kept pace with freight growth because of (i) changes in the demographic composition of the workforce; (ii) alternative employment opportunities other than truck driving; (iii) individual drivers' desire to be home more often; and (iv) regulatory requirements that limit the available pool of drivers.
Our average number of teams as a percentage of our seated fleet increased for 2024 as compared to 2023. Our average open tractors, including wrecked tractors, decreased to 3.3% for the year ended December 31, 2024, from approximately 4.8% for the year ended December 31, 2023.
Independent contractors provide a tractor and a driver and are responsible for all operating expenses in exchange for a fixed payment per mile. We do not have the capital outlay of purchasing the tractor. The payments to independent contractors are recorded in revenue equipment rentals and purchased transportation. When independent contractor tractors are utilized, we avoid expenses generally associated with company-owned equipment, such as driver compensation, fuel, interest, and depreciation. Obtaining equipment from independent contractors and under operating leases effectively shifts financing expenses from interest to "above the line" operating expenses.
We continue to educate our drivers and non-driver personnel regarding the FMCSA Compliance Safety Accountability program ("CSA"). We believe CSA, in conjunction with other U.S. Department of Transportation ("DOT") regulations, including those related to hours-of-service and ELDs, has reduced and will likely continue to impact effective capacity in our industry as well as negatively impact equipment utilization. Nevertheless, for carriers that are able to successfully manage this regulation-laden environment with driver-friendly equipment, compensation, and operations, we believe opportunities to increase market share may be available. Driver pay may increase as a result of regulation and economic expansion, which could provide more alternative employment opportunities. In periods of economic growth, however, the supply/demand environment may be favorable enough for us to offset expected compensation increases with better freight pricing.
We use driver teams in a substantial portion of our tractors. Driver teams permit us to provide expedited service on selected long haul lanes because teams are able to handle longer routes and drive more miles while remaining within DOT hours-of-service rules. The use of teams contributes to greater equipment utilization of the tractors they drive than obtained with single drivers. The use of teams, however, increases the accumulation of miles on tractors and trailers, personnel costs as a percentage of revenue, and the number of drivers we must recruit.
We are not a party to any collective bargaining agreement. At December 31, 2024, we employed approximately 3,100 drivers and approximately 1,700 non-driver personnel. At December 31, 2024, we engaged 109 independent contractor drivers.
Revenue Equipment
At December 31, 2024, we operated 2,307 tractors and 6,445 trailers. Of such tractors, 2,196 tractors were owned, 2 tractors were financed under operating or finance leases, and 109 tractors were provided by independent contractors, who own and drive their own tractors. Of such trailers, 5,804 trailers were owned, 641 trailers were held under operating or finance leases. Furthermore, at December 31, 2024, approximately 71% of our trailers were dry vans, 12% of our trailers were refrigerated vans, and the remaining trailers were specialty trailers related to our poultry business.
We believe that operating high quality, late-model equipment contributes to operating efficiency, helps us recruit and retain drivers, and is an important part of providing excellent service to customers. We operate a modern fleet of tractors, with the majority of tractors under warranty, to minimize repair and maintenance costs and reduce service interruptions caused by breakdowns. We also order most of our equipment with uniform specifications to reduce our parts inventory and facilitate maintenance. At December 31, 2024, our tractor fleet had an average age of approximately 1.6 years, and our trailer fleet had an average age of approximately 5.7 years. We equip our tractors with a satellite-based tracking and communications system that permits direct communication between drivers and fleet managers. We believe that this system enhances our operating efficiency and improves customer service and fleet management. This system also updates the tractor's position approximately every fifteen minutes, which allows us and our customers to locate freight and accurately estimate pick-up and delivery times. We also use the system to monitor engine idling time, speed, performance, and other factors that affect operating efficiency. At December 31, 2024, all of our tractors were equipped with ELDs, which electronically monitor tractor miles and facilitate enforcement of hours-of-service regulations.
Over the past decade, the price of new tractors has risen dramatically and there has been significant volatility in the used equipment market. This has substantially increased our costs of operation. Tractor and trailer manufacturers have recently experienced periodic shortages of certain component parts and supplies, including semi-conductor chips, forcing many such manufacturers to curtail or suspend their production, which could lead to a lower supply of tractors and trailers, higher prices, and lengthened trade cycles, and which could lead to, among other things, higher maintenance expense and driver retention.
In an effort to improve our driver experience, service and operating cost, we made the decision in 2022 to aggressively reduce the average age of our equipment. We did this through the combination of acquiring additional unbudgeted trucks in the fourth quarter of 2022 and increasing our original tractor order for 2023. During the fourth quarter of 2022 we made significant progress on the plan but incurred unusual expense from two items: (i) an early lease abandonment and disposal charge and (ii) excess equipment due to delivery of a large number of new tractors combined with delays in removing existing leased tractors from operations. During 2024 we maintained an average age for tractors comparable to that of 2023 at 1.6 years. Our baseline expectation for net capital equipment expenditures in 2025 is $70 million to $80 million and reflects our priorities of growing our dedicated footprint, maintaining the average age of our fleet in a manner that allows us to optimize operational uptime and related operating costs, and offering a fleet of equipment that our professional drivers are proud to operate.
Industry and Competition
The truckload market is the largest portion of the for-hire ground freight transportation market based on revenue, surpassing the combined market size of less-than-truckload, railroad, intermodal, and parcel delivery combined. The truckload market is further segmented into sectors such as regional dry van, temperature-controlled van, flatbed, dedicated contract, expedited, and irregular route.
The U.S. trucking industry is highly competitive and includes thousands of "for-hire" motor carriers, none of which dominate the market. Service and price are the principal means of competition in the trucking industry. We compete to some extent with railroads and rail-truck intermodal service but attempt to differentiate ourselves from our competition on the basis of service. Rail and rail-truck intermodal movements are more often subject to delays and disruptions arising from rail yard congestion, which reduce the effectiveness of such service to customers with time-definite pick-up and delivery schedules. Historically, in times of high fuel prices or decreased consumer demand, however, rail-intermodal competition has been more significant.
Our industry is subject to dynamic factors that significantly affect our operating results. These factors include the availability of qualified truck drivers, the volume of freight in the sectors we serve, the price of diesel fuel, and government regulations that impact productivity and costs. Recently, our industry has experienced decreased freight demand, volatile fuel costs, tight new and used equipment market, scarcity of qualified truck drivers, and regulations that limit productivity. As we look toward 2025, we do not see anything in the first half of the year that would indicate a near-term recovery of the freight market. We anticipate a continuation of difficult conditions where capacity continues to exit the market at a rate that yields steady but modest improvement. In the first quarter, we expect our revenue and earnings to decline, reflecting normal seasonality and the temporary headwinds of severe inclement weather conditions, year over year rate reductions in our Expedited segment and incremental costs associated with a large new customer startup within our Dedicated segment. Despite these short-term headwinds, we believe our more resilient operating model, together with the steps we have taken to reduce costs and inefficiencies, have positioned us well for another successful year.
We believe that the cost and complexity of operating trucking fleets are increasing and that economic and competitive pressures are likely to force many smaller competitors and private fleets to consolidate or exit the industry. As a result, we believe that larger, better-capitalized companies, like us, will have opportunities to increase profit margins and gain market share. In the market for dedicated services, we believe that truckload carriers, like us, have a competitive advantage over truck lessors, which are the other major participants in the market, because we expect to be able to offer lower prices by utilizing back-haul freight within our network that traditional lessors may not have.
Regulation
Transportation Regulations
Our operations are regulated and licensed by various U.S. agencies. Our company drivers and independent contractors also must comply with the safety and fitness regulations of the DOT, including those relating to drug and alcohol testing and hours-of-service. Such matters as weight and equipment dimensions are also subject to U.S. regulations. We also may become subject to new or more restrictive regulations relating to fuel emissions, drivers' hours-of-service, ergonomics, or other matters affecting safety or operating methods. Other agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA"), the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS"), and the U.S. Department of Defense also regulate our equipment, operations, drivers, and environment.
The DOT, through the FMCSA, imposes safety and fitness regulations on us and our drivers, including rules that restrict driver hours-of-service. Changes to such hours-of-service rules can negatively impact our productivity and affect our operations and profitability by reducing the number of hours per day or week our drivers may operate and/or disrupting our network. In recent years, the FMCSA has made changes to the hours-of-service rules to provide greater flexibility to truck drivers regarding their 30-minute rest breaks, an extension of the shorthaul exemption by an additional two hours, and an extension of duty time for drivers encountering adverse weather by up to two hours. Certain industry groups have challenged these hours-of-service rules in court, and while the FMCSA's final rule has been upheld, it remains unclear if industry or other groups will bring additional challenges against the FMCSA's final rule. Any future changes to hours-of-service rules could materially and adversely affect our operations and profitability. Future rulemaking relating to ELD may occur and any final rules could affect our ELD technology, compliance, usage, and compliance efforts.
The DOT uses two methods of evaluating the safety and fitness of carriers. The first method is the application of a safety rating that is based on an onsite investigation and affects a carrier’s ability to operate in interstate commerce. All of our subsidiaries with operating authority currently have a satisfactory DOT safety rating under this method, which is the highest available rating under the current safety rating scale. If we received a conditional or unsatisfactory DOT safety rating, it could adversely affect our business, as some of our existing customer contracts require a satisfactory DOT safety rating.
In addition to the safety rating system, the FMCSA has adopted the CSA program as an additional safety enforcement and compliance model that evaluates and ranks fleets on certain safety-related standards. The CSA program analyzes data from roadside inspections, moving violations, crash reports from the last two years, and investigation results. The data is organized into seven categories (such categories known as the "BASICs"). Carriers are grouped by category with other carriers that have a similar number of safety events (e.g., crashes, inspections, or violations) and carriers are ranked and assigned a rating percentile to prioritize them for interventions if they are above a certain threshold. Generally, these scores do not have a direct impact on a carrier’s safety rating. However, the occurrence of unfavorable scores in one or more categories may (i) affect driver recruiting and retention by causing high-quality drivers to seek employment with other carriers, (ii) cause our customers to direct their business away from us and to carriers with higher fleet rankings, (iii) subject us to an increase in compliance reviews and roadside inspections, (iv) cause us to incur greater than expected expenses in our attempts to improve unfavorable scores or (v) increase our insurance costs, any of which could adversely affect our results of operations and profitability.
Under the CSA, these scores were initially made available to the public in five of the seven categories. However, pursuant to the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (the "FAST Act"), the FMCSA was required to remove from public view the previously available CSA scores while it reviews the reliability of the scoring system. During this period of review by the FMCSA, we will continue to have access to our own scores and will still be subject to intervention by the FMCSA when such scores are above the intervention thresholds. A study was conducted and delivered to the FMCSA with several recommendations to make the CSA program more fair, accurate, and reliable. The FMCSA provided a report to Congress outlining the changes it may make to the CSA program in response to the study. Such changes include the testing and possible adoption of a revised risk modeling theory, potential collection and dissemination of additional carrier data and revised measures for intervention thresholds. The adoption of such changes is contingent on the results of the new modeling theory and additional public feedback. Therefore, it is unclear if, when and to what extent such changes to the CSA program will occur.
In February 2023, the FMCSA published a notice of proposed changes to its Safety Measurement System (“SMS”) methodology, including the BASIC categories. In August 2023, the FMCSA announced in an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking and request for comments that it was interested in developing a new methodology to determine whether a carrier is fit to operate commercial motor vehicles ("CMVs" or a "CMV"). Additionally, the U.S. Government Accountability Office made a suggestion in 2023 to the FMCSA to make complaint data public. In November 2024, the FMCSA published a notice announcing a revised SMS methodology implementing certain changes proposed in the February 2023 notice, including, among other changes, (i) rebranding BASICs as "Compliance Categories" and revising certain categories, (ii) consolidating existing road violations into simplified and distinct violation groups and simplifying the scale used to measure the severity of violations, (iii) adjusting intervention thresholds, and (iv) revising the SMS methodology to focus more heavily on recent violations. Whether this revised SMS methodology will take effect is uncertain; however, any change which results in the Company or its subsidiaries receiving less favorable scores, or an increased visibility of less favorable scores or of complaints against the Company may have an adverse effect on our operations and financial position. Moreover, in September 2023, the FMCSA announced a proposal that would allow carriers to undergo an appeal process for requests of data review, which are in relation to such requests through the agency’s DataQs system. The proposal, if adopted, may provide an opportunity for the Company to appeal in certain scenarios which could result in more favorable outcomes. Another source of potential changes may be from the FMCSA’s study on the causation of crashes, known as the Crash Causal Factors Program (“CCFP”) which builds upon the FMCSA’s previous Large Truck Crash Causation Study. Phase 1 of the CCFP is designed to study crashes of heavy-duty trucks and a report from Phase 1 of the CCFP is expected in 2029. Any changes that increase the likelihood of us receiving unfavorable scores could adversely affect our results of operations and profitability.
In 2020, the FMCSA announced that it would permanently implement the Crash Preventability Demonstration Program ("CPDP"), which does not count crashes when motor carriers are not at fault while calculating a carrier’s safety measurement profile. The CPDP will expand the types of eligible crashes, modifies the SMS to exclude crashes with not preventable determinations from the prioritization algorithm and notes the not preventable determinations in the Pre-Employment Screening Program. Under the program, may submit a Request for Data Review with the required police accident report and other supporting documents, photos or videos through the FMCSA’s DataQs website. If the FMCSA determines the crash was not preventable, it will be listed on the SMS but not included when calculating a carrier’s BASICs measure for the crash indicator category in SMS.
Currently, certain of our subsidiaries are exceeding the established thresholds in one or more of the BASICs categories, in comparison to their peer groups; however, they all continue to maintain a satisfactory rating with the DOT. We will continue to promote improvement of these scores in all seven categories with ongoing reviews of all safety-related policies, programs, and procedures for their effectiveness.
There is a national clearinghouse for drug and alcohol testing results that requires motor carriers and medical review officers to provide records of violations by commercial drivers of FMCSA drug and alcohol testing requirements. Motor carriers are required to query the clearinghouse to ensure drivers and driver applicants do not have violations of federal drug and alcohol testing regulations that prohibit them from operating CMVs. Currently, the Company is required to (i) report drug and alcohol violations to the clearinghouse; (ii) query the clearinghouse regarding drug and alcohol violations for current and prospective employees prior to permitting such employees to operate a CMV; and (iii) query the clearinghouse for each currently employed driver annually. In November 2024, a new rule referred to by the FMCSA as "Clearinghouse II," a program that relates to drivers with drug and alcohol violations took effect. Under Clearinghouse II, a driver with a drug or alcohol violation resulting in a "Prohibited" status in the Clearinghouse may not operate a CMV and must complete the FMCSA's return to duty education, treatment, and testing prior to regaining CMV driving privileges. With Clearinghouse II now in effect, states will be required to query the Clearinghouse when issuing, renewing, transferring, or upgrading a commercial driver's license and must revoke a driver's commercial driving privileges if such driver is prohibited from driving a motor vehicle for one or more drug or alcohol violations. It is expected that the rule may further impair the availability of an already weak driver pool.
In 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (“DHHS”) announced proposed mandatory guidelines to allow employers to drug test truck drivers and other federal workers for pre-employment and random testing using hair specimens. However, the proposal also requires a second sample using either urine or an oral fluid test if a hair test is positive, if a donor is unable to provide a sufficient amount of hair for faith-based or medical reasons, or due to an insufficient amount or length of hair. The proposal specifically requires that the second test be done simultaneously at the collection event or when directed by the medical review officer after review and verification of laboratory-reported results for the hair specimen. DHHS indicated the two-test approach is intended to protect federal workers from issues that have been identified as limitations of hair testing, and related legal deficiencies identified in two prior court cases. In 2022, an industry group known as the Trucking Alliance sought an exemption from the FMCSA that would allow positive hair specimen tests to be uploaded to the Clearinghouse. This request was denied by the FMCSA, however, noting they cannot act until the DHHS finalizes these guidelines, which have been delayed by the DHHS until May 2025. Additionally, in 2022 the DOT issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would include oral fluid testing as an alternative to urine testing for purposes of the DOT’s drug testing program, with a goal of improving the integrity and effectiveness of the drug testing program, along with potential cost savings to regulated parties. In 2023, a final rule was published amending DOT’s drug testing program to include oral fluid testing became effective; however, implementation cannot take effect until DHHS approves at least two laboratories to conduct oral fluid testing. Currently, DHHS has not approved any laboratories. Any changes to drug testing programs may reduce the number of available drivers. We currently perform urine testing and will continue to monitor any developments in this area to ensure compliance. Finally, federal drug regulators have announced a proposal to add fentanyl to a drug testing panel that would detect the use of such drug among safety-sensitive federal employees, which would include truck drivers if adopted by the DOT. Fentanyl testing is expected to be added to the urine panel beginning as soon as July 2025.
Other rules have been proposed or made final by the FMCSA, including a rule setting forth minimum driver training standards for new drivers applying for commercial driver’s licenses for the first time and to experienced drivers upgrading their licenses or seeking a hazardous materials endorsement, known as Entry-Level Driver Training regulations. Training schools and other programs are required to implement the prescribed curriculum and register with the FMCSA's Training Provider Registry to certify that their program meets the classroom and driving standards. The effects of these rules could result in a decrease in fleet production and driver availability, and/or an increase in recruitment and training costs, either of which could adversely affect our business, operations or profitability.
In February 2023, the FMCSA issued a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking requesting additional information on automated driving systems (“ADS”) and seeking comment on regulatory approaches that would enable it to obtain relevant safety information and the current and anticipated size of the population of carriers operating ADS-equipped CMVs. Public comment on the supplemental notice closed in March 2023, and it remains to be seen, what, if any, final rules will stem therefrom. In June 2023, FMCSA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ("NHTSA") issued a joint proposed rule that would require automated emergency braking on all new heavy-duty trucks. Additionally, in April 2023, NHTSA issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking that would require side underride guards to be installed on all new heavy-duty trucks. While a final rule with respect to automatic braking is expected to be issued in 2025, it remains to be seen, what, if any, final rules will stem from such proposals.
Our industry is also subject to a number of proposed rules which mandate the use of speed-limiting devices in certain CMVs, including requiring CMVs with a gross weight of more than 26,000 pounds to be equipped with a speed limiter that would limit the vehicle’s speed to no more than 65 M.P.H. The FMCSA issued a notice of intent to propose a rule during 2023 that will require certain commercial vehicles to be equipped with speed limiters; however, no final rule was proposed. It is now expected that the DOT will issue a rule sometime in May 2025. The effect of these rules, to the extent they become effective, could result in a decrease in driver availability, which could adversely affect our business or operations.
Among other things, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (“IIJA”), signed into law in 2021, created an apprenticeship program for drivers aged 18 to 20 years old to eventually qualify to drive commercial trucks in interstate commerce. The FMCSA announced the establishment of this apprenticeship program in January 2022 in an effort to begin to help the industry’s ongoing driver shortage. This program, known as the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program ("SDAP"), is open to 18 to 20-year-old drivers who already hold intrastate commercial driver's licenses and sets a strict training regimen for participating drivers and carriers to comply with. Motor carriers interested in participating must complete an application for participation and submit monthly data on an apprentice’s driver activity, safety outcomes, and additional supporting information. The SDAP is limited to 3,000 driver-apprentices at any given time, with new driver-apprentices allowed into the program to replace those that leave or age out. If not renewed, the SDAP is currently set to conclude in November 2025. In May 2023, the DRIVE Safe Integrity Act of 2023 was introduced, which supports participation in the SDAP and would permit 18- to 20-year-olds to operate across state lines if data from the SDAP does not indicate such drivers are less safe than current CMV drivers. Whether this legislation will ultimately become law is uncertain. It remains unclear whether any regulatory changes will stem from the apprenticeship program.
The IIJA also required that the FMCSA clarify the differences between brokers, bona fide agents, and dispatch services, and to further specify its interpretation of the definitions of “broker” and “bona fide agents.” In June 2023, FMCSA issued final guidance on the definitions of "broker" and "bona fide agents," in which the distinction between the two largely hinges upon control and whether the person or company is engaged in the allocation of traffic between motor carriers. Several of the Company’s subsidiaries currently hold FMCSA brokerage authority, so while the impact of this guidance remains to be seen, the Company does not currently anticipate an adverse impact on its operations.
In a November 2023 final rule, the FMCSA implemented more oversight of truck brokers, freight forwarders, and the surety bond and trust companies that back them. The final rule, which became effective in January 2024, modified regulations in five areas: (i) assets readily available, (ii) immediate suspension of broker/freight forwarder operating authority, (iii) surety or trust responsibilities, (iv) enforcement authority, and (v) entities eligible to serve as BMC-85 trustees. Among other changes, the rule allows brokers or freight forwarders to meet regulatory requirements to have “assets readily available” by maintaining trusts that meet certain criteria, including that they can be liquidated within seven calendar days of an event that triggers a payment from the trust. The rule also stipulates that “available financial security” falls below $75,000 when there is a drawdown on the broker or freight forwarder’s surety bond or trust fund. Implementation and compliance with these changes may negatively impact our business by increasing our compliance obligations, operating costs, and related expenses. Compliance under this final rule has been pushed back until January 2026. Implementation and compliance with these changes may negatively impact our business by increasing our compliance obligations, operating costs, and related expenses. Additionally, in November 2024, the FMCSA published a notice of proposed rulemaking relating to brokerage operations which, among other things, proposes to increase transparency and the maintenance of recordkeeping procedures. It is uncertain what changes, if any, will result from the notice of proposed rulemaking.
Recently, federal courts have reached different decisions on the issue of whether preemption applies to broker liability. In 2022, the United States Supreme Court (the “Supreme Court”) declined to review a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals holding that broker liability is not preempted by federal regulation, which expose freight brokers to a patchwork of state regulations across the United States. In April 2023, the Eleventh Circuit Court held that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (“FAAAA”) expressly preempted such personal liability claims against a broker, and subsequently, in July 2023, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals provided a decision that also supported federal preemption. The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review the issue and it is uncertain how long the current circuit split will continue and whether the U.S. Supreme Court will decide to review similar cases in the future. If additional circuit courts, or the U.S. Supreme Court, adopt the Ninth Circuit view, that freight brokers liability is not preempted by federal regulation, it could lead to patchwork regulations across the United States and also result in primary (as opposed to contingent) liability being imposed upon freight brokers, and increased insurance premiums for brokerage operations generally. Although we are committed to selecting safe and secure motor carriers in carrying out our brokerage activities, if we are found to be negligent in the motor carrier selection process it could lead to significant liabilities in the event of an accident, which could have a materially adverse effect on our business and operating results.
In 2022, the FMCSA issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking that would require fleets and independent contractors to equip their trucks with unique electronic identification systems designed to streamline roadside inspections and provide transparency and accountability in day-to-day trucking operations. The petition was generally disfavored by transportation industry participants, citing, among other things, the petition’s failure to address privacy and data security risks. It remains to be seen what rules, if any, may stem from this notice. However, in February 2023, the FMCSA announced a new operational test for monitoring and enforcing driver and motor carrier safety compliance standards. In March 2024, the FMCSA began proof-of-concept testing to determine whether the technology required for electronic identification systems is sufficient and information and data being provided is secure, reliable, and useful for the FMCSA.
In 2022 Senate lawmakers introduced legislation that would set aside grant funds over four years to expand truck parking across the United States. Such legislation would allow for the creation of new parking areas, the expansion of existing facilities, and the approval of commercial parking at existing weigh stations, rest areas, and park-and-ride facilities. It would also allow for truck parking expansion at commercial truck stops and travel plazas. More recently, the DOT has provided funding to increase parking in certain heavily congested areas of Nevada, Ohio, and Wisconsin, and Congressional leaders have included a provision in the House funding bill introduced in June 2024 to allocate $200 million for truck parking projects. Industry groups are generally in favor of additional funding to improve parking infrastructure, as a lack of available parking has negatively impacted the industry as a whole, including the Company and its subsidiaries.
In 2018, the FMCSA granted a petition filed by the ATA and in doing so determined that federal law does preempt California’s wage and hour laws, and interstate truck drivers are not subject to such laws. The FMCSA’s decision has been appealed by labor groups and multiple lawsuits have been filed in federal courts seeking to overturn the decision. In 2021, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the FMCSA's determination that federal law does preempt California's meal and rest break laws, as applied to drivers of property-carrying CMVs. Other current and future state and local laws, including laws related to employee meal breaks and rest periods, may also vary significantly from federal law. Further, driver piece rate compensation, which is an industry standard, has been attacked as non-compliant with state minimum wage laws and lawsuits have recently been filed and/or adjudicated against carriers demanding compensation for sleeper berth time, layovers, rest breaks and pre-trip and post-trip inspections, the outcome of which could have major implications for the treatment of time that drivers spend off-duty (whether in a truck’s sleeper berth or otherwise) under applicable wage laws. Both of these issues are adversely impacting the Company and the industry as a whole, with respect to the practical application of the laws, thereby resulting in additional cost. As a result, we, along with other companies in the industry, could become subject to an uneven patchwork of laws throughout the United States. In the past, certain legislators have proposed federal legislation to preempt certain state and local laws; however, passage of such legislation is uncertain. If federal legislation is not passed, we will either need to comply with the most restrictive state and local laws across our entire network or overhaul our management systems to comply with varying state and local laws. Either solution could result in increased compliance and labor costs, driver turnover, decreased efficiency, and amplified legal exposure.
In a 2023 case involving the Fair Labor Standards Act, the First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a decision that would require additional payment to team drivers to be paid while in their sleeper berth. It is unclear if other jurisdictions will adopt this view, or if any legislation will result from this holding. If so, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
In November 2023, a bill was introduced to Congress that would eliminate an exclusion of truck drivers from receiving overtime pay. If enacted, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Tax and other regulatory authorities, as well as independent contractors themselves, have increasingly asserted that independent contractors in the trucking industry are employees rather than independent contractors, for a variety of purposes, including income tax withholding, workers' compensation, wage and hour compensation, unemployment, and other issues. Federal legislators have introduced legislation in the past to make it easier for tax and other authorities to reclassify independent contractors as employees, including legislation to increase the recordkeeping requirements for those that engage independent contractors and to heighten the penalties of companies who misclassify their employees and are found to have violated employees' overtime and/or wage requirements. The Protecting the Rights to Organize ("PRO") Act was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and received by the Senate in 2021, which was further sent to the Senate's Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. In 2023, a substantially similar bill was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives and referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. These bills propose to apply the "ABC Test" for classifying workers under Federal Fair Labor Standards Act claims. In January 2024, the Department of Labor published a final rule regarding independent contractor classification, which took effect in 2024. The final rule rescinded the Independent Contractor Status Under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Under the 2024 rule, workers’ relationship with a principal will be classified under six factors, including: (i) opportunity for profit and loss depending on managerial skill; (ii) investments by the worker and the principal; (iii) degree of permanence of the relationship; (iv) nature and degree of control; (v) extent to which worker in integral to the principal’s business; and (vi) skill and initiative, together with a provision for unspecified other factors, to determine if such worker should be classified as an independent contractor Additionally, federal legislators have sought to abolish the current safe harbor allowing taxpayers meeting certain criteria to treat individuals as independent contractors if they are following a long-standing, recognized practice, extend the Fair Labor Standards Act to independent contractors, and impose notice requirements based upon employment or independent contractor status and fines for failure to comply. Some states have put initiatives in place to increase their revenues from items such as unemployment, workers' compensation, and income taxes, and a reclassification of independent contractors as employees would help states with these initiatives.
Recently, courts in certain states have issued decisions that could result in a greater likelihood that independent contractors would be judicially classified as employees in such states. In 2019, California enacted A.B. 5 (“AB5”), a new law that changed the landscape of the state’s treatment of employees and independent contractors. AB5 provides that the three-pronged “ABC Test” must be used to determine worker classification in wage-order claims. Under the ABC Test, a worker is presumed to be an employee, and the burden to demonstrate their independent contractor status is on the hiring company through satisfying all three of the following criteria:
● the worker is free from control and direction in the performance of services; and
●
the worker is performing work outside the usual course of business of the hiring company; and
●
the worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business.
How AB5 will be enforced is still to be determined. Court proceedings have resulted in AB5 being effective as of January 2020, with the ABC Test being applied in certain circumstances retroactively to April 2018. Litigation surrounding the matter continues, and it remains unclear whether such challenges will be successful in invalidating the law. It is also possible AB5 will spur similar legislation in states other than California, which could adversely affect our results of operations and profitability.
Further, class actions and other lawsuits have been filed against certain members of our industry seeking to reclassify independent contractors as employees for a variety of purposes, including workers' compensation and health care coverage. In addition, companies that utilize lease-purchase independent contractor programs, such as us, have been more susceptible to reclassification lawsuits and several recent decisions have been made in favor of those seeking to classify as employees certain independent contractors that participated in lease-purchase programs. Taxing and other regulatory authorities and courts apply a variety of standards in their determination of independent contractor status. Our classification of independent contractors has been the subject of audits by such authorities from time to time. While we have been successful in continuing to classify our independent contractor drivers as independent contractors and not employees, we may be unsuccessful in defending that position in the future. If our independent contractors are determined to be our employees, we would incur additional exposure under federal and state tax, workers' compensation, unemployment benefits, labor, employment, and tort laws, including for prior periods, as well as potential liability for employee benefits and tax withholdings.
Environmental Regulations
We are subject to various environmental laws and regulations dealing with the hauling and handling of hazardous materials, fuel storage tanks, air emissions from our vehicles and facilities, engine idling, and discharge and retention of storm water. Our tractor terminals often are located in industrial areas where groundwater or other forms of environmental contamination could occur. Our operations involve the risks of fuel spillage or seepage, environmental damage, and hazardous waste disposal, among others. Certain of our facilities have waste oil or fuel storage tanks and fueling islands. A certain portion of our freight consists of low-grade hazardous substances, which subjects us to a wide array of regulations, and another portion consists of high security cargo such as arms, ammunition, and explosives, which subjects us to a myriad of regulatory requirements concerning the storage, handling and transportation of hazardous materials, chemicals, and explosives. Accidents or malfeasance involving these services or cargo, or a failure of a product (including as a result of cyberattack), could cause personal injury, loss of life, damage or destruction of property, equipment or the environment, or suspension of operations, any of which could materially and adversely affect our operations and profitability. Additionally, increasing efforts to control emissions of greenhouse gases may have an adverse effect on us. Although we have instituted programs to monitor and control environmental risks and promote compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations, if we are involved in a spill or other accident involving hazardous substances, if there are releases of hazardous substances we transport, if soil or groundwater contamination is found at our facilities or results from our operations, or if we are found to be in violation of applicable laws or regulations, we could be subject to cleanup costs and liabilities, including substantial fines or penalties or civil and criminal liability, any of which could have a materially adverse effect on our business and operating results.
The NHTSA and the EPA have fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards for medium-and heavy-duty vehicles, including the tractors we use. In 2016, the NHTSA and EPA published the final rule mandating that fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards apply to trailers beginning with model year 2018 and tractors beginning with model year 2021; however, in 2021, a panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of an association challenging the standards and vacated all portions of the standards that applied to trailers. Consequently, the standards require 25 reductions in emissions and fuel consumption for tractors. The Company’s (or its subsidiaries', as applicable) new tractor purchases in 2024 complied with the emission and fuel consumption reductions required by the standards. Even though the trailer provisions of the standards have been removed, we will still need to ensure the majority of our fleet is compliant with the California standards (described in further detail below).
In 2022, the EPA adopted a final rule regarding emissions standards of nitrogen oxides for heavy-duty motor vehicles beginning with model year 2027 being more than 80% stronger than current emission standards, with the intent to reduce heavy duty emissions by almost 50% from 2022 levels by 2045. The EPA has indicated that the 2022 rule is the first part of a three-part plan focusing on greenhouse gas emissions, which is commonly referred to as the “Cleaner Trucks Initiative,” or the “Clean Trucks Plan.” In 2023, the EPA released the second and third parts to the Clean Trucks Plan, including a proposed rule relating to GHG standards for heavy-duty vehicles known as “Phase 3” to the EPA’s GHG program. A final rule with respect to these regulations was issued in March 2024 and establishes new GHG emission standards for heavy-duty motor vehicles which are phased-in starting with model year 2027 and increasing in stringency annually through model year 2032. . Compliance with these regulations could increase the cost of new tractors and trailers, impair equipment productivity, and increase operating expenses. These effects, combined with the uncertainty as to the operating results that will be produced by the newly designed diesel engines and the residual values of these vehicles, could increase our costs or otherwise adversely affect our business or operations.
The California Air Resources Board ("CARB") also adopted emission control regulations that will be applicable to all heavy-duty tractors that pull 53-foot or longer box-type trailers within the state of California. The tractors and trailers subject to these CARB regulations must be either EPA SmartWay certified or equipped with low-rolling, resistance tires and retrofitted with SmartWay-approved aerodynamic technologies. We currently purchase Smart Way certified equipment in our new tractor and trailer acquisitions. In 2019, the California standards that generally align with the federal standards (with some minor additional requirements) became final. Thus, even though the trailer provisions of the federal were removed, we still must ensure the majority of our fleet is compliant with the California standards, which may adversely affect our operating results and profitability.
In the past, CARB has announced its intentions to adopt regulations ensuring that 100% of tractors operating in California are operating with battery or fuel cell-electric engines in the future. Whether these regulations will ultimately be adopted remains unclear. Federal and state lawmakers also have proposed a variety of other regulatory limits on carbon emissions and fuel consumption. Compliance with these regulations could increase the cost of new tractors and trailers, impair equipment productivity, and increase operating expenses. These effects, combined with the uncertainty as to the operating results that will be produced by the newly designed diesel engines and the residual values of these vehicles, could increase our costs or otherwise adversely affect our business or operations.
In 2020 CARB also passed the Advanced Clean Trucks (“ACT”) regulation, which became effective in 2021 and generally requires original equipment manufacturers to begin shifting towards greater production and sales of zero-emission heavy duty tractors starting with model year 2024. Under ACT, by 2045, every new tractor sold in California will need to be zero-emission. The most aggressive ACT standards apply to Class 4-8 trucks, which range from 14,000-33,000 pounds, by requiring that 9% of such trucks be zero emission beginning in 2024 and increasing to 75% by 2035. Similar (albeit lower) increasing zero emission requirements apply to Class 2b-3 trucks, and Class 7-8 trucks between 2024 and 2035. Among other impacts, ACT could affect the cost and/or supply of traditional diesel tractors. It has also led to similar legislation in several states and a number of other states either considering adoption of ACT or affirmatively conducting a preliminary rulemaking process to that effect. In 2023, CARB finalized what is known as the Advanced Clean Fleets (“ACF”) regulation, also aimed at transitioning to zero emission vehicles, which became effective in January 2024. ACF is a purchase requirement for medium and heavy-duty fleets to adopt an increasing percentage of zero emission trucks, designed to complement the sell-side obligations of ACT. However, given legal challenges to the ACF and a lack of public support for environmental regulation, CARB withdrew its request for the EPA to provide a waiver of certain federal regulations necessary for CARB to impose the environmental restrictions and mandates in the ACF that are more stringent than federal law, which effectively tabled the ACF. If CARB seeks to adopt and implement the ACF in the future, it could materially and negatively impact our business by increasing our compliance obligations, operating costs, and related expenses.
The periodic testing portion of California’s Clean Truck Check (as a part of CARB’s Clean Truck program), known as Phase 3 of the Clean Truck Check, began in July 2024. Under Phase 3, heavy duty vehicles are subject to periodic emissions testing and annual compliance fees, increasing our operating costs and related expenses
Additionally, in 2023, California enacted two bills into law, Senate Bill 253 (“SB 253”) and Senate Bill 261 (“SB 261”), which require certain companies doing business in California to disclose greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions and climate-related financial risks, with reporting beginning in 2026. SB 253 requires companies that exceed $1 billion in annual revenue and that do business in California to publicly disclose their GHG emissions, while SB 261 requires companies doing business in California and earning annual revenue exceeding $500 million to report on their climate-related financial risks and measures taken to mitigate such risks on or before January 2026. Senate Bill 219 (“SB 219”), which was enacted in September 2024, delays the final regulations for SB 253 until July 2025 and permits subsidiaries to file SB 253 reports on a consolidated basis with their parent companies, which previously was only permitted under SB 261. These laws are currently facing litigation, which could result in delays or modifications to the laws. Implementation of these additional reporting requirements would result in increased compliance costs and resource utilization.
In order to reduce exhaust emissions, lawmakers, including federal and some states and municipalities, have begun to restrict the locations and amount of time where diesel-powered tractors may idle. These restrictions could force us to purchase on-board power units that do not require the engine to idle or to alter our drivers' behavior, which could result in a decrease in productivity or increase in driver turnover.
Complying with these environmental regulations and any future GHG regulations enacted by CARB, the EPA, the NHTSA and/or any other state or federal governing body has increased and will likely continue to increase the cost of our new tractors, may increase the cost of new trailers, may require us to retrofit certain of our trailers, may increase our maintenance costs, and could impair equipment productivity and increase our operating costs, particularly if such costs are not offset by potential fuel savings. These adverse effects, combined with the uncertainty as to the reliability of the newly designed diesel engines and the residual values of our equipment, could materially increase our costs or otherwise adversely affect our business or operations. We cannot predict, however, the extent to which our operations and productivity will be impacted. We will continue monitoring our compliance with federal and state GHG and other material environmental regulations.
Food Safety Regulations
The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011, (the "FSMA") requires us to use sanitary transportation practices to ensure the safety of the food we transport. This rule sets forth requirements related to (i) the design and maintenance of equipment used to transport food, (ii) the measures taken during food transportation to ensure food safety, (iii) the training of carrier personnel in sanitary food transportation practices, and (iv) maintenance and retention of records of written procedures, agreements, and training related to the foregoing items. We believe we have been in compliance with these requirements since that time. However, if we are found to be in violation of applicable laws or regulations related to the FSMA or if we transport food or goods that are contaminated or are found to cause illness and/or death, we could be subject to substantial fines, lawsuits, penalties and/or criminal and civil liability, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Moreover, expenses associated with compliance with these laws and regulations may increase given our 2023 acquisition of LTST, a company primarily involved in poultry-related freight movement.
As the FDA continues its efforts to modernize food safety, it is likely additional food safety regulations will take effect in the future. In July 2020, the FDA released its “New Era of Smarter Food Safety” blueprint, which creates a ten-year roadmap to create a more digital, traceable and safer food system. The Food Traceability Rule is one aspect of the blueprint and has a compliance date for all parties subject to its recordkeeping requirements of January 20, 2026. In the event the Company becomes subject to any such recordkeeping requirements, compliance costs may increase. This blueprint builds on the work done under the FSMA, generally requiring persons who manufacture, process, pack, or hold foods on the FDA’s “Food Traceability List” to maintain detailed records of key data elements for critical tracking events in a manner that can be provided to the FDA within 24 hours of request. It is still unclear what impact of the Food Traceability Rule will have on the Company and others in the industry, but further regulation in this area could negatively affect our business by increasing our compliance obligations and related expenses going forward.
Executive and Legislative Climate
Recently, the Trump administration issued on memorandum which directed federal departments and agencies to freeze regulatory actions. In particular, the memorandum prohibited new rules from being proposed or issued until such are reviewed and approved by heads of departments or agencies appointed under the Trump administration. Rules previously sent to the Federal Register but not already published are also to be withdrawn to permit additional review and permission to proceed. Additionally, existing rules could be delayed for up to 60 days to allow for additional review, including the assessment their impacts and allow for public comments.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 contains provisions relating to energy, climate change, and tax reform. In particular, the Inflation Reduction Act shifts timing for certain tax payments, imposes an excise tax on certain corporate stock buybacks, and creates a 15% corporate alternative minimum tax, which is generally applicable to corporations that reported over $1 billion in profits in each of the three proceeding tax years. Tax changes in the Inflation Reduction Act, together with changes to any other U.S. tax laws may have an adverse impact on our business and profitability. It is unclear what other legislative initiatives will be signed into law and what changes they may undergo. However, adoption and implementation could negatively impact our business by increasing our compliance obligations and related expenses.
In January 2023, the Safer Highways and Increased Performance for Interstate Trucking Act (the “SHIP IT Act”) was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives. As proposed, the SHIP IT Act would allow states to issue special permits for overweight vehicles and loads during emergencies, allow drivers to apply for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act grants, attempt to recruit truck drivers to the industry through targeted and temporary tax credits, streamline the CDL process in certain respects, and expand access to truck parking and rest areas for commercial drivers. A similar bill, the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act, was introduced into the Senate in March 2023 and if enacted as proposed, would dedicate $755 million in funding over the next three years to expand access to truck parking and rest areas for commercial drivers. It remains unclear whether such acts will ultimately become law, however, and what changes they may undergo prior to finalization.
Fuel Availability and Cost
The cost of fuel trended lower in 2024 as compared to 2023, as demonstrated by a decrease in the Department of Energy ("DOE") national average for diesel to approximately $3.76 per gallon for 2024, compared to $4.21 per gallon for 2023. There were no fuel hedging gains in 2024 or 2023.
We actively manage our fuel costs by routing our drivers through fuel centers with which we have negotiated volume discounts and through jurisdictions with lower fuel taxes, where possible. We have also reduced the maximum speed of many of our trucks, implemented strict idling guidelines for our drivers, purchased technology to enhance our management and monitoring of out-of-route miles, encouraged the use of shore power units in truck stops, and imposed standards for accepting broker freight that includes minimum rates and fuel surcharges. These initiatives have contributed to significant improvements in fleet wide average fuel mileage. Moreover, we have a fuel surcharge program in place with the majority of our customers, which has historically enabled us to recover some of the higher fuel costs. However, even with the fuel surcharges, the price of fuel can affect our profitability. Our fuel surcharges are billed on a lagging basis, meaning we typically bill customers in the current week based on a previous week's applicable index. Therefore, in times of increasing fuel prices, we do not recover as much as we are currently paying for fuel. In periods of declining prices, the opposite is true. In addition, we incur additional costs when fuel prices rise that cannot be fully recovered due to our engines being idled during cold or warm weather, empty or out-of-route miles, and for fuel used by refrigerated trailers that generally is not billed to customers. In addition, from time-to-time customers attempt to modify their surcharge programs, some successfully, which can result in recovery of a smaller portion of fuel price increases. Rapid increases in fuel costs or shortages of fuel could have a materially adverse effect on our operations or future profitability.
To reduce the variability of the ultimate cash flows associated with fluctuations in diesel fuel prices, we have periodically entered into various derivative instruments, including forward futures swap contracts. We have historically entered into hedging contracts with respect to ultra-low sulfur diesel ("ULSD"). Under these contracts, we would pay a fixed rate per gallon of ULSD and receive the monthly average price of Gulf Coast ULSD. Because the fixed price is determined based on market prices at the time we enter into the hedge, in times of increasing fuel prices the hedge contracts become more valuable, whereas in times of decreasing fuel prices the opposite is true. We had no fuel hedging contracts at December 31, 2024 or December 31, 2023.
Seasonality
Our tractor productivity decreases during the winter season because inclement weather impedes operations, and some shippers reduce their shipments after the winter holiday season. Our Expedited reportable segment has historically experienced a greater reduction in first quarter demand than our other operations, however, this trend has lessened following the growth of AAT, which is part of the Expedited reportable segment, and our work with long-term customers to improve the stability of contracted capacity in our Expedited fleet. Revenue also can be affected by bad weather, holidays and the number of business days that occur during a given period, since revenue is directly related to available working days of shippers. At the same time, operating expenses increase and fuel efficiency declines because of engine idling and harsh weather creating higher accident frequency, increased claims, and more equipment repairs. In addition, many of our customers, particularly those in the retail industry where we have a large presence, demand additional capacity during the fourth quarter, which limits our ability to take advantage of more attractive spot market rates that generally exist during such periods. Further, despite our efforts to meet such demands, we may fail to do so, which may result in lost future business opportunities with such customers, which could have a materially adverse effect on our operations. Recently, the duration of this increased period of demand in the fourth quarter has shortened, with certain customers requiring the same volume of shipments over a more condensed timeframe, resulting in increased stress and demand on our network, people, and systems. If this trend continues, it could make satisfying our customers and maintaining the quality of our service during the fourth quarter increasingly difficult. We may also suffer from natural disasters and weather-related events, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, ice storms, floods, and fires, which may increase in frequency and severity due to climate change, as well as other man-made disasters. These events may disrupt fuel supplies, increase fuel costs, disrupt freight shipments or routes, affect regional economies, destroy our assets, or adversely affect the business or financial condition of our customers, any of which could have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations or make our results of operations more volatile. Weather and other seasonal events could adversely affect our operating results.
Additional Information
Our headquarters is located at 400 Birmingham Highway, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37419, and our website address is www.covenantlogistics.com. Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and all other reports we file or furnish with the SEC pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act") are available free of charge through our website. Information contained in or available through our website is not incorporated by reference into, and you should not consider such information to be part of, this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Additionally, you may read all of the materials that we file with the SEC by visiting the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. This site contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding the Company and other companies that file electronically with the SEC.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
ITEM 1A.
RISK FACTORS
Our future results may be affected by a number of factors over which we have little or no control. The following discussion of risk factors contains forward-looking statements as discussed in Item 1 above. The following issues, uncertainties, and risks, among others, should be considered in evaluating our business and growth outlook.
STRATEGIC RISKS
Our business is subject to economic, credit, business, and regulatory factors affecting the truckload industry that are largely beyond our control, any of which could have a materially adverse effect on our operating results.
The truckload industry is highly cyclical, and our business is dependent on a number of factors that may have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations, many of which are beyond our control. We believe that some of the most significant of these factors include (i) recessionary economic cycles; (ii) changes in customers’ inventory levels and practices, including shrinking product/package sizes, and in the availability of funding for their working capital; (iii) changes in the way our customers choose to utilize our services; (iv) downturns in our customers’ business cycles, including declines in consumer spending, (v) excess trucking capacity in comparison with shipping demand, (vi) driver shortages and increases in driver’s compensation, (vii) industry compliance with ongoing regulatory requirements, (viii) the availability and price of new revenue equipment and/or declines in the resale value of used revenue equipment; (ix) the impact of public health crises, epidemics, pandemics, or similar events, such as COVID-19; (x) compliance with ongoing regulatory requirements; (xi) strikes, work stoppages or work slowdowns at our facilities, or at customer, port, border crossing or other shipping-related facilities, including related reductions in demand; (xii) increases in interest rates, inflation, fuel taxes, insurance, tolls, and license and registration fees; (xiii) changes in trade policy and tariff rates; and (xiv) rising costs of healthcare.
Economic conditions that decrease shipping demand or increase the supply of available tractors and trailers can exert downward pressure on rates and equipment utilization, thereby decreasing asset productivity. The risks associated with these factors are heightened when the United States economy is weakened. Some of the principal risks during such times, are as follows:
● we may experience a reduction in overall freight levels, which may impair our asset utilization;
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certain of our customers may face credit issues and could experience cash flow problems that may lead to payment delays, increased credit risk, bankruptcies, and other financial hardships that could result in even lower freight demand and may require us to increase our allowance for credit losses;
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freight patterns may change as supply chains are redesigned, resulting in an imbalance between our capacity and our customers' freight demand;
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customers may solicit bids for freight from multiple trucking companies or select competitors that offer lower rates from among existing choices in an attempt to lower their costs, and we might be forced to lower our rates or lose freight; and
●
we may be forced to accept more freight from freight brokers, where freight rates are typically lower, or may be forced to incur more non-revenue miles to obtain loads.
We are also subject to potential increases in various costs and other events that are outside our control that could materially reduce our profitability if we are unable to increase our rates sufficiently. Further, we may not be able to appropriately adjust our costs and staffing levels to changing market demands.
In addition, events outside our control, such as deterioration of U.S. transportation infrastructure and reduced investment in such infrastructure, public health crises, epidemics, pandemics, or similar event, such as COVID-19, strikes or other work stoppages at our facilities or at customer, port, border or other shipping locations, armed conflicts, including the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East or as a result of rising tensions between China and Taiwan, terrorist attacks, efforts to combat terrorism, military action against a foreign state or group located in a foreign state or heightened security requirements could lead to wear, tear and damage to our equipment, driver dissatisfaction, reduced economic demand and freight volumes, reduced availability of credit, increased prices for fuel, or temporary closing of the shipping locations or U.S. borders. Such events or enhanced security measures in connection with such events could impair our operating efficiency and productivity and result in higher operating costs.
The Trump administration has stated its intention to impose new or increased tariff rates on imported goods from a number of countries, including China, Canada, Mexico, and the E.U. Such trade policies and tariff implementations, and any related retaliatory trade policies and tariff implementations by foreign governments may result in decreased shipping volumes and have an adverse impact on our revenues and results of operations.
We may not be successful in achieving our strategic plan.
Our initiatives include continuing to improve the durability of contracts in our Expedited and Dedicated reportable segments, growing our Dedicated reportable segment, with new poultry related business, delivering more consistent returns for our stockholders, increasing operating income and margins in each of our segments, improving profitability, and reducing costs and inefficiencies. Such initiatives will require time, management and financial resources, changes in our operations and sales functions, and monitoring and implementation of technology. We may be unable to effectively and successfully implement, or achieve sustainable improvement from, our strategic plan and initiatives or achieve these objectives. In addition, our operating margins could be adversely affected by future changes in and expansion of our business. Further, our operating results may be negatively affected by a failure to further penetrate our existing customer base, cross-sell our services, pursue new customer opportunities, or manage the operations and expenses. There is no assurance that we will be successful in achieving our strategic plan and initiatives. Even if we are successful in achieving our strategic plan and initiatives, we still may not achieve our goals. If we are unsuccessful in implementing our strategic plan and initiatives, our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be adversely affected.
We derive a significant portion of our revenues from our major customers, and the loss of, or a significant reduction of business with, one or more of which could have a materially adverse effect on our business.
A significant portion of our revenues is generated from a small number of major customers. A substantial portion of our freight is from customers in the retail industry. As such, our volumes are largely dependent on consumer spending and retail sales, and our results may be more susceptible to trends in unemployment and retail sales than carriers that do not have this concentration. In addition, our major customers engage in bid processes and other activities periodically (including currently) in an attempt to lower their costs of transportation. We may not choose to participate in these bids or, if we participate, may not be awarded the freight, either of which could result in a reduction of our freight volumes with these customers. In this event, we could be required to replace the volumes elsewhere at uncertain rates and volumes, suffer reduced equipment utilization, or reduce the size of our fleet. Failure to retain our existing customers, or enter into relationships with new customers, each on acceptable terms, could materially impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, and ability to meet our current and long-term financial forecasts.
Generally, we do not have contractual relationships that guarantee any minimum volumes with our customers, and there can be no assurance that our customer relationships will continue as presently in effect. Our business with the Department of Defense is not subject to a contract, requires significant compliance work, and could be terminated at any time. Our Dedicated reportable segment is typically subject to longer term written contracts than our other reportable segments. However, certain of these contracts contain cancellation clauses, including our “evergreen” contracts, which automatically renew for one-year terms but that can be terminated more easily. There is no assurance any of our customers, including our Dedicated customers, will continue to utilize our services, renew our existing contracts, or continue at the same volume levels. For our multi-year and Dedicated contracts, the rates we charge may not remain advantageous. Further, despite the existence of contractual arrangements, certain of our customers may nonetheless engage in competitive bidding processes that could negatively impact our contractual relationship. In addition, certain of our major customers may increasingly use their own truckload and delivery fleets, which would reduce our freight volumes. A reduction in or termination of our services by one or more of our major customers, including our Dedicated customers, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
While we review and monitor the financial condition of our key customers on an ongoing basis to determine whether to provide services on credit, our customers' financial difficulties could nevertheless negatively impact our results of operations and financial condition, especially if these customers were to delay or default on payments to us.
We operate in a highly competitive and fragmented industry, and numerous competitive factors could impair our ability to improve our profitability, limit growth opportunities, and could have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations.
Numerous competitive factors present in our industry could impair our ability to maintain or improve our current profitability, limit our prospects for growth, and could have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations. These factors include the following:
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we compete with many other truckload carriers of varying sizes and, to a lesser extent, with (i) less-than-truckload carriers, (ii) railroads, intermodal companies, and (iii) other transportation and logistics companies, many of which have access to more equipment and greater capital resources than we do, preferential customer contracts, and other competitive advantages;
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many of our competitors periodically reduce their freight rates to gain business, especially during times of reduced growth in the economy, which may limit our ability to maintain or increase freight rates or to maintain or expand our business or may require us to reduce our freight rates in order to maintain business and keep our equipment productive;
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many of our customers, including several in our top ten, are other transportation companies or also operate their own private trucking fleets, and they may decide to transport more of their own freight;
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we may increase the size of our fleet during periods of high freight demand during which our competitors also increase their capacity, and we may experience losses in greater amounts than such competitors during subsequent cycles of softened freight demand if we are required to dispose of assets at a loss to match reduced customer demand;
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a significant portion of our business is in the retail industry, which continues to undergo a shift away from the traditional brick and mortar model towards e-commerce, and this shift could impact the manner in which our customers source or utilize our services;
●
many customers reduce the number of carriers they use by selecting so-called "core carriers" as approved service providers or by engaging dedicated providers, and we may not be selected;
●
the trend toward consolidation in the trucking industry may create large carriers with greater financial resources and other competitive advantages relating to their size, and we may have difficulty competing with these larger carriers;
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the market for qualified drivers is increasingly competitive, and our inability to attract and retain drivers could reduce our equipment utilization or cause us to increase compensation to our drivers and independent contractors we engage, both of which would adversely affect our profitability;
●
competition from freight logistics and freight brokerage companies and the proliferation of new brokerage platforms and technologies may adversely affect our customer relationships and freight rates;
● the Covenant brand name is a valuable asset that is subject to the risk of adverse publicity (whether or not justified), which could result in the loss of value attributable to our brand and reduced demand for our services; and
● advances in technology may require us to increase investments in order to remain competitive, and our customers may not be willing to accept higher freight rates to cover the cost of these investments.
We may not grow substantially in the future and we may not be successful in improving our profitability.
We may not be able improve profitability in the future. Improving profitability depends upon numerous factors, including our ability to effectively and successfully implement other strategic initiatives, increase our average revenue per tractor, improve driver retention, and control costs and inefficiencies. If we are unable to improve our profitability, then our liquidity, financial position, and results of operations may be adversely affected.
There is no assurance that in the future, our business will grow substantially or without volatility, nor can we assure you that we will be able to effectively adapt our management, administrative, and operational systems to respond to any future growth. Furthermore, there is no assurance that our operating margins will not be adversely affected by future changes in and expansion of our business.
Should the growth in our operations stagnate or decline, our results of operations could be adversely affected. We may encounter operating conditions in new markets, as well as our current markets, that differ substantially from our current operations, and customer relationships and appropriate freight rates in new markets could be challenging to attain.
We may not make acquisitions in the future, or if we do, we may not be successful in our acquisition strategy.
Acquisitions have provided a substantial portion of our growth. We may not have the financial capacity or be successful in identifying, negotiating, or consummating any future acquisitions. If we fail to make any future acquisitions, our historical growth rate could be materially and adversely affected. Any acquisitions we undertake could involve the dilutive issuance of equity securities and/or incurring indebtedness, the terms of which may be less favorable to us than anticipated. Any future acquisitions we may consummate involve numerous risks, any of which could have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations, including:
●
some of the acquired businesses may not achieve anticipated revenue, earnings, or cash flows;
● we may assume liabilities that were not disclosed to us or otherwise exceed our estimates;
● we may be unable to integrate acquired businesses successfully, or at all, and realize anticipated economic, operational and other benefits in a timely manner, which could result in substantial costs and delays or other operational, technical, or financial problems;
● the acquired business may increase our customer concentration;
● transaction costs and acquisition-related integration costs could adversely affect our results of operations in the period in which such charges are recorded;
● we may incur future impairment charges, write-offs, write-downs, or restructuring charges that could adversely impact our results of operations;
● acquisitions could disrupt our ongoing business, distract our management, and divert our resources;
● we may experience difficulties operating in markets in which we have had no or only limited direct experience;
● we may rely on management of the acquired businesses, especially in markets in which we have no or only limited direct experience, and turnover of such management may affect our ability to manage the acquired businesses efficiently and effectively;
● we could lose customers, employees, and drivers of any acquired company; and
● we may incur additional indebtedness
The conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, expansion of such conflicts to other areas or countries or similar conflicts, as well as the rising tensions between China and Taiwan, could adversely impact our business and financial results.
Although we do not have any direct operations in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, the Middle East, China, or Taiwan, we may be affected by the broader consequences of the conflicts in Ukraine or the Middle East, or expansion of such conflicts to other areas or countries or similar conflicts elsewhere, such as, increased inflation, supply chain issues (including access to parts for our revenue equipment), embargoes, geopolitical shift, access to diesel fuel, higher energy prices, potential retaliatory action by the Russian or other governments, including cyber-attacks, and the extent of the conflict’s effect on the global economy. The increased tensions between China and Taiwan, and any resulting hostilities, may have similar consequences. The magnitude of these risks cannot be predicted, including the extent to which the conflict may heighten other risks disclosed herein. Ultimately, these or other factors could materially and adversely affect our results of operations.
COMPLIANCE RISKS
Litigation may adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our business is subject to the risk of litigation by employees, independent contractors, customers, vendors, government agencies, stockholders, and other parties through private actions, class actions, administrative proceedings, regulatory actions, and other processes. Recently, trucking companies, including us, have been and currently are subject to lawsuits, including class action lawsuits, alleging violations of various federal and state wage and hour laws regarding, among other things, employee meal breaks, rest periods, overtime eligibility, and failure to pay for all hours worked. A number of these lawsuits have resulted in the payment of substantial settlements or damages by the defendants. We operate a business that hauls arms, ammunitions, and explosives that could increase our exposure if there were an accident involving this freight.
The outcome of litigation, particularly class action lawsuits and regulatory actions, is difficult to assess or quantify, and the magnitude of the potential loss relating to such lawsuits may remain unknown for substantial periods of time. The cost to defend litigation may also be significant. Not all claims are covered by our insurance, and there can be no assurance that our coverage limits will be adequate to cover all amounts in dispute. To the extent we experience claims that are uninsured, exceed our coverage limits, involve significant aggregate use of our self-insured retention amounts, or cause increases in future premiums, the resulting expenses could have a materially adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, or cash flows.
In addition, we may be subject, and have been subject in the past, to litigation resulting from trucking accidents. The number and severity of litigation claims may be worsened by distracted driving by both truck drivers and other motorists. These lawsuits have resulted, and may result in the future, in the payment of substantial settlements or damages and increases of our insurance costs.
We self-insure for a significant portion of our claims exposure, which could significantly increase the volatility of, and decrease the amount of, our earnings.
Our business results in a substantial number of claims and litigation related to personal injuries, property damage, workers’ compensation, employment issues, health care, and other issues. We self-insure a significant portion of our claims exposure, which could increase the volatility of, and decrease the amount of, our earnings, and could have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations. See Note 1, "Summary of Significant Accounting Policies," of the accompanying consolidated financial statements for more information regarding our self-insured retention amounts. Our future insurance and claims expenses may exceed historical levels, which could reduce our earnings. We currently accrue amounts for liabilities based on our assessment of claims that arise and our insurance coverage for the periods in which the claims arise, and we evaluate and revise these accruals from time to time based on additional information. Actual settlement of such liabilities could differ from our estimates due to a number of uncertainties, including evaluation of severity, legal costs, and claims that have been incurred but not reported. Due to our significant self-insured amounts, we have significant exposure to fluctuations in the number and severity of claims and the risk of being required to accrue or pay additional amounts if our estimates are revised or the claims ultimately prove to be more severe than originally assessed. Historically, we have had to significantly adjust our reserves on several occasions, and future significant adjustments may occur. Further, our self-insured retention levels could change and result in more volatility than in recent years. If we are required to accrue or pay additional amounts because our estimates are revised or the claims ultimately prove to be more severe than originally assessed or if our self-insured retention levels change, our financial condition and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
We maintain insurance for most risks above the amounts for which we self-insure with licensed insurance carriers. If any claim were to exceed our coverage, or fall outside the aggregate coverage limit, we would bear the excess or uncovered amount, in addition to our other self-insured amounts. Insurance carriers have recently raised premiums for our industry, and premiums in the near term are expected to continue to increase. Our insurance and claims expense could increase if we have a similar experience at renewal, or we could find it necessary to raise our self-insured retention or decrease our aggregate coverage limits when our policies are renewed or replaced. Additionally, with respect to our insurance carriers, the industry is experiencing a decline in the number of carriers and underwriters that offer certain insurance policies or that are willing to provide insurance for trucking companies, and the necessity to go off-shore for insurance needs has increased. This may materially adversely affect our insurance costs or make insurance in excess of our self-insured retention more difficult to find, as well as increase our collateral requirements for policies that require security. Should these expenses increase, we become unable to find excess coverage in amounts we deem sufficient, we experience a claim in excess of our coverage limits, we experience a claim for which we do not have coverage, or we have to increase our reserves or collateral, there could be a materially adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Our auto liability insurance policy contains a provision under which we have the option, on a retroactive basis, to assume responsibility for the entire cost of covered claims during the policy period in exchange for a refund of a portion of the premiums we paid for the policy. This is referred to as "commuting" the policy. We have elected to commute policies on several occasions in the past. In exchange, we have assumed the risk for all claims during the years for the policies commuted. Our subsequent payouts for the claims assumed have been less than the refunds. We expect the total refunds to exceed the total payouts; however, not all of the claims have been finally resolved and we cannot assure you of the result. We may continue to commute policies for certain years in the future. To the extent we do so, and one or more claims result in large payouts, we will not have insurance, and our financial condition, results of operation, and liquidity could be materially and adversely affected.
Our self-insurance for auto liability claims and our use of captive insurance companies could adversely impact our operations.
Covenant Transport, LLC has been approved to self-insure for auto liability by the FMCSA. We believe this status, along with the use of captive insurance companies, allows us to post substantially lower aggregate letters of credit and restricted cash than we would be required to post without this status or the use of captive insurance companies. We have two wholly owned captive insurance subsidiaries which are regulated insurance companies through which we insure a portion of our auto liability claims in certain states. An increase in the number or severity of auto liability claims for which we self-insure through the captive insurance companies or pressure in the insurance and reinsurance markets could adversely impact our earnings and results of operations. Further, both arrangements increase the possibility that our expenses will be volatile.
Our captive insurance companies are regulated by state authorities. State regulations generally provide protection to policy holders, rather than stockholders. Such regulations may increase our costs, limit our ability to change premiums, restrict our ability to access cash held by these subsidiaries, and otherwise impede our ability to take actions we deem advisable.
To comply with certain state insurance regulatory requirements, cash and cash equivalents must be paid to our captive insurance subsidiary as capital investments and insurance premiums, which could be restricted as collateral for anticipated losses. Significant future increases in the amount of collateral required by third-party insurance carriers and regulators would reduce our liquidity and could adversely affect our results of operations and capital resources.
We have experienced, and may experience additional, erosion of available limits in our aggregate insurance policies. Furthermore, we may experience additional expense to reinstate insurance policies due to liability claims.
Our insurance program includes multi-year policies with specific insurance limits that may be eroded over the course of the policy term. If that occurs, we will be operating with less liability coverage insurance at various levels of our insurance tower. For discussion regarding the erosion of the $9.0 million in excess of $1.0 million coverage layer for the policy period that ran from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2021, please see "Insurance and claims" under "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations."
Also, we may face mandatory reinstatement charges for expired policies due to liability claims. In the event of such developments, we may experience additional expense accruals, increased insurance and claims expenses, and greater volatility in our insurance and claims expenses, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We operate in a highly regulated industry, and changes in existing regulations or violations of existing or future regulations could have a materially adverse effect on our operations and profitability.
We, our drivers, and our equipment are regulated by the DOT, the EPA, the DHS, the U.S. Department of Defense, and other agencies in states in which we operate. The sections of Environmental and Other Regulation included in “Regulation” under “Item 1. Business” discuss several proposed, pending, suspended, and final regulations that could materially impact our business and operations. Our 2022 acquisition of an arms, ammunitions, and explosives carrier requires us to meet stringent rules relating to those operations and failure to comply could result in loss of all business purchased and our related investment. Future laws and regulations may be more stringent, require changes in our operating practices, influence the demand for transportation services or require us to incur significant additional costs. Higher costs incurred by us, or by our suppliers who pass the costs onto us through higher supplies and materials pricing, or liabilities we may incur related to our failure to comply with existing or future regulations could adversely affect our results of operations.
If our independent contractor drivers are deemed by regulators or judicial process to be employees, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Tax and other regulatory authorities, as well as independent contractors themselves, have increasingly asserted that independent contractor drivers in the trucking industry are employees rather than independent contractors, for a variety of purposes, including income tax withholding, workers' compensation, wage and hour compensation, unemployment, and other issues. Federal legislators have introduced legislation in the past to make it easier for tax and other authorities to reclassify independent contractor drivers as employees, including legislation to increase the recordkeeping requirements for those that engage independent contractors and to heighten the penalties of companies who misclassify their employees and are found to have violated employees' overtime and/or wage requirements. Additionally, federal legislators have sought to abolish the current safe harbor allowing taxpayers meeting certain criteria to treat individuals as independent contractors if they are following a long-standing, recognized practice, extend the Fair Labor Standards Act to independent contractors, and impose notice requirements based upon employment or independent contractor status and fines for failure to comply. Some states have put initiatives in place to increase their revenues from items such as unemployment, workers' compensation, and income taxes, and a reclassification of independent contractors as employees would help states with these initiatives. Additionally, courts in certain states have issued recent decisions that could result in a greater likelihood that independent contractors would be judicially classified as employees in such states. Further, class actions and other lawsuits have been filed against certain members of our industry seeking to reclassify independent contractors as employees for a variety of purposes, including workers' compensation and health care coverage. In addition, companies that utilize lease-purchase independent contractor programs, such as us, have been more susceptible to reclassification lawsuits and several recent court decisions have been made in favor of those seeking to classify as employees certain independent contractors that participated in lease-purchase programs. Taxing and other regulatory authorities and courts apply a variety of standards in their determination of independent contractor status. Our classification of independent contractors has been the subject of audits by such authorities from time to time. While we have been successful in continuing to classify our independent contractor drivers as independent contractors and not employees, we may be unsuccessful in defending that position in the future. If our independent contractors are determined to be our employees, we would incur additional exposure under federal and state tax, workers' compensation, unemployment benefits, labor, employment, and tort laws, including for prior periods, as well as potential liability for employee benefits and tax withholdings. For further discussion of the laws impacting the classification of independent contractors, please see "Regulation" under "Item 1, Business."
Developments in labor and employment law and any unionizing efforts by employees could have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations.
We face the risk that Congress, federal agencies or one or more states could approve legislation or regulations significantly affecting our businesses and our relationship with our employees which would have substantially liberalized the procedures for union organization. None of our domestic employees are currently covered by a collective bargaining agreement, but any attempt by our employees to organize a labor union could result in increased legal and other associated costs. Additionally, given the National Labor Relations Board’s “speedy election” rule, our ability to timely and effectively address any unionizing efforts would be difficult. If we entered into a collective bargaining agreement with our domestic employees, the terms could materially adversely affect our costs, efficiency, and ability to generate acceptable returns on the affected operations. Moreover, our responses to any union organizing efforts could also expose us to legal risk or reputational harm and cause us to incur costs to defend legal and regulatory actions. Any labor disputes or work stoppages, whether or not our employees unionize, could disrupt our operations and reduce our revenues. Failure to comply with existing or future labor and employment laws could have a materially adverse effect on our business and operating results. For further discussion of the labor and employment laws, please see "Regulation" under “Item 1. Business.”
The CSA program adopted by the FMCSA could adversely affect our profitability and operations, our ability to maintain or grow our fleet, and our customer relationships.
Under CSA, fleets are evaluated and ranked against their peers based on certain safety-related standards. As a result, our fleet could be ranked poorly as compared to peer carriers, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We recruit and retain first-time drivers to be part of our fleet, and these drivers may have a higher likelihood of creating adverse safety events under CSA. The occurrence of future deficiencies could affect driver recruitment by causing high-quality drivers to seek employment with other carriers, limit the pool of available drivers, or could cause our customers to direct their business away from us and to carriers with higher fleet safety rankings, either of which would adversely affect our results of operations. Further, we may incur greater than expected expenses in our attempts to improve unfavorable scores.
Certain of our subsidiaries are currently exceeding the established intervention thresholds in a number of the seven CSA safety-related categories. Based on these unfavorable ratings, we may be prioritized for an intervention action or roadside inspection, either of which could adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, customers may be less likely to assign loads to us. For further discussion of the CSA program, please see "Regulation" under “Item 1. Business”. Insofar as any changes in the CSA Program increase the likelihood of us receiving unfavorable scores or mandate FMCSA to restore public access to scores, it could adversely affect our results of operation and profitability.
Receipt of an unfavorable DOT safety rating could have a materially adverse effect on our operations and profitability.
All of our motor carriers currently have a satisfactory DOT safety rating, which is the highest available rating under the current safety rating scale. If any of our motor carriers receive a conditional or unsatisfactory rating, certain provisions in customer contracts could allow the customer to reduce or terminate their relationship, it could affect our insurance costs and our ability to self-insure for personal injury and property damage relating to the transportation of freight, and it could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. For further discussion of the DOT safety rating, please see "Regulation" under “Item 1. Business.”
Compliance with various environmental laws and regulations upon which our operations are subject may increase our costs of operations and non-compliance with such laws and regulations could result in substantial fines or penalties.
In addition to direct regulation under the DOT and related agencies, we are subject to various environmental laws and regulations dealing with the hauling and handling of hazardous materials, fuel storage tanks, air emissions from our vehicles and facilities, and discharge and retention of storm water. Our tractor terminals often are located in industrial areas where groundwater or other forms of environmental contamination may have occurred or could occur. Our operations involve the risks of fuel spillage or seepage, environmental damage, and hazardous waste disposal, among others. We also maintain above-ground bulk fuel storage tanks and fueling islands at several of our facilities. A small percentage of our freight consists of low-grade hazardous substances, which subjects us to a wide array of regulations. Although we have instituted programs to monitor and control environmental risks and promote compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations, if we are involved in a spill or other accident involving hazardous substances, if there are releases of hazardous substances we transport, if soil or groundwater contamination is found at our facilities or results from our operations, or if we are found to be in violation of applicable laws or regulations, we could be subject to cleanup costs and liabilities, including substantial fines or penalties or civil and criminal liability, any of which could have a materially adverse effect on our business and operating results.
Governmental agencies continue to enact more stringent laws and regulations to reduce engine emissions. These laws and regulations are applicable to engines used in our revenue equipment. We have incurred and continue to incur costs related to the implementation of these more rigorous laws and regulations. Additionally, in certain locations governments have banned or may in the future ban internal combustion engines for some types of vehicles. To the extent these bans affect our revenue equipment, we may be forced to incur substantial expense to retrofit existing engines or make capital expenditures to update our fleet. As a result, our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be negatively affected.
For further discussion of environmental laws and regulations, please see "Regulation" under “Item 1. Business.”
Changes to trade regulation, quotas, duties, or tariffs, caused by the changing U.S. and geopolitical environments or otherwise, may increase our costs and materially adversely affect our business.
The imposition of additional tariffs or quotas or changes to certain trade agreements, including tariffs applied to goods traded between the United States and China, and proposed changes to tariffs on various imports from other countries (such as Canada, Mexico, and the E.U.) could, among other things, increase the costs of the materials used by our suppliers to produce new revenue equipment or increase the price of fuel. Such cost increases for our revenue equipment suppliers would likely be passed on to us, and to the extent fuel prices increase, we may not be able to fully recover such increases through rate increases or our fuel surcharge program, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Regulatory changes related to climate change could increase our costs significantly.
To the extent regulatory changes continue related to climate change, we could incur significant costs to our operation, mainly centered around our revenue producing equipment and our warehousing operations. We are not able to accurately predict the materiality of any potential losses or costs. Concern over climate change, including the impact of global warming, has led to significant legislative and regulatory efforts to limit carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions. Emission-related regulatory actions have historically resulted in increased costs related to revenue equipment, diesel fuel, equipment maintenance, and environmental monitoring or reporting requirements, and future legislation, if any, could impose substantial costs that may adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, any such legislation may require changes in our operating practices, impair equipment productivity, or require additional reporting disclosures, and compliance with any such legislation may increase our risk of litigation or governmental investigations or proceedings.
Conflicting views on environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) matters may have a negative impact on our business, impose additional costs on us, and expose us to additional risks.
Certain stakeholders have pressured companies on initiatives relating to ESG matters, including environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and corporate governance. Organizations that provide information to investors on corporate governance and related matters have developed ratings processes for evaluating companies on their approach to ESG matters. Such ratings are used by some investors to inform their investment and voting decisions. Unfavorable ESG ratings may lead to negative investor sentiment toward the Company, which could have a negative impact on our stock price. Additionally, given the Trump administration’s initiatives surrounding ESG and diversity, equity, and inclusion matters, which may conflict with stakeholder initiatives on such matters, we may experience conflicts between governmental regulations and stakeholder expectations which could impose additional costs on our business and negatively impact investor sentiment.
OPERATIONAL RISKS
Increases in driver compensation or difficulties attracting and retaining qualified drivers could have a materially adverse effect on our profitability and the ability to maintain or grow our fleet.
Like many truckload carriers, we experience substantial difficulty in attracting and retaining sufficient numbers of qualified drivers, which includes the engagement of independent contractors. The truckload industry periodically experiences a shortage of qualified drivers, particularly during periods of economic expansion, in which alternative employment opportunities, including in the construction and manufacturing industries, are more plentiful and freight demand increases, or during periods of economic downturns, in which unemployment benefits might be extended and financing is limited for independent contractors who seek to purchase equipment or for students who seek financial aid for driving school. Furthermore, capacity at driving schools may be limited by future outbreaks of contagious diseases, like COVID-19. Regulatory requirements, including those related to safety ratings, ELDs, hours-of-service changes, government-imposed measures related to future outbreaks of contagious diseases, like COVID-19, and an improved economy could further reduce the number of eligible drivers or force us to increase driver compensation to attract and retain drivers. We have seen evidence that stricter hours-of-service regulations adopted by the DOT in the past have tightened, and, to the extent new regulations are enacted, may continue to tighten, the market for eligible drivers. The lack of adequate tractor parking along some U.S. highways and congestion caused by inadequate highway funding may make it more difficult for drivers to comply with hours-of-service regulations and cause added stress for drivers, further reducing the pool of eligible drivers. Further, the compensation we offer our drivers and independent contractor expenses are subject to market conditions, and we may find it necessary to increase driver and independent contractor compensation in future periods.
In addition, we and many other truckload carriers suffer from a high turnover rate of drivers and independent contractors, and our turnover rate is higher than the industry average and as compared to our peers. This high turnover rate requires us to spend significant resources recruiting a substantial number of drivers and independent contractors in order to operate existing revenue equipment and maintain our current level of capacity and subjects us to a higher degree of risk with respect to driver and independent contractor shortages than our competitors. We also employ driver hiring standards that we believe are more rigorous than the hiring standards employed in general in our industry and could further reduce the pool of available drivers from which we would hire. Our use of team-driven tractors in our Expedited reportable segment requires two drivers per tractor, which further increases the number of drivers we must recruit and retain in comparison to operations that require one driver per tractor. If we are unable to continue to attract and retain a sufficient number of drivers, we could be forced to, among other things, adjust our compensation packages, increase the number of our tractors without drivers, or operate with fewer trucks and face difficulty meeting shipper demands, any of which could adversely affect our growth and profitability.
Our engagement of independent contractors to provide a portion of our capacity exposes us to different risks than we face with our tractors driven by company drivers.
As independent business owners, independent contractors may make business or personal decisions that may conflict with our best interests. For example, if a load is unprofitable, route distance is too far from home, personal scheduling conflicts arise, or for other reasons, independent contractors may deny loads of freight from time to time. Additionally, independent contractors may be unable to obtain or retain equipment financing, which could affect their ability to continue to act as a third-party service provider for the Company. In these circumstances, we must be able to deliver the freight timely in order to maintain relationships with customers, and if we fail to meet certain customer needs or incur increased expenses to do so, this could materially adversely affect our relationship with customers and our results of operations.
We provide financing to certain qualified independent contractors. If we are unable to provide such financing in the future, due to liquidity constraints or other restrictions, we may experience a decrease in the number of independent contractors we are able to engage. Further, if independent contractors we engage default under or otherwise terminate the financing arrangement and we are unable to find a replacement independent contractor or seat the tractor with a company driver, we may incur losses on amounts owed to us with respect to the tractor.
Our agreements with the independent contractors we engage are governed by the federal leasing regulations, which impose specific requirements on us and the independent contractors. If more stringent federal leasing regulations are adopted, independent contractors could be deterred from becoming independent contractor drivers, which could materially adversely affect our goal of growing our current fleet levels of independent contractors.
Fluctuations in the price or availability of fuel, the volume and terms of diesel fuel purchase commitments, surcharge collection, and hedging activities may increase our costs of operation, which could have a materially adverse effect on our profitability.
Fuel is one of our largest operating expenses. Diesel fuel prices fluctuate greatly due to factors beyond our control, such as political events, terrorist activities, armed conflicts, commodity futures trading, devaluation of the dollar against other currencies, weather events and other natural disasters, which could increase in frequency and severity due to climate change, as well as other man-made disasters, each of which may lead to an increase in the cost of fuel. Fuel prices also are affected by the rising demand for fuel in developing countries and could be materially adversely affected by the use of crude oil and oil reserves for purposes other than fuel production and by diminished drilling activity. Such events may lead not only to increases in fuel prices, but also to fuel shortages and disruptions in the fuel supply chain. Because our operations are dependent upon diesel fuel, significant diesel fuel cost increases, as well as widespread or long-term shortages, rationings, or supply disruptions of diesel fuel, would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Fuel also is subject to regional pricing differences and is often more expensive in certain areas where we operate. Increases in fuel costs, to the extent not offset by rate per mile increases or fuel surcharges, have a materially adverse effect on our operations and profitability. While we have fuel surcharge programs in place with a majority of our customers, which historically have helped us offset the majority of the negative impact of rising fuel prices associated with loaded or billed miles, we also incur fuel costs that cannot be recovered even with respect to customers with which we maintain fuel surcharge programs, such as those associated with non-revenue generating miles, time when our engines are idling, and fuel for refrigeration units on our refrigerated trailers. Moreover, the terms of each customer’s fuel surcharge program vary, and certain customers have sought to modify the terms of their fuel surcharge programs to minimize recoverability for fuel price increases. In addition, because our fuel surcharge recovery lags behind changes in fuel prices, our fuel surcharge recovery may not capture the increased costs we pay for fuel, especially when prices are rising. This could lead to fluctuations in our levels of reimbursement, which have occurred in the past. During periods of low freight volumes, shippers can use their negotiating leverage to impose fuel surcharge policies that provide a lower reimbursement of our fuel costs. There is no assurance that our fuel surcharge programs can be maintained indefinitely or will be sufficiently effective. Our results of operations would be negatively affected to the extent we cannot recover higher fuel costs or fail to improve our fuel price protection through our fuel surcharge program.
From time to time, we use hedging contracts and volume purchase arrangements to attempt to limit the effect of price fluctuations. In times of falling diesel fuel prices, such arrangements could cause costs to not be reduced to the same extent as they would be reduced in the absence of such arrangements and such arrangements may require significant cash payments.
We depend on third-party providers, particularly in our Managed Freight reportable segment where we offer brokerage and other logistics services, and service instability from these providers could increase our operating costs and reduce our ability to offer such services, which could adversely affect our revenue, results of operations, and customer relationships.
Our Managed Freight reportable segment is dependent upon the services of third-party capacity providers, including other truckload carriers. For this business, we do not own or control the transportation assets that deliver our customers' freight, and we do not employ the people directly involved in delivering the freight. This reliance could also cause delays in reporting certain events, including recognizing revenue and claims. These third-party providers may seek other freight opportunities and may require increased compensation in times of improved freight demand or tight truckload capacity. If we are unable to secure the services of these third-parties or if we become subject to increases in the prices we must pay to secure such services, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected, and we may be unable to serve our customers on competitive terms. Our ability to secure sufficient equipment or other transportation services may be affected by many risks beyond our control, including equipment shortages increased equipment prices, interruptions in service due to labor disputes, driver shortages, changes in regulations impacting transportation, and changes in transportation rates.
We depend on the proper functioning and availability of our management information and communication systems and other information technology assets (including the data contained therein) and a system failure or unavailability, including those caused by cybersecurity breaches internally or with third-parties, or an inability to effectively upgrade such systems and assets could cause a significant disruption to our business and have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations.
We depend heavily on the proper functioning, availability, and security of our management information and communication systems and other information technology assets, including financial reporting and operating systems and the data contained in such systems and assets, in operating our business. Our operating system is critical to understanding customer demands, accepting and planning loads, dispatching equipment and drivers, and billing and collecting for our services. Our financial reporting system is critical to producing accurate and timely financial statements and analyzing business information to help us manage effectively. Furthermore, data privacy laws, which provide data privacy rights for consumers and operational requirements for companies, may result in increased liability and amplified compliance and monitoring costs, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial performance and business operations.
Our operations and those of our technology and communications service providers are vulnerable to interruption by natural disasters, such as fires, storms, and floods, which may increase in frequency and severity due to climate change, as well as, power loss, telecommunications failure, cyberattacks, terrorist attacks, Internet failures, computer viruses, and other events beyond our control. More sophisticated and frequent cyberattacks in recent years have also increased security risks associated with information technology systems. We also maintain information security policies to protect our systems, networks, and other information technology assets (and the data contained therein) from cybersecurity breaches and threats, such as hackers, malware, and viruses; however, such policies cannot ensure the protection of our systems, networks, and other information technology assets (and the data contained therein). In addition, remote or flexible work options for our employees could create increased demand for information technology resources and increase the avenues for unauthorized access to sensitive information, phishing, and other cyberattacks. If any of our critical information systems fail or become otherwise unavailable, whether as a result of a system upgrade project or otherwise, we would have to perform the functions manually, which could temporarily impact our ability to dispatch and manage our fleet efficiently, to respond to customers' requests effectively, to maintain billing and other records reliably, and to bill for services and prepare financial statements accurately or in a timely manner. Our business interruption insurance may be inadequate to protect us in the event of an unforeseeable and extreme catastrophe. Any significant system failure, upgrade complication, security breach (including cyberattacks), or other system disruption could interrupt or delay our operations, damage our reputation, cause us to lose customers, or impact our ability to dispatch and manage our operations and report our financial performance, any of which could have a materially adverse effect on our business. Such risks related to system failure, upgrade complication, security breach (including cyberattacks), or other system disruption may also impact our customers, vendors, third-party capacity providers, and other counterparties, which could result in declines and volatility in customer demand and unavailability of products and services from vendors and third-party capacity providers, any of which would have a material adverse effect on our business. In addition, we are currently dependent on a single vendor to support several information technology functions. If the stability or capability of such vendor became compromised and we were forced to migrate such functions to a new platform, it could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. For further discussion of our cybersecurity programs, please see "Item 1C. Cybersecurity."
In addition, the adoption of artificial intelligence (“AI”) and other emerging technologies may become significant to operating results in the future. While AI and other technologies may offer substantial benefits, they may also introduce additional risk. If we are unable to successfully implement and utilize such emerging technologies as effectively as competitors, we may be at a competitive disadvantage to such competitors and our results of operation may be negatively affected.
If we are unable to retain our key employees, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be harmed.
We are dependent upon the services of our executive management team and other key personnel. Turnover, planned or otherwise, in these or other key leadership positions may materially adversely affect our ability to manage our business efficiently and effectively, and such turnover can be disruptive and distracting to management, may lead to additional departures of existing personnel, and could have a material adverse effect on our operations and future profitability. In addition, hiring, training, and successfully integrating replacement personnel, whether internal or external, could be time-consuming, may cause additional disruptions to our operations and may be unsuccessful, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We must continue to develop and retain a core group of managers and attract, develop, and retain sufficient additional managers if we are to continue to improve our profitability and have appropriate succession planning for key management personnel.
Seasonality and the impact of weather and climate change and other catastrophic events affect our operations and profitability.
We may suffer from natural disasters and weather-related events, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, ice storms, floods, and fires, which may increase in frequency and severity due to climate change, as well as other man-made disasters. These events may disrupt fuel supplies, increase fuel costs, disrupt freight shipments or routes, affect regional economies, destroy our assets, or adversely affect the business or financial condition of our customers, any of which could have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations or make our results of operations more volatile.
Our tractor productivity decreases during the winter season because inclement weather impedes operations, and some shippers reduce their shipments after the winter holiday season. Our Expedited reportable segment has historically experienced a greater reduction in first quarter demand than our other operations, however, this trend has lessened following the growth of AAT, which is part of the Expedited reportable segment, and our work with long-term customers to improve the stability of contracted capacity in our Expedited fleet. Revenue also can be affected by bad weather, holidays, and the number of business days that occur during a given period, since revenue is directly related to available working days of shippers. At the same time, operating expenses increase and fuel efficiency decline because of engine idling and harsh weather creating higher accident frequency, increased claims, and more equipment repairs. In addition, many of our customers, particularly those in the retail industry where we have a large presence, demand additional capacity during the fourth quarter, which limits our ability to take advantage of more attractive spot market rates that generally exist during such periods. Further, despite our efforts to meet such demands, we may fail to do so, which may result in lost future business opportunities with such customers, which could have a materially adverse effect on our operations.
The effects of a widespread outbreak of an illness or disease, or any other public health crisis, as well as regulatory measures implemented in response to such events, could negatively impact the health and safety of our workforce and/or adversely impact our business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.
We face a wide variety of risks related to public health crises, epidemics, pandemics, or similar events, such as COVID-19. If a new health epidemic or outbreak were to occur, we could experience broad and varied impacts similar to the impact of COVID-19, including adverse impacts to our workforce, our operations, equipment availability and financial results, such as increased costs, tightening of credit markets, greater risk for collection of amounts owed, market volatility and a weakened freight environment. If any of these were to occur, our operations, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations, and cash flows could be adversely impacted.
A large-scale outbreak of avian flu or related illness among the nation’s poultry flock may adversely affect the revenues of LTST.
Our subsidiary, LTST derives the majority of its revenue from the transportation of poultry and feed products related to poultry operations. While LTST does not transport eggs, a widespread outbreak of avian flu or related illness among our customers’ poultry flocks could reduce the volume of loads hauled for such customers. Additionally, public concern following a nation-wide or well-publicized outbreak of avian flu may cause fear about the consumption of chicken, turkey, eggs, and other products derived from poultry, which could cause customers to consume less poultry and related products, reducing the volume of poultry and related products produced and negatively affecting the revenues of LTST. Any decrease in the revenue of LTST may negatively impact our income and results of operations.
FINANCIAL RISKS
Our Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (our "Credit Facility") and other financing arrangements contain certain covenants, restrictions, and requirements, and we may be unable to comply with such covenants, restrictions, and requirements.
We have a $110.0 million Credit Facility and numerous other financing arrangements. Our Credit Facility contains certain restrictions and covenants relating to, among other things, debt, dividends, liens, acquisitions and dispositions outside of the ordinary course of business, affiliate transactions, and a fixed charge coverage ratio, if availability is below a certain threshold. We have had difficulty meeting budgeted results and have had to request amendments or waivers in the past. If we are unable to meet budgeted results or otherwise comply with our Credit Facility, we may be unable to obtain amendments or waivers under our Credit Facility, or we may incur fees in doing so.
Certain other financing arrangements contain certain restrictions and non-financial covenants, in addition to those contained in our Credit Facility. If we fail to comply with any of our financing arrangement covenants, restrictions, and requirements, we will be in default under the relevant agreement, which could cause cross-defaults under our other financing arrangements. In the event of any such default, if we failed to obtain replacement financing, amendments to, or waivers under the applicable financing arrangements, our lenders could cease making further advances, declare our debt to be immediately due and payable, fail to renew letters of credit, impose significant restrictions and requirements on our operations, institute foreclosure procedures against their collateral, or impose significant fees and transaction costs. If acceleration occurs, economic conditions, such as recently experienced higher interest rates, may make it difficult or expensive to refinance the accelerated debt or we may have to issue equity securities, which would dilute stock ownership. Even if new financing is made available to us, credit may not be available to us on acceptable terms. A default under our financing arrangements could result in a materially adverse effect on our liquidity, financial condition, and results of operations.
In the future, we may need to obtain additional financing that may not be available or, if it is available, may result in a reduction in the percentage ownership of our stockholders.
We may need to raise additional funds in order to:
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finance working capital requirements, capital investments, or refinance existing indebtedness;
● develop or enhance our technological infrastructure and our existing products and services;
● fund strategic relationships;
● respond to competitive pressures; and
● acquire complementary businesses, technologies, products, or services.
If the economy and/or the credit markets weaken, or we are unable to enter into finance or operating leases to acquire revenue equipment on terms favorable to us, our business, financial results, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected, especially if consumer confidence declines and domestic spending decreases.
If adequate funds are not available or are not available on acceptable terms, our ability to fund our strategic initiatives, take advantage of unanticipated opportunities, develop or enhance technology or services, or otherwise respond to competitive pressures or market changes could be significantly limited. If we raise additional funds by issuing equity or convertible debt securities, the percentage ownership of our stockholders may be reduced, and holders of these securities may have rights, preferences, or privileges senior to those of our stockholders. Volatility in equity markets could also impair our financial position in general terms and our ability to effectively capitalize on potential merger and acquisition opportunities.
Our indebtedness and finance and operating lease obligations could adversely affect our ability to respond to changes in our industry or business.
As a result of our level of debt, finance leases, operating leases, fluctuations in working capital requirements, and encumbered assets, we believe:
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our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions and competitive pressures is heightened;
● we will continue to be required to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flows from operations to lease payments and repayment of debt, limiting the availability of cash for our operations, capital expenditures, and future business opportunities;
● our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and industry will be limited;
● our results of operations and cash flows are sensitive to fluctuations in interest rates because some of our debt obligations are subject to variable interest rates, and future borrowings and lease financing arrangements will be affected by any such fluctuations;
● our ability to obtain additional financing in the future for working capital, capital expenditures, debt service requirements, acquisitions, or other purposes may be limited;
● it may be difficult for us to comply with the multitude of financial covenants, borrowing conditions, or other obligations contained in our debt agreements, thereby increasing the risk that we trigger certain cross-default provisions;
● we may be required to issue additional equity securities (which would dilute the ownership position of our stockholders) or debt securities to raise funds; and
● we may be placed at a competitive disadvantage relative to some of our competitors that have less, or less restrictive, debt than us.
Our financing obligations could negatively impact our future operations, ability to satisfy our capital needs, or ability to engage in other business activities. We also cannot assure you that additional financing will be available to us when required or, if available, will be on terms satisfactory to us. Finally, we may be unsuccessful in our strategy to maintain lower leverage than we have historically.
Our profitability may be materially adversely impacted if our capital investments do not match customer demand or if there is a decline in the availability of funding sources for these investments.
Our operations require significant capital investments. The amount and timing of such investments depend on various factors, including anticipated freight demand and the price and availability of assets. If anticipated demand differs materially from actual usage, we may have too many or too few assets. Moreover, resource requirements vary based on customer demand, which may be subject to seasonal or general economic conditions. Our ability to select profitable freight and adapt to changes in customer transportation requirements is important to efficiently deploy resources and make capital investments in tractors and trailers (with respect to our asset based operations) or obtain qualified third-party capacity at a reasonable price (with respect to our Managed Freight reportable segment). Our customers’ financial failures or loss of customer business may also affect us.
We expect to pay for projected capital expenditures with cash flows from operations, borrowings under our Credit Facility, proceeds from the sale of our used revenue equipment, proceeds under other financing facilities, and leases of revenue equipment. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash from operations and obtain financing on favorable terms in the future, we may have to limit our fleet size, enter into less favorable financing arrangements, or operate our revenue equipment for longer periods, any of which could have a materially adverse effect on our profitability.
Increased prices for new revenue equipment, design changes of new engines, future uses of autonomous tractors, volatility in the used equipment market, decreased availability of new revenue equipment, and the failure of manufacturers to meet their sale or trade-back obligations to us could have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and profitability.
We are subject to risk with respect to higher prices for new tractors and trailers. We have at times experienced an increase in prices for new tractors and trailers and the resale values of the tractors and trailers have not always increased to the same extent. Prices have increased in the past and may continue to increase, due, in part, to (i) government regulations applicable to newly manufactured tractors and diesel engines, (ii) higher commodity prices, (iii) the pricing discretion of equipment manufacturers, and (iv) increased demand for equipment due to more favorable freight market. In addition, we have equipped our tractors with safety, aerodynamic, and other options that increase the price of new equipment. Compliance with such regulations has increased the cost of our new tractors, may increase the cost of new trailers, could impair equipment productivity, in some cases, result in lower fuel mileage, and increase our operating expenses. Our business could be harmed if we are unable to continue to obtain an adequate supply of new tractors and trailers for these or other reasons, and future use of autonomous tractors and alternative fuel could increase the price of new tractors and decrease the value of used, non-autonomous tractors. As a result, we expect to continue to pay steady to increased prices for equipment and incur additional expenses and related financing costs for the foreseeable future. Furthermore, reduced equipment efficiency may result from new engines designed to reduce emissions, thereby increasing our operating expenses.
A decrease in vendor output may have a materially adverse effect on our ability to purchase or take possession of a quantity of new revenue equipment that is sufficient to sustain our desired growth rate and to maintain a late-model fleet. Tractor and trailer vendors may reduce their manufacturing output in response to lower demand for their products in economic downturns or shortages of component parts. During the COVID-19 pandemic some tractor and trailer manufacturers experienced periodic shortages of certain component parts and supplies, including semi-conductor chips, forcing such manufacturers to curtail or suspend their production, which led to a lower supply of tractors and trailers and higher prices. If such shortages occur again, such shortages could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations, particularly our maintenance expense, driver retention, and the length of our trade cycle.
A depressed market for used equipment could require us to trade our revenue equipment at depressed values or to record losses on disposal or impairments of the carrying values of our revenue equipment that is not protected by residual value arrangements. Used equipment prices are subject to substantial fluctuations based on freight demand, the supply of new and used equipment, the availability and terms of financing, the presence of buyers for export to foreign countries, the desirability of specific models of used equipment, and commodity prices for scrap metal. If there is a deterioration of resale prices, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In 2022 through 2024, we experienced a softened used equipment market.
Certain of our revenue equipment financing arrangements have balloon payments at the end of the finance terms equal to the values we expect to be able to obtain in the used market. To the extent the used market values are lower than that, we may be forced to sell the equipment at a loss and our results of operations would be materially adversely affected.
Our 49% owned subsidiary, TEL, faces certain additional risks particular to its operations, any one of which could adversely affect our operating results.
We hold a 49% interest in TEL, a used equipment leasing company and reseller. We account for our investment in TEL using the equity method of accounting. TEL faces several risks similar to those we face and additional risks particular to its business and operations. TEL has significant ongoing capital requirements and carries significant debt. The ability to secure financing and market fluctuations in interest rates could impact TEL's ability to grow its leasing business and its margins on leases. Adverse economic activity may restrict the number of used equipment buyers and their ability to pay prices for used equipment that we find acceptable. In addition, TEL's leasing customers are typically small trucking companies without substantial financial resources, and TEL is subject to risk of loss should those customers be unable to make their lease payments or declare bankruptcy, which has happened in the past. A portion of TEL’s business includes leasing equipment to individual independent contractors who are generally not required to provide significant amounts to secure their obligations under the lease agreements with TEL. Such independent contractors generally have few assets and are at a heightened risk of defaulting under such lease agreements, which may cause TEL to incur unreimbursed costs related to the recovery of equipment, equipment maintenance and repair, missed lease payments, and the reletting of the equipment. In addition, the shrinking independent contractor market may decrease the number of drivers available to utilize such portion of TEL’s business and could decrease TEL’s revenues. Further, we believe the used equipment market will significantly impact TEL's results of operations and such market has been volatile in the past and declined recently. There can be no assurance that TEL will experience gains on sale similar to those it has experienced in the past and it may incur losses on sale. As regulations change, the market for used equipment may be impacted as such regulatory changes may make used equipment costly to upgrade to comply with such regulations or we may be forced to scrap equipment if such regulations eliminate the market for particular used equipment. Further, there is an overlap in providers of equipment financing to TEL and our wholly owned operations and those providers may consider the combined exposure and limit the amount of credit available to us.
TEL's majority owners are generally restricted from transferring their interests in TEL, other than to certain permitted transferees, without our consent. There is no assurance that we will be able to agree on any proposed sale or transfer of interests in TEL, whether by us or the other owners.
Finally, we do not control TEL's ownership or management. Our investment in TEL is subject to the risk that TEL's management and controlling members may make business, financial, or management decisions with which we do not agree or that the management or controlling members may take risks or otherwise act in a manner that does not serve our interests. If any of the foregoing were to occur, the value of our investment in TEL could decrease, dividends could be reduced or eliminated, and our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flow could suffer as a result.
We could determine that our goodwill and other intangible assets are impaired, thus recognizing a related loss.
As of December 31, 2024, we had goodwill of $78.9 million and other intangible assets of $90.1 million. We evaluate our goodwill and other intangible assets for impairment. We could recognize impairments in the future, and we may never realize the full value of our intangible assets. If these events occur, our profitability and financial condition will suffer.
Our Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer and his wife control a large portion of our stock and have substantial control over us, including as a result of our concentrated leadership structure, which could limit other stockholders' ability to influence the outcome of key transactions, including changes of control.
Our Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, David Parker, and his wife, Jacqueline Parker, beneficially own or have sole voting and dispositive power approximately 13% of our outstanding Class A common stock and 100% of our Class B common stock. On all matters with respect to which our stockholders have a right to vote, including the election of directors, each share of Class A common stock is entitled to one vote, while each share of Class B common stock is entitled to two votes. All outstanding shares of Class B common stock are owned by the Parkers and are convertible to Class A common stock on a share-for-share basis at the election of the Parkers or automatically upon transfer to someone outside of the Parker family. This voting structure gives the Parkers approximately 39% of the voting power of all of our outstanding stock. As such, the Parkers are able to substantially influence decisions requiring stockholder approval, including the election of our entire Board, the adoption or extension of anti-takeover provisions, mergers, and other business combinations. This concentration of ownership could limit the price that some investors might be willing to pay for the Class A common stock, and could allow the Parkers to prevent or could discourage or delay a change of control, which other stockholders may favor. The interests of the Parkers may conflict with the interests of other holders of Class A common stock, and they may take actions affecting us with which other stockholders disagree.
Moreover, Mr. Parker serves as both our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of our Board. Although the Board has determined that the combination of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board positions is the most appropriate and suitable structure for proper and efficient Board functioning and communication, Mr. Parker may have an outsized ability to influence the operations of the Company, which may result in conflicts with the interests of Mr. Parker, the Parker Family, and the interests of our other stockholders.
Provisions in our charter documents or Nevada law may inhibit a takeover, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay for our Class A common stock.
Our Third Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation (“Articles of Incorporation”), our Sixth Amended and Restated Bylaws ("Bylaws"), and Nevada corporate law contain provisions that could delay, discourage or prevent a change of control or changes in our Board or management that a stockholder might consider favorable. For example, our Articles of Incorporation authorize our Board to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval and to set the rights, preferences and other terms thereof, including voting rights of those shares; our Articles of Incorporation do not provide for cumulative voting in the election of directors, which would otherwise allow holders of less than a majority of stock to elect some directors; our Class B common stock possesses disproportionate voting rights; and our Bylaws provide that a stockholder must provide advance notice of business to be brought before an annual meeting or to nominate candidates for election as directors at an annual meeting of stockholders. These provisions will apply even if the change may be considered beneficial by some of our stockholders, and thereby negatively affect the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A common stock. Furthermore, pursuant to the “Acquisition of Controlling Interest” statutes set forth in Sections 78.378 to 78.3793, inclusive, of the Nevada Revised Statutes (the “Control Statutes”), if a person acquires a controlling interest in the Company (defined in Nevada Statutes Section 78.3785 as ownership of voting securities to exercise voting power in the election of directors in excess of 1/5, 1/3, or a majority thereof), the voting rights of such person in excess of the applicable threshold would be nullified, unless the acquirer obtains approval of the disinterested stockholders or unless the Company amends its Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws within ten days of the acquisition to provide that the Control Statutes do not apply to the Company or to types of existing or future stockholders. Our Bylaws provide that the Control Statutes do not apply to an acquisition of a controlling interest in the Company by the Parkers or their affiliates. In addition, to the extent that these provisions discourage an acquisition of our company or other change in control transaction, they could deprive stockholders of opportunities to realize takeover premiums for their shares of our Class A common stock.
The market price of our Class A common stock may be volatile.
The price of our Class A common stock may fluctuate widely, depending upon a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control. In addition, stock markets generally experience significant price and volume volatility from time to time which may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock for reasons unrelated to our performance.
We cannot guarantee the timing or amount of repurchases of our Class A common stock, or the declaration of future dividends, if any.
The timing and amount of future repurchases of our Class A common stock, including repurchases under our current stock repurchase program authorizing the purchase of up to $55 million of our Class A common stock, as well as the declaration of future dividends, is at the discretion of our Board and will depend on many factors such as our financial condition, earnings, cash flows, capital requirements, any future debt service obligations, covenants under our existing or future debt agreements, industry practice, legal requirements, regulatory constraints, changes in federal and state tax laws, and other factors our Board deems relevant. While it is expected that we will continue to pay a quarterly dividend under the dividend program initiated in January 2022, there is no assurance that we will declare or pay any future dividends or as to the amount or timing of those dividends, if any.
Changes in taxation could lead to an increase of our tax exposure and could affect the Company’s financial results.
Our effective tax rate may be adversely impacted by, among other things, changes in the regulations relating to capital expenditure deductions, or changes in tax laws where we operate, including the uncertainty of future tax rates. President Trump has indicated a desire to amend the federal tax laws. Until any changes are passed into law we will not know if such changes, if any, will have a materially adverse effect on our financial results and financial position. Any changes to the federal tax laws are likely to have an immediate revaluation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities in the year of enactment.
If we fail to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in the future, there could be an elevated possibility of a material misstatement, and such a misstatement could cause investors to lose confidence in our financial statements, which could have a material adverse effect on our stock price.
Our internal controls over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements because of its inherent limitations, including the possibility of human error, failure or interruption of information technology systems, the circumvention or overriding of controls, or fraud. Even effective internal controls can provide only reasonably assurance with respect to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements. If we fail to maintain effective internal controls in the future, including any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or if we experience difficulties in their implementation, including with the implementation of our internal controls in acquired companies, it could result in a material misstatement of our financial statements, which could cause investors to lose confidence in our financial statements or cause our stock price to decline.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
ITEM 1B.
UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
ITEM 2.
PROPERTIES
Our corporate headquarters and main terminal are located on approximately 180 acres of property in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Also, we own or lease administrative offices and truck terminals (which provide a transfer location for trailer relays on transcontinental routes, parking space for equipment dispatch, facilities for recruiting and orientation, sales offices, and warehouses) throughout the continental United States, none of which are individually material.

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
ITEM 3.
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Information about our legal proceedings is included in Note 16, "Commitments and Contingent Liabilities" of the accompanying consolidated financial statements and is incorporated by reference herein.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
ITEM 4.
MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
None.
PART II

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ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Price Range of Common Stock
Our Class A common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, under the symbol "CVLG."
As of February 26, 2025, we had approximately 55 stockholders of record of our Class A common stock; however, we estimate our actual number of stockholders is much higher because a substantial number of our shares are held of record by brokers or dealers for their customers in street names. As of February 26, 2025, Mr. Parker, together with certain of his family members, owned all of the outstanding Class B common stock.
Dividend Policy
In January 2022, our Board approved a quarterly cash dividend program of $0.03125 per share, which was increased to $0.04 per share in August 2022 and $0.055 per share in February 2023.
Our most recent dividend was declared in February of 2025 for $0.07 per share of Class A and Class B common stock and is scheduled to be paid in March of 2025.
Dividends under the quarterly cash dividend program are subject to quarterly approval by our Board. It is the current intention of our Board to continue to pay a quarterly dividend under the dividend program, however, there is no assurance that we will declare or pay any future dividends or as to the amount or timing of those dividends, if any. The payment of cash dividends is currently limited by our financing arrangements. Future payments of cash dividends will depend upon our financial condition, earnings, cash flows, capital requirements, any future debt service obligations, covenants under our existing or future debt agreements, industry practice, legal requirements, regulatory constraints, and other factors our Board deems relevant.
See "Equity Compensation Plan Information" under Item 12 in Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for certain information concerning shares of our Class A common stock authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
ITEM 6.
[RESERVED]
Not applicable.

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
ITEM 7.
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
This Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations should be read together with “Business” in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including those set forth under Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” and Part I “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and elsewhere in this report. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those discussed.
EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW
We are a leading provider of high-service truckload transportation and logistics services. Our strategy is to focus on value-added, less commoditized portions of our customers’ supply chains and thereby become embedded in their business processes. We believe disciplined planning and execution of our strategy will continue to reduce the cyclicality and seasonality of our financial results through growth in higher margin, less volatile services, which in turn will enhance sustainable long-term earnings power and return on invested capital for our stockholders.
Our four reportable segments are Expedited, Dedicated, Managed Freight, and Warehousing, each as described under “Reportable Segments and Service Offerings” in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. For 2024, despite a challenging general freight environment, we achieved our third highest adjusted annual earnings per diluted share in our history. Within our Expedited reportable segment, both total revenue and margins declined year over year primarily as a result of an approximately 4% reduction in average total tractors, partially offset by an approximately 2% increase in both freight revenue per total mile and utilization year-over-year. Within our Dedicated reportable segment, we have worked hard over the last three years to improve the profitability within this segment by exiting unprofitable business and adding profitable business and while we are pleased with the improvement to adjusted operating income compared to 2023, we believe that if we are successful in providing best in class service and controlling costs, growth and improved profitability will result. Managed Freight experienced reduced revenue but improved operating income with increased volumes of high-margin overflow freight from both Expedited and Dedicated truckload operations and focusing on cost control. Going forward, we seek to grow Managed Freight with profitable revenue from new customers, work closely with our asset-based segment to capitalize on overflow opportunities when available, and optimize costs to yield longer term margin goals in the mid-single digits, which will generate an acceptable return on capital given the asset light nature of the business. Warehousing was able to grow revenue and operating income through improvements to direct labor costs and improved margins with contractual pricing increases put into place during the year. We are continuing to work towards increasing the operating income and related margins in each of these segments by executing on both our pipeline of new business and focused cost savings initiatives.
The table below reflects the total revenue trends in each of these reportable segments:
Year ended December 31,
(in thousands)
Revenues:
Expedited
$ 416,461
$ 423,820
Dedicated
364,414
320,287
Managed Freight
248,939
258,903
Warehousing
101,662
100,563
Total revenues
$ 1,131,476
$ 1,103,573
Our consolidated financial results are summarized as follows:
●
Total revenue was $1,131.5 million, compared with $1,103.6 million for 2023, and freight revenue (which excludes revenue from fuel surcharges) was $1,013.9 million, compared with $970.5 million for 2023;
●
Operating income from continuing operations was $44.8 million, compared with operating income from continuing operations of $58.8 million for 2023;
●
Net income was $35.9 million, or $1.30 per diluted share, compared with net income of $55.2 million, or $2.00 per diluted share, for 2023; Net income from continuing operations was $35.3 million, or $1.27 per diluted share, for 2024, compared to $54.6 million or $1.97 per diluted share in 2023. Net income from discontinued operations of $0.6 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, for 2024, compared to $0.6 million, or $0.02 per diluted share in 2023;
●
With available borrowing capacity of $90.2 million under our Credit Facility as of December 31, 2024, we do not expect to be required to test our fixed charge covenant in the foreseeable future;
● Our equity investment in TEL provided $14.7 million of pre-tax earnings in 2024, compared to $21.4 million for 2023;
● Since December 31, 2023, total indebtedness, comprised of total debt and finance leases, net of cash, decreased by $28.7 million to $219.6 million;
● Leverage ratio (average total indebtedness, net of cash, divided by the sum of operating income (loss, depreciation and amortization, gain on disposition of property and equipment, net, and impairment of long lived property and equipment) was 1.65 at December 31, 2024, compared to 2.14 at December 31, 2023;
● Stockholders' equity at December 31, 2024 was $438.3 million, compared to $403.4 million at December 31, 2023; and
● Tangible book value per end-of-quarter basic share at December 31, 2024 was $10.17, compared to $8.72 at December 31, 2023.
Outlook
The Company’s consistently good performance in a weak freight market is evidence that our strategic plan continues to work. Over the past three years, we reallocated a significant amount of fixed assets away from underperforming and highly cyclical legacy operations toward acquiring three high-performing, more steady businesses. The result has been better margins, more stable earnings, and improved returns on capital compared with our legacy operations during previous downturns. While we are pleased with our results, we are also optimistic about our ability to make incremental improvements by continuing to invest in our team, identifying and mitigating risk, providing customers with superior service, and rigorously allocating capital across the enterprise.
With continued diligence and accountability, we expect to grow our market share organically and through acquisitions, continue to improve our operations, and be a stronger, more profitable, and more predictable business with the opportunity for significant and sustained value creation. Based on our anticipated cash flow generation profile, we expect to be able to continue our cash dividend program and evaluate a full range of capital allocation alternatives, including maintaining a lower leveraged balance sheet compared to 2020, organic growth, acquisition and disposition opportunities, and stock repurchases.
For the first quarter of 2025, the general freight market appears to be incrementally improving as capacity and demand are better balanced than they have been for approximately two years, and customers are acknowledging this during rate and volume allocation discussions. However, in our dedicated markets, customers continue to experience greater than expected temporary customer shutdowns and volume pressure. Additionally, bad weather has hampered operations and increased our costs limiting any benefit of general market uplift. Beyond the first quarter, we are focusing on positioning the Company to execute quickly and gain operating leverage as conditions improve, continuing to capture new dedicated contracts to expand the fleet organically, and evaluating multiple acquisition and investment opportunities. Our goal remains to grow profitably and generate meaningful returns for our stockholders while providing world-class career opportunities for our team members.
RESULTS OF CONSOLIDATED OPERATIONS
Our Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations included in this document generally discusses 2024 and 2023 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2024 and 2023. Discussions of 2022 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2023 and 2022 that are not included in this document can be found in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.
The following table sets forth total revenue and freight revenue (total revenue less fuel surcharge revenue) for the periods indicated:
Revenue
Year ended December 31,
(in thousands)
Revenue:
Freight revenue
$ 1,013,941
$ 970,509
Fuel surcharge revenue
117,535
133,064
Total revenue
$ 1,131,476
$ 1,103,573
The increase in total revenue resulted from a $44.1 million and $1.0 million increase in Dedicated and Warehouse freight revenue, respectively, partially offset by a $10.0 million and $7.4 million decrease in freight revenue from our Managed Freight and Expedited reportable segments, respectively.
See results of reportable segment operations section for discussion of fluctuations.
For comparison purposes in the discussion below, we use total revenue and freight revenue (total revenue less fuel surcharge revenue) when discussing changes as a percentage of revenue.
For each expense item discussed below, we have provided a table setting forth the relevant expense first as a percentage of total revenue, and then as a percentage of freight revenue.
Salaries, wages, and related expenses
Year ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)
Salaries, wages, and related expenses
$ 423,319
$ 400,491
% of total revenue
37.4 %
36.3 %
% of freight revenue
41.7 %
41.3 %
The increase in salaries, wages, and related expenses on a dollars basis is primarily the result of averaging more drivers and tractors resulting in higher driver salaries, wages, and benefits as a result of growth in Dedicated, along with increased shop technician salaries and benefits, workers compensation and group health costs, partially offset by contract labor reductions.
We believe driver and non-driver, including shop technicians, pay and benefits will continue to increase as the result of wage inflation, higher healthcare costs, and, in certain periods, increased incentive compensation due to better performance. Driver pay may also fluctuate based on the number of miles driven. While driver pay remains stable at the present time, we have historically put driver pay increases in place as necessary to address driver market pressure and will continue to do so in the future as necessary. If freight market rates increase, we would expect to, as we have historically, pass a portion of those rate increases on to our professional drivers. Salaries, wages, and related expenses will fluctuate to some extent based on the percentage of revenue generated by independent contractors and our Managed Freight reportable segment, for which payments are reflected in the purchased transportation line item.
Fuel expense
Year ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)
Fuel expense
$ 115,981
$ 133,291
% of total revenue
10.3 %
12.1 %
% of freight revenue
11.4 %
13.7 %
The decreases in total fuel expense are primarily related to lower fuel prices in 2024, as well as a 5.3% decrease in total miles.
We receive a fuel surcharge on our loaded miles from most shippers; however, in times of increasing fuel prices, this does not cover the entire increase in fuel prices for several reasons, including the following: surcharges cover only loaded miles we operate; surcharges do not cover miles driven out-of-route by our drivers; and surcharges typically do not cover refrigeration unit fuel usage or fuel burned by tractors while idling. Moreover, most of our business relating to shipments obtained from freight brokers does not carry a fuel surcharge. Finally, fuel surcharges vary in the percentage of reimbursement offered, and not all surcharges fully compensate for fuel price increases even on loaded miles.
The rate of fuel price changes also can have an impact on results. Most fuel surcharges are based on the average fuel price as published by the DOE for the week prior to the shipment, meaning we typically bill customers in the current week based on the previous week's applicable index. Therefore, in times of increasing fuel prices, we do not recover as much as we are currently paying for fuel. In periods of declining prices, the opposite is true. Fuel prices as measured by the DOE averaged approximately $0.45 per gallon, or 10.7%, lower in 2024 than 2023.
To measure the effectiveness of our fuel surcharge program, we subtract fuel surcharge revenue (other than the fuel surcharge revenue we reimburse to independent contractors and other third-parties, which is included in purchased transportation) from our fuel expense. The result is referred to as net fuel expense. Our net fuel expense as a percentage of freight revenue is affected by the cost of diesel fuel net of fuel surcharge revenue, the percentage of miles driven by company tractors, our fuel economy, and our percentage of deadhead miles, for which we do not receive material fuel surcharge revenues. Net fuel expense is shown below:
Year ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)
Total fuel surcharge
$ 117,535
$ 133,064
Less: Fuel surcharge revenue reimbursed to independent contractors and other third-parties
9,032
9,752
Company fuel surcharge revenue
$ 108,503
$ 123,312
Total fuel expense
$ 115,981
$ 133,291
Less: Company fuel surcharge revenue
108,503
123,312
Net fuel expense
$ 7,478
$ 9,979
% of freight revenue
0.7 %
1.0 %
Net fuel expense decreased $2.5 million, or 25.1%, for the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to 2023. As a percentage of freight revenue, net fuel expense decreased 0.3% for the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to 2023, primarily due to decreased fuel surcharge recovery partially offset by lower fuel prices. There were no diesel fuel hedge gains or loss for the years ended December 31, 2024 or 2023. As of December 31, 2024, we had no remaining fuel hedge contracts.
We expect to continue managing our idle time and tractor speeds, investing in more fuel-efficient tractors and auxiliary power units to improve our miles per gallon, locking in fuel hedges when deemed appropriate, partnering with customers to adjust fuel surcharge programs that are inadequate to recover a fair portion of fuel costs, and testing the latest technologies that reduce fuel consumption. Going forward, our net fuel expense is expected to fluctuate as a percentage of revenue based on factors such as diesel fuel prices, percentage recovered from fuel surcharge programs, percentage of uncompensated miles, percentage of revenue generated by team-driven tractors (which tend to generate higher miles and lower revenue per mile, thus proportionately more fuel cost as a percentage of revenue), percentage of revenue generated from independent contractors, and the success of fuel efficiency initiatives.
Operations and maintenance
Year ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)
Operations and maintenance
$ 61,696
$ 63,753
% of total revenue
5.5 %
5.8 %
% of freight revenue
6.1 %
6.6 %
The decrease in operations and maintenance expense was primarily related to the reduced maintenance costs as a result of the Company's strategic efforts to purchase newer equipment and replace older equipment that was more costly to maintain.
Going forward, we believe this category will fluctuate based on several factors, including the condition of the driver market and our ability to hire and retain drivers, our continued ability to maintain a relatively young fleet, accident severity and frequency, weather, the reliability of new and untested revenue equipment models, and the global disruption of the supply chain. Additionally, operations and maintenance costs may increase if we experience wage and parts inflation.
Revenue equipment rentals and purchased transportation
Year ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)
Revenue equipment rentals and purchased transportation
$ 254,302
$ 271,893
% of total revenue
22.5 %
24.6 %
% of freight revenue
25.1 %
28.0 %
The decrease in revenue equipment rentals and purchased transportation was primarily the result of a reduction in purchased transportation costs in our Managed Freight reportable segment as a result of the softening freight market, the reduction in leased revenue equipment as the result of largely transitioning from tractors held under operating leases to owned tractors in 2023. These decreases were partially offset by a slight increase in the percentage of the total miles run by independent contractors from 7.5% for 2023 to 7.8% for 2024.
We expect purchased transportation to fluctuate as volumes in our Managed Freight reportable segment may be volatile. In addition, if fuel prices increase, it would result in a further increase in what we pay third-party carriers and independent contractors. However, this expense category will fluctuate with the number and percentage of loads hauled by independent contractors, loads handled by Managed Freight, and tractors, trailers, and other assets financed with operating leases. In addition, factors such as the cost to obtain third-party transportation services and the amount of fuel surcharge revenue passed through to the third-party carriers and independent contractors will affect this expense category. If industry-wide trucking capacity tightens in relation to freight demand, we may need to increase the amounts we pay to third-party transportation providers and independent contractors, which could increase this expense category on an absolute basis and as a percentage of freight revenue absent an offsetting increase in revenue. If we were to recruit more independent contractors we would expect this line item to increase as a percentage of revenue.
Operating taxes and licenses
Year ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)
Operating taxes and licenses
$ 11,954
$ 13,409
% of total revenue
1.1 %
1.2 %
% of freight revenue
1.2 %
1.4 %
For the period presented, the change in operating taxes and licenses is insignificant both as a percentage of total revenue and freight revenue.
Insurance and claims
Year ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)
Insurance and claims
$ 59,845
$ 50,099
% of total revenue
5.3 %
4.5 %
% of freight revenue
5.9 %
5.2 %
Insurance and claims per mile cost increased to 21.7 cents per mile for 2024 from 19.1 cents per mile in 2023. The increase is primarily the result of an increase in current period claims expense including a large current year claim incurred partially offset by a decrease in insurance premiums compared to 2023.
Our insurance program includes multi-year policies with specific insurance limits that may be eroded over the course of the policy term. If that occurs, we will be operating with less liability insurance coverage at various levels of our insurance tower. For the policy period that ran from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2021, the aggregate limits available in the coverage layer $9.0 million in excess of $1.0 million were fully eroded based on claims expense. We replaced our $9.0 million in excess of $1.0 million layer with a new $7.0 million in excess of $3.0 million policy effective starting January 28, 2021 that we continue to maintain. Due to the erosion of the $9.0 million in excess of $1.0 million layer, any adverse developments in claims filed between April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2021, could result in additional expense accruals. We have maintained our retention and limits set in place during the prior renewal cycle. Due to these developments, we may experience additional expense accruals, increased insurance and claims expenses, and greater volatility in our insurance and claims expenses, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We expect insurance and claims expense to continue to be volatile over the long-term. Recently the trucking industry has experienced a decline in the number of carriers and underwriters that write insurance policies or that are willing to provide insurance for trucking companies.
Communications and utilities
Year ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)
Communications and utilities
$ 5,407
$ 5,012
% of total revenue
0.5 %
0.5 %
% of freight revenue
0.5 %
0.5 %
For the period presented, the change in communications and utilities are insignificant both as a percentage of total revenue and freight revenue.
General supplies and expenses
Year ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)
General supplies and expenses
$ 66,053
$ 49,444
% of total revenue
5.8 %
4.5 %
% of freight revenue
6.5 %
5.1 %
The increase in general supplies and expenses was primarily the result of a $15.8 million increase in the contingent consideration liability since the 2023 period related to the acquisition of LTST.
Depreciation and amortization
Year ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)
Depreciation and amortization
$ 86,529
$ 69,943
% of total revenue
7.6 %
6.3 %
% of freight revenue
8.5 %
7.2 %
Depreciation and amortization consists primarily of depreciation of tractors, trailers and other capital assets (including those under finance leases), as well as amortization of intangible assets.
Depreciation increased $14.6 million in 2024 to $77.0 million compared to 2023, primarily as a result of the increased cost of new equipment purchased as part of our strategic initiative to support growth in our Dedicated segment and replace older equipment. Amortization of intangible assets increased $2.0 million in 2024 to $9.5 million compared to 2023, primarily due to the amortization of the intangible assets related to the LTST and Sims acquisitions.
We expect depreciation and amortization to increase going forward as the cost of new equipment increases and we see the effect of our equipment investment and replacement plan. Additionally, changes in the used tractor market could cause us to adjust residual values, increase depreciation, hold assets longer than planned, or experience increased losses on sale. Successfully executing our 2025 growth plan could also increase depreciation and amortization going forward.
Loss (gain) on disposition of property and equipment, net
Year ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)
Loss (gain) on disposition of property and equipment, net
$ 1,630
$ (12,585 )
% of total revenue
0.1 %
(1.1 %)
% of freight revenue
0.2 %
(1.3 %)
The decrease in gain on disposition of property and equipment, net is primarily the result of the declining equipment values as a result of economic headwinds in the freight market and excess capacity challenges that continued in 2024.
For 2025 we expect gains on disposition of property and equipment to be more than those of 2024 as a result of a freight market that we expect to incrementally improve due to excess capacity that has exited the business.
Interest expense, net
Year ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)
Interest expense, net
$ 13,576
$ 7,967
% of total revenue
1.2 %
0.7 %
% of freight revenue
1.3 %
0.8 %
For the period presented, the increase in interest expense, net is primarily the result of an increase in revenue equipment installment notes as we implemented our 2024 revenue equipment replacement plan.
This line item will fluctuate based on our decision with respect to purchasing revenue equipment with balance sheet debt versus operating leases, our revenue equipment replacement plan, and changing interest rates.
Income from equity method investment
Year ended December 31,
(in thousands)
Income from equity method investment
$ 14,713
$ 21,384
We have accounted for our investment in TEL using the equity method of accounting and thus our financial results include our proportionate share of TEL's net income. For the year ended December 31, 2024, our earnings resulting from our investment in TEL decreased to $14.7 million. The decrease in 2024 as compared to 2023 is the result of a reduction of gain on sale of revenue equipment. Due to TEL's business model, gains and losses on sale of equipment is a normal part of the business and can cause earnings to fluctuate from period to period and therefore our income from investment to similarly fluctuate. We expect TEL's results for 2025 to remain similar to those of 2024.
Income tax expense
Year ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)
Income tax expense
$ 10,576
$ 17,611
% of total revenue
0.9 %
1.6 %
% of freight revenue
1.0 %
1.8 %
The decrease in tax expense primarily relates to the decrease in operating income and earnings on investment in TEL as described above.
The effective tax rate is different from the expected combined tax rate due primarily to state tax expense and permanent differences. The rate impact of these items will fluctuate in future periods as income fluctuates.
RESULTS OF SEGMENT OPERATIONS
We have four reportable segments, Expedited, Dedicated, Managed Freight, and Warehousing each as described under "Reportable Segments and Service Offerings" in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
The following table summarizes revenue and operating income data by reportable segment and service offering:
Year ended December 31,
(in thousands)
Revenues:
Expedited
$ 416,461
$ 423,820
Dedicated
364,414
320,287
Managed Freight
248,939
258,903
Warehousing
101,662
100,563
Total revenues
$ 1,131,476
$ 1,103,573
Operating Income:
Expedited
$ 22,162
$ 28,861
Dedicated
2,418
17,712
Managed Freight
12,282
9,388
Warehousing
7,898
2,862
Total operating income
$ 44,760
$ 58,823
Comparison of Year Ended December 31, 2024 to Year Ended December 31, 2023
Our Expedited total revenue decreased $7.4 million, as fuel surcharge revenue decreased $10.3 million and freight revenue increased $2.9 million. The increase in Expedited freight revenue relates to a 15 (or 1.7%) average tractor increase compared to 2023, partially offset by a decrease in average freight revenue per tractor per week of 1.1%. The decrease in average freight revenue per tractor per week is the result of a 1.7%, or 3.7 cents per mile, decrease in average rate per total mile partially offset by an approximately 0.9% increase in average miles per tractor when compared to 2023. Seated team driven tractors increased approximately 1.8% to an average of 829 teams in 2024 from 815 teams in 2023.
Our Dedicated total revenue increased $44.1 million, as freight revenue increased $49.3 million and fuel surcharge revenue decreased $5.2 million. The increase in Dedicated freight revenue relates to a 133 (or 10.8%) average tractor increase and an increase in average freight revenue per tractor per week of 6.6%, compared to 2023. The increase in average freight revenue per tractor per week is the result of a 8.0%, or 21.3 cents per mile, increase in average rate per total mile, as well as 1.0% fewer miles per tractor.
Managed Freight total revenue decreased $10.0 million in 2024, compared to 2023 as a result of reduced volumes of high-margin overflow freight from both Expedited and Dedicated truckload operations and excess capacity in the marketplace impacting freight rates and volumes. Revenue in this reportable segment is expected to fluctuate with changes in the freight market and our percentage of contracted versus non-contracted freight.
The $1.1 million increase in Warehousing total revenue is a result of period-over-period new customer business as well as rate increases with existing customers in 2024.
Total operating income was $44.8 million in 2024, compared to operating income of $58.8 million in 2023. In addition to the changes in revenue described above, the change was impacted by a $59.4 million increase in Dedicated operating expenses, partially offset by a $12.9 million, $4.0 million, and $0.7 million decrease in Managed Freight, Warehouse and Expedited operating expenses, respectively.
The decrease in Expedited operating expenses was primarily due to decreases in driver and non-driver pay, resulting from averaging fewer drivers and tractors compared to 2023, and lower fuel, maintenance, and parts costs. These decreases were partially offset by increased depreciation expense as a result of our equipment trade cycle. The increase in Dedicated operating expenses was primarily the result of averaging more drivers and tractors as a result of growth within LTST, resulting in higher driver and non-driver salaries, wages, and benefits, depreciation expense from equipment purchases to support the growth, and increases in the contingent consideration liability related to LTST since 2023. These increases were partially offset by decreased fuel expense as a result of declining fuel prices.
The decrease in Managed Freight operating expenses is the result of the changes in revenue driving changes in variable expenses, primarily purchased transportation. The decrease in Warehousing operating expenses is primarily the result of a reduction in outsourced labor since 2023. In our asset-light reportable segments, we are prioritizing long-term growth, as well as focusing on talent acquisition and technology enhancements.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our business requires significant capital investments over the short-term and the long-term. Historically, we have financed our capital requirements with borrowings under our Credit Facility, cash flows from operations, long-term operating leases, finance leases, secured installment notes with finance companies, and proceeds from the sale of our used revenue equipment. Going forward, we expect revenue equipment acquisitions to primarily be through purchases and finance leases. Further, we expect to increase our capital allocation toward our Dedicated, Managed Freight, and Warehousing reportable segments to become the go-to partner for our customers’ most critical transportation and logistics needs. We had working capital (total current assets less total current liabilities) of $32.6 million and $15.7 million at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Our working capital on any particular day can vary significantly due to the timing of collections and cash disbursements. Based on our expected financial condition, net capital expenditures, results of operations, related net cash flows, installment notes, and other sources of financing, we believe our working capital and sources of liquidity will be adequate to meet our current and projected needs and we do not expect to experience material liquidity constraints in the foreseeable future.
With an average tractor fleet age of 1.6 years, we believe we have flexibility to manage our fleet, and we plan to regularly evaluate our tractor replacement cycle, new tractor purchase requirements, and purchase options. If we were to grow our independent contractor fleet, our capital requirements would be reduced.
As of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 we had $296.9 million and $293.5 million in debt and lease obligations, respectively, consisting of the following:
●
No outstanding borrowings under the Credit Facility;
●
No outstanding borrowings under the Draw Note;
●
$233.5 million and $213.9 million in revenue equipment installment notes, respectively;
●
$17.8 million and $19.1 million in real estate notes, respectively;
●
$3.9 million and $6.1 million of the principal portion of financing lease obligations, respectively, and;
●
$41.7 million and $42.8 million of the operating lease obligations, respectively.
The increase in our revenue equipment installment notes was primarily due to equipment acquisition to support growth in our Dedicated reportable segment. The decrease in operating and finance lease obligations was primarily due to amortization of the respective lease liability.
As of December 31, 2024, we had no borrowings outstanding, undrawn letters of credit outstanding of approximately $19.8 million, and available borrowing capacity of $90.2 million under the Credit Facility. Additionally, we had availability of a $45.0 million line of credit from Triumph Bank ("Triumph") which is available solely to fund any indemnification owed to Triumph in relation to the sale of TFS. Fluctuations in the outstanding balance and related availability under our Credit Facility are driven primarily by cash flows from operations and the timing and nature of property and equipment additions that are not funded through notes payable and leases, as well as the nature and timing of collection of accounts receivable, payments of accrued expenses, and receipt of proceeds from disposals of property and equipment. Refer to Note 10, “Debt” of the accompanying consolidated financial statements for further information about material debt agreements.
Our net capital expenditures for the year ended December 31, 2024 totaled $80.8 million of expenditures as compared to $125.8 million of expenditures for the prior year. Our 2023 net capital investment included approximately $91 million invested in the fourth quarter to acquire new tractors and trailers, of which approximately $30 million was originally planned to be acquired in 2024. However, due to early availability and the ability to take advantage of certain tax incentives not available to us in 2024, we opportunistically elected to bring these purchases forward. Our baseline expectation for 2025 fleet net capital expenditures is a range of $70 million to $80 million and reflects our priorities of growing our Dedicated footprint, maintaining the average age of our fleet in a manner that allows us to optimize operational uptime and related operating costs, and offering a fleet of equipment that our professional drivers are proud to operate. These assumptions are subject to risk. For example, global supply chain disruptions similar to 2021 and 2022 could impact the availability of tractors and trailers and lead to increased pricing on new and used equipment. Net losses on disposal of equipment and real estate for December 31, 2024 were $1.6 million compared to a net gain of $12.6 million in 2023, which was primarily due to a $7.6 million gain on the sale of a Tennessee terminal during 2023.
We had commitments outstanding at December 31, 2024, to acquire revenue equipment totaling approximately $114.0 million in 2024 versus commitments at December 31, 2023 of approximately $156.6 million. These commitments are cancelable, subject to certain adjustments in the underlying obligations and benefits.
We distributed a total of $5.8 million to stockholders through dividends during the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
We believe we have sufficient liquidity to satisfy our cash needs and will continue to evaluate the nature and extent of the potential short-term and long-term impacts to our business.
Cash Flows
Net cash flows provided by operating activities increased to $122.9 million in 2024, compared with $84.8 million in 2023, primarily due to increases in non-cash expenses such as depreciation and amortization and reductions to non-cash gains on sale of property and equipment compared to 2023. Changes in operating assets and liabilities such as receivables and driver advances and insurance and claims accruals provided improved cash flow partially offset by a $19.3 million decrease in net income.
Net cash flows used by investing activities were $107.7 million in 2024, compared with $235.9 million used in 2023. The decrease in net cash flows used by investing activities was primarily due to the April 2023 and the August 2023 acquisitions of LTST and Sims, respectively, for $107.9 million, net of cash acquired, partially offset by the $4.6 million payment related to the acquisition of LTST and our Section 338(h)(10) election during the 2024 period, and the timing of our trade cycle whereby we took delivery of approximately 747 new tractors and 791 new trailers, while disposing of approximately 1,051 used tractors and 444 used trailers during 2024 compared to delivery of 1,242 new tractors and 1,111 new trailers, while disposing of approximately 1,235 used tractors and 634 used trailers in 2023. Additionally, the 2023 period provided $12.5 million of proceeds related to the sale of a Tennessee terminal.
Net cash flows provided by financing activities were approximately $18.1 million in 2024, compared to $84.7 million used in 2023. The change in net cash flows from financing activities was primarily the result of net proceeds relating to notes payable and our Credit Facility of $30.0 million compared to net proceeds of $129.7 million in 2023 and the repurchase of $25.4 million of shares of our Class A common stock during 2023 compared to none during 2024.
Net cash flows provided by operating activities and provided by financing activities in the 2024 period also included payment of $3.0 million and $7.0 million, respectively, of contingent consideration liabilities related to the acquisition of AAT. Net cash flows provided by operating activities and provided by financing activities in the 2023 period also included payment of $0.8 million and $9.2 million, respectively, of contingent consideration liabilities related to the acquisition of AAT.
On May 18, 2022 our Board approved a stock repurchase authorization of up to $75.0 million of our Class A common stock, with any remaining amount available under prior authorizations being excluded and no longer available. Under such authorization, we repurchased 2.0 million shares of our Class A common stock for $54.7 million during 2022. On January 30, 2023, the Board approved an amendment to the Company's stock repurchase program authorizing the purchase of up to an aggregate $55.0 million of our Class A common stock. The amendment added an incremental approximately $37.5 million to the approximately $17.5 million that was then-remaining under the program. Between May 2022 and April 2023, we repurchased a total of 2.7 million shares of our Class A common stock. The program expired on January 31, 2024.
Our cash flows may fluctuate depending on capital expenditures, future stock repurchases, dividends, strategic investments or divestitures, any indemnification calls related to the TFS settlement, and the extent of future income tax obligations and refunds.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Operating Ratio
Operating Ratio (“OR”) For 2024 and 2023:
(dollars in thousands)
For the twelve months ended December 31, 2024
GAAP Operating Ratio:
Combined
Expedited
Dedicated
Managed Freight
Warehousing
Total revenue
$ 1,131,476
$ 416,461
$ 364,414
$ 248,939
$ 101,662
Total operating expenses
1,086,716
394,299
361,996
236,657
93,764
Operating income
$ 44,760
$ 22,162
$ 2,418
$ 12,282
$ 7,898
Operating ratio
96.0 %
94.7 %
99.3 %
95.1 %
92.2 %
(dollars in thousands)
For the twelve months ended December 31, 2024
Adjusted Operating Ratio:
Combined
Expedited
Dedicated
Managed Freight
Warehousing
Total revenue
$ 1,131,476
$ 416,461
$ 364,414
$ 248,939
$ 101,662
Fuel surcharge revenue
(117,535 )
(69,764 )
(46,627 )
-
(1,144 )
Freight revenue (total revenue, excluding fuel surcharge)
1,013,941
346,697
317,787
248,939
100,518
Total operating expenses
1,086,716
394,299
361,996
236,657
93,764
Adjusted for:
Fuel surcharge revenue
(117,535 )
(69,764 )
(46,627 )
-
(1,144 )
Amortization of intangibles (1)
(9,488 )
(2,133 )
(5,262 )
(1,057 )
(1,036 )
Contingent consideration liability adjustment
(16,492 )
-
(15,836 )
(656 )
-
Adjusted operating expenses
943,201
322,402
294,271
234,944
91,584
Adjusted operating income
$ 70,740
$ 24,295
$ 23,516
$ 13,995
$ 8,934
Adjusted operating ratio
93.0 %
93.0 %
92.6 %
94.4 %
91.1 %
(1) "Amortization of intangibles" reflects the non-cash amortization expense relating to intangible assets.
(dollars in thousands)
For the twelve months ended December 31, 2023
GAAP Operating Ratio:
Combined
Expedited
Dedicated
Managed Freight
Warehousing
Total revenue
$ 1,103,573
$ 423,820
$ 320,287
$ 258,903
$ 100,563
Total operating expenses
1,044,750
394,959
302,575
249,515
97,701
Operating income
$ 58,823
$ 28,861
$ 17,712
$ 9,388
$ 2,862
Operating ratio
94.7 %
93.2 %
94.5 %
96.4 %
97.2 %
(dollars in thousands)
For the twelve months ended December 31, 2023
Adjusted Operating Ratio:
Combined
Expedited
Dedicated
Managed Freight
Warehousing
Total revenue
$ 1,103,573
$ 423,820
$ 320,287
$ 258,903
$ 100,563
Fuel surcharge revenue
(133,064 )
(80,041 )
(51,822 )
-
(1,201 )
Freight revenue (total revenue, excluding fuel surcharge)
970,509
343,779
268,465
258,903
99,362
Total operating expenses
1,044,750
394,959
302,575
249,515
97,701
Adjusted for:
Fuel surcharge revenue
(133,064 )
(80,041 )
(51,822 )
-
(1,201 )
Amortization of intangibles (1)
(7,515 )
(2,133 )
(3,900 )
(446 )
(1,036 )
Bad debt expense associated with customer bankruptcy and high credit risk customers
-
-
-
-
-
Strategic restructuring adjusting items:
-
-
-
-
-
Insurance policy erosion
-
-
-
-
-
Gain on disposal of terminals, net
7,627
3,928
3,699
-
-
Contingent consideration liability adjustment
(2,977 )
(2,977 )
-
-
-
Transaction and executive retirement
(2,158 )
(1,113 )
(876 )
(90 )
(79 )
Adjusted operating expenses
906,663
312,623
249,676
248,979
95,385
Adjusted operating income
$ 63,846
$ 31,156
$ 18,789
$ 9,924
$ 3,977
Adjusted operating ratio
93.4 %
90.9 %
93.0 %
96.2 %
96.0 %
(1) "Amortization of intangibles" reflects the non-cash amortization expense relating to intangible assets.
In addition to operating ratio, we use "adjusted operating ratio" as a key measure of profitability. Adjusted operating ratio means operating expenses, net of fuel surcharge revenue and intangibles amortization, expressed as a percentage of revenue, excluding fuel surcharge revenue. Adjusted operating ratio is not a substitute for operating ratio measured in accordance with GAAP. There are limitations to using non-GAAP financial measures. We believe the use of adjusted operating ratio allows us to more effectively compare periods, while excluding the potentially volatile effect of changes in fuel prices. Our Board and management focus on our adjusted operating ratio as an indicator of our performance from period to period. We believe our presentation of adjusted operating ratio is useful because it provides investors and securities analysts the same information that we use internally to assess our core operating performance. Although we believe that adjusted operating ratio improves comparability in analyzing our period-to-period performance, it could limit comparability to other companies in our industry, if those companies define adjusted operating ratio differently. Because of these limitations, adjusted operating ratio should not be considered a measure of income generated by our business or discretionary cash available to us to invest in the growth of our business. Management compensates for these limitations by primarily relying on GAAP results and using non-GAAP financial measures on a supplemental basis.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires us to make decisions based upon estimates, assumptions, and factors we consider as relevant to the circumstances. Such decisions include the selection of applicable accounting principles and the use of judgment in their application, the results of which impact reported amounts and disclosures. Changes in future economic conditions or other business circumstances may affect the outcomes of our estimates and assumptions. Accordingly, actual results could differ from those anticipated. A summary of the significant accounting policies followed in preparation of the financial statements is contained in Note 1, "Summary of Significant Accounting Policies," of the consolidated financial statements attached hereto. The following discussion addresses our most critical accounting policies, which are those that are both important to the portrayal of our financial condition and results of operations and that require significant judgment or use of complex estimates.
Revenue Equipment
Management estimates the useful lives and salvage value of revenue equipment based upon, among other things, the expected use, our experience with similar assets, conditions in the used revenue equipment market, and prevailing industry practice. We generally depreciate new tractors over five years to salvage values that range from 0% to 35% of cost, depending on the reportable segment profile of the equipment. We generally depreciate new trailers over seven years for refrigerated trailers and ten years for dry van trailers to salvage values of approximately 20% and 25% of their cost, respectively. We performed a review of our estimates for certain subsets of revenue equipment during the quarter ended June 30, 2024 and, due to a weak used revenue equipment market, we increased the rate of depreciation on these units in the period. This change resulted in an additional $6.4 million of depreciation expense during the year ended December 31, 2024. Historically, changes in estimated useful life or salvage values have typically resulted from us transferring tractors to different reportable segments with different operating profiles. Significant fluctuations in the used equipment market could have a material effect on our results of operations.
A portion of our tractors are protected by binding trade-back agreements with the manufacturers. The remainder of our tractors and substantially all of our owned trailers are subject to fluctuations in market prices for used revenue equipment. Moreover, our trade-back agreements are contingent upon reaching acceptable terms for the purchase of new equipment. Declines in the price of used revenue equipment or failure to reach agreement for the purchase of new tractors with the manufacturers issuing trade-back agreements could result in impairment of, or losses on the sale of, revenue equipment.
Business Combination Estimates
Acquisitions are accounted for using the purchase method. Consideration is typically paid in the form of cash paid at closing while contingent consideration is paid upon the satisfaction of a future obligation. If contingent consideration is included in the purchase price, then the consideration is valued as of the acquisition date. The purchase price of an acquired businesses is allocated to the estimated fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed as of the date of the acquisition. The assets acquired and liabilities assumed are determined by understanding the operations, interviewing management and reviewing the financial and contractual information of the acquired business. The calculations used to determine the fair value of the long-lived assets acquired, including intangible assets, revenue equipment and properties can be complex and require significant judgment. For the valuation of long-lived assets we weigh many factors when completing these estimates. We may also engage independent valuation specialists to assist in the fair value calculations. During 2023 we engaged valuation specialists to assist us in determining the fair value of intangible assets and revenue equipment acquired through our acquisitions of LTST and Sims. Goodwill is not amortized, but is subject to impairment testing on at least an annual basis and its valuation is directly impacted by the valuation estimates of the other acquired long-lived assets. We are also required to determine if an intangible asset has a finite or indefinite life. For intangible assets determined to have a finite life, we estimate the useful lives of the acquired intangible assets, which determines the amount of acquisition-related amortization expense we will record in future periods. While we use our best estimates and assumptions, our fair value estimates are inherently uncertain. During the measurement period, which may be up to one year from the acquisition date, we may record adjustments to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, with the corresponding offset to goodwill. Any adjustments required after the one year measurement period would be recorded in the consolidated statements of operations. The judgments required in determining the estimated fair values and expected useful lives assigned to each class of assets can significantly affect net income.
Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets
We classify intangible assets into two categories: (i) goodwill and (ii) intangible assets with finite lives subject to amortization.
We test goodwill for impairment annually and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that impairment may have occurred. We may elect to perform an assessment of qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than the reporting unit's carrying amount, including goodwill. When performing the qualitative assessment, the Company considers the impact of factors including, but not limited to, macroeconomic and industry conditions, overall financial performance of each reporting unit, litigation and new legislation. If, based on the qualitative assessments, the Company believes it more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than the reporting unit's carrying amount, or periodically as deemed appropriate by management, we will prepare an estimation of the respective reporting unit's fair value utilizing a quantitative approach. When using a quantitative approach, the fair value of our reporting units is based on a blend of estimated discounted cash flows and publicly traded company multiples. The results of these models are then weighted and combined into a single estimate of fair value for our reporting units. Estimated discounted cash flows are based on projected sales and related cost of sales. Publicly traded company multiples and acquisitions are derived from information on traded shares and analysis of recent acquisitions in the marketplace, respectively, for companies with operations similar to ours. The primary assumptions used in these various models include earnings multiples of acquisitions in a comparable industry, future cash flow estimates of each of the reporting units, weighted average cost of capital, working capital and capital expenditure requirements.
We completed our annual goodwill impairment test, using the qualitative test, as of October 1, 2024, for each of our reporting units. As a result of the most recent goodwill impairment analysis performed (October 1, 2024), no impairment was indicated.
We test intangible assets with finite lives for impairment if conditions exist that indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. Such conditions may include an economic downturn in a geographic market or a change in the assessment of future operations. We record an impairment charge when the cost exceeds the fair value of the finite lived intangible asset. We determine the useful lives of our identifiable intangible assets after considering the specific facts and circumstances related to each intangible asset. Factors we consider when determining useful lives include the contractual term of any agreement, the history of the asset, our long-term strategy for the use of the asset, any laws or other local regulations which could impact the useful life of the asset, and other economic factors, including competition and specific market conditions. Intangible assets that are deemed to have finite lives are amortized, generally on a straight-line basis, over their useful lives, ranging from 3 to 17 years.
Self-Insurance Accruals
We record a liability for the estimated cost of the uninsured portion of pending claims and the estimated allocated loss adjustment expenses including legal and other direct costs associated with a claim. Estimates require, among other things, judgments concerning the nature and severity of the claim, historical trends, advice from third-party administrators and insurers, the size of any potential damage award based on factors such as the specific facts of individual cases, the jurisdictions involved, the prospect of punitive damages, future medical costs, and inflation estimates of future claims development, and the legal and other costs to settle or defend the claims.
Self-insured liabilities represent management's best estimate of our ultimate obligations.
INFLATION, NEW EMISSIONS CONTROL REGULATIONS, AND FUEL COSTS
Most of our operating expenses are inflation-sensitive, with inflation generally producing increased costs of operations. In recent years, the most significant effects of inflation have been on revenue equipment prices and the related depreciation, litigation and claims, and driver and non-driver wages. New emissions control regulations and increases in wages of manufacturing workers and other items have resulted in higher tractor prices, while the market value of used equipment fluctuated significantly. The cost of fuel has been volatile over the last several years, with costs increasing in 2022 but decreasing in 2023 and 2024. Health care prices have increased faster than general inflation, primarily due to the rapid increase in prescription drug costs and more people on our health plan. The nationwide shortage of qualified drivers has caused us to raise driver wages per mile at a rate faster than general inflation for the past four years, and this trend may continue as additional government regulations constrain industry capacity. Additionally, competition and the related cost to employ non-drivers have increased, especially for the more skilled or technical positions, including mechanics, those with information technology related skills, and degreed professionals.
Geographic Areas
We operate throughout the U.S. and all of our tractors are domiciled in the U.S. All of our revenue generated was generated within the U.S. in 2023 and 2024. We do not separately track domestic and foreign revenue from customers, and providing such information would not be meaningful. Excluding a de minimis number of trailers, all of our long-lived assets are, and have been for the last two fiscal years, located within the United States.
SEASONALITY
Our tractor productivity decreases during the winter season because inclement weather impedes operations, and some shippers reduce their shipments after the winter holiday season. Our Expedited reportable segment, has historically experienced a greater reduction in first quarter demand than our other operations, however, this trend has lessened following the growth of AAT, which is part of the Expedited reportable segment, and our work with long-term customers to improve the stability of contracted capacity in our Expedited fleet. Revenue also can be affected by bad weather, holidays and the number of business days that occur during a given period, since revenue is directly related to available working days of shippers. At the same time, operating expenses increase and fuel efficiency declines because of engine idling and harsh weather creating higher accident frequency, increased claims, and more equipment repairs. In addition, many of our customers, particularly those in the retail industry where we have a large presence, demand additional capacity during the fourth quarter, which limits our ability to take advantage of more attractive spot market rates that generally exist during such periods. Further, despite our efforts to meet such demands, we may fail to do so, which may result in lost future business opportunities with such customers, which could have a materially adverse effect on our operations. Recently, the duration of this increased period of demand in the fourth quarter has shortened, with certain customers requiring the same volume of shipments over a more condensed timeframe, resulting in increased stress and demand on our network, people, and systems. If this trend continues, it could make satisfying our customers and maintaining the quality of our service during the fourth quarter increasingly difficult. We may also suffer from natural disasters and weather-related events, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, ice storms, floods, and fires, which may increase in frequency and severity due to climate change, as well as other man-made disasters. These events may disrupt fuel supplies, increase fuel costs, disrupt freight shipments or routes, affect regional economies, destroy our assets, or adversely affect the business or financial condition of our customers, any of which could have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations or make our results of operations more volatile. Weather and other seasonal events could adversely affect our operating results.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
ITEM 7A.
QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
We experience various market risks, including changes in interest rates and fuel prices. We do not enter into derivatives or other financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes, or when there are no underlying related exposures. Because our operations are mostly confined to the United States, we are not subject to a material amount of foreign currency risk.
COMMODITY PRICE RISK
We engage in activities that expose us to market risks, including the effects of changes in fuel prices and in interest rates. Financial exposures are evaluated as an integral part of our risk management program, which seeks, from time-to-time, to reduce the potentially adverse effects that the volatility of fuel markets and interest rate risk may have on operating results.
In an effort to seek to reduce the variability of the ultimate cash flows associated with fluctuations in diesel fuel prices, we have periodically entered into various derivative instruments, including forward futures swap contracts. As of December 31, 2024, we have no remaining fuel hedge contracts in our consolidated balance sheet. We do not engage in speculative transactions, nor do we hold or issue financial instruments for trading purposes.
A one dollar increase in the price of diesel per gallon would decrease our net income by approximately $0.4 million. This sensitivity analysis considers that we expect to purchase approximately 40.6 million gallons of diesel annually, with an assumed fuel surcharge recovery rate of 101.3% of the cost (which was our fuel surcharge recovery rate during the year ended December 31, 2024).
INTEREST RATE RISK
In August 2015, we entered into an interest rate swap agreement with a notional amount of $28.0 million, which was designated as a hedge against the variability in future interest payments due on the debt associated with the purchase of our corporate headquarters. The terms of the swap agreement effectively convert the variable rate interest payments on this note to a fixed rate of 4.2% through maturity on August 1, 2035. In 2016, we also entered into several interest rate swaps all of which fully matured during 2022, which were designated to hedge against the variability in future interest rate payments due on rent associated with the purchase of certain trailers. Because the critical terms of the swap and hedged item coincide, in accordance with the requirements of ASC 815, the change in the fair value of the derivative is expected to exactly offset changes in the expected cash flows due to fluctuations in the SOFR rate over the term of the debt instrument, and therefore no ongoing assessment of effectiveness is required. For the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, the fair value of the swap agreements, amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income into our results of operations, and amounts expected to be reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income into our results of operations during the next twelve months due to interest rate changes, are approximately $0.3 million. Cash settlements are presented in operating activities on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. The amounts actually realized will depend on the fair values as of the date of settlement.
Our market risk is also affected by changes in interest rates. Historically, we have used a combination of fixed-rate and variable-rate obligations to manage our interest rate exposure. Fixed-rate obligations expose us to the risk that interest rates might fall. Variable-rate obligations expose us to the risk that interest rates might rise. Of our total $296.9 million of debt including operating and finance leases, we had $17.8 million of variable rate debt outstanding at December 31, 2024, which related to a real-estate note which is hedged with the interest rate swap agreement noted above at 4.2%. Our earnings would be affected by changes in these short-term interest rates, if we were to borrow under our Credit Facility or otherwise incur variable-rate obligations. Risk can be quantified by measuring the financial impact of a near-term adverse increase in short-term interest rates. At our December 31, 2024 level of borrowing on our non-hedged variable rate debt, a 1% increase in our applicable rate would have an immaterial impact to our consolidated results of operations. Our remaining debt is fixed rate debt, and therefore changes in market interest rates do not directly impact our interest expense.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
ITEM 8.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
The consolidated financial statements of Covenant Logistics Group, Inc. and subsidiaries, including the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, and the related statements of operations, statements of comprehensive income, statements of stockholders' equity, and statements of cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2024, together with the related notes, and the report of Grant Thornton LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm as of December 31, 2024, and for each of the years in the three year period ended December 31, 2024, are set forth starting at page 51 in this report.

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ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
ITEM 9.
CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
None.

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
ITEM 9A.
CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We have established disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that material information relating to us, including our consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to the officers who certify our financial reports and to other members of senior management and the Board.
As of the end of the period covered by this report, we carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operations of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act). Based upon that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2024.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Accordingly, even effective internal control over financial reporting can only provide reasonable assurance of achieving its control objectives.
We have confidence in our internal controls and procedures. Nevertheless, our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that our disclosure procedures and controls or our internal controls will prevent all errors or intentional fraud. An internal control system, no matter how well-conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of such internal controls are met. Further, the design of an internal control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. As a result of the inherent limitations in all internal control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all our control issues and instances of fraud, if any, have been detected.
Management's Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act). Management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer under the oversight of our Board, assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024. In making this assessment, our management used the criteria for effective internal control over financial reporting described in “Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013),” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Based on its assessment, management believes that, as of December 31, 2024, our internal control over financial reporting is effective based on those criteria.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting for external purposes in accordance with GAAP. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:
●
pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company;
●
provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and
●
provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
An internal control system, no matter how well-conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of such internal controls are met. Further, the design of an internal control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. As a result of the inherent limitations in all internal control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all our control issues and instances of fraud, if any, have been detected.
The Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, has been audited by Grant Thornton, LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm as stated in its report which is included herein.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) or 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) that occurred during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024, that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 9B.
OTHER INFORMATION
During the quarter ended December 31, 2024, no director or officer adopted or terminated a Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement or a non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement.

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
ITEM 10.
DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS, AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
The information required by this Item will be included in the Company's definitive proxy statement to be filed with the SEC within 120 days after December 31, 2024, in connection with the solicitation of proxies for the Company's 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the "2025 Proxy Statement"), and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
ITEM 11.
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
The information required by this Item will be included in the 2025 Proxy Statement, and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS
The following table provides certain information, as of December 31, 2024, with respect to our compensation plans and other arrangements under which shares of our Class A common stock are authorized for issuance.
Equity Compensation Plan Information
Plan category
Number of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants and rights
Weighted average exercise price of outstanding options, warrants and rights
Number of securities remaining eligible for future issuance under equity compensation plans (excluding securities reflected in column (a))
(a)
(b)
(c)
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders
2,412,374
(1)
$ 9.17
2,126,457
Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders
-
-
-
Total
2,412,374
$ 9.17
2,126,457
(1)
Represents unvested restricted shares and unvested stock options granted under the 2006 Omnibus Incentive Plan, as amended. The weighted average stock price on the date of grant for outstanding restricted stock awards was $19.55, which is not reflected in column (b), because restricted stock awards do not have an exercise price. The amount in column (b) represents the weighted average exercise price of the outstanding unvested stock options.
The remaining information required by this Item will be included in the 2025 Proxy Statement, and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
ITEM 13.
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
The information required by this Item will be included in the 2025 Proxy Statement, and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
ITEM 14.
PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
The remaining information required by this Item will be included in the 2025 Proxy Statement, and is incorporated herein by reference.
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
ITEM 15.
EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
(a)
1.
Financial Statements.
Our audited consolidated financial statements are set forth at the following pages of this report:
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm - Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements (PCAOB ID Number 248)
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm - Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting 52
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm - Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements (PCAOB ID Number 430) 53
Consolidated Balance Sheets
Consolidated Statements of Operations
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders' Equity
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
2.
Financial Statement Schedules.
Financial statement schedules are not required because all required information is included in the financial statements or is not applicable.
3.
Exhibits.
The exhibits required to be filed by Item 601 of Regulation S-K are listed under paragraph (b) below and on the Exhibit Index appearing at the end of this report. Management contracts and compensatory plans or arrangements are indicated by an asterisk.
(b)
Exhibits.
The following exhibits are filed with this Form 10-K or incorporated by reference to the document set forth next to the exhibit listed below.
Exhibit Number
Reference
Description
2.1 Accounts Receivable Purchase Agreement by and between Covenant Transport Solutions, LLC and Advance Business Capital LLC, dated as of July 8, 2020 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2.1 to the Company's Form 10-Q, filed November 3, 2020)
3.1
Third Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Company's Report on Form 8-K, filed July 2, 2020)
3.2
Sixth Amended and Restated Bylaws (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to the Company's Report on Form 8-K, filed August 9, 2021)
4.1
Third Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Company's Report on Form 8-K, filed July 2, 2020)
4.2
Sixth Amended and Restated Bylaws (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to the Company's Report on Form 8-K, filed August 9, 2021)
4.3 Description of the Registrant's Securities (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.3 to the Company's Form 10-K, filed February 28, 2023)
10.1
*
Form of Indemnification Agreement for Executive Officers and Directors (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Form 10-Q, filed August 5, 2021)
10.2
*
Form of Restricted Stock Unit Award (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Form 10-Q, filed August 2, 2024)
10.3
*
Form of Performance Restricted Stock Unit Award (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company's Form 10-Q, filed August 2, 2024)
10.4
Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated September 23, 2008, among Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, Inc., Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, Inc., Star Transportation, Inc., Bank of America, N.A., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., and Textron Financial Corporation (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.14 to the Company's Form 10-K, filed March 30, 2010)
10.5
*
Covenant Transportation Group, Inc. Third Amended and Restated 2006 Omnibus Incentive Plan (Incorporated by reference to Appendix A to the Company's Schedule 14A, filed April 19, 2013)
10.6
Amendment No. 1 to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated March 27, 2009, among Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, Inc., Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, Inc., Star Transportation, Inc., Bank of America, N.A., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., and Textron Financial Corporation (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Form 10-Q, filed May 15, 2009)
10.7
Second Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated February 25, 2010, among Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, Inc., Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, Inc., Star Transportation, Inc., Bank of America, N.A., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., and Textron Financial Corporation (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Form 10-Q, filed May 17, 2010)
10.8
Third Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated July 30, 2010, among Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, Inc., Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, Inc., Star Transportation, Inc., Bank of America, N.A., and JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Form 10-Q, filed November 9, 2010)
10.9
Fourth Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated August 31, 2010, among Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, Inc., Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, Inc., Star Transportation, Inc., Bank of America, N.A., and JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company's Form 10-Q, filed November 9, 2010)
10.10
Fifth Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated September 1, 2011, among Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, Inc., Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, Inc., Star Transportation, Inc., Bank of America, N.A., and JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Report on Form 8-K, filed October 28, 2011)
10.11
Sixth Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated effective as of October 24, 2011, among Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, Inc., Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, Inc., Star Transportation, Inc., Bank of America, N.A., and JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company's Report on Form 8-K, filed October 28, 2011)
10.12
Seventh Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated effective as of March 29, 2012, among Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, Inc., Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, Inc., Star Transportation, Inc., Bank of America, N.A., and JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Report on Form 8-K, filed April 2, 2012)
10.13
Eighth Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated effective as of December 31, 2012, among Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, Inc., Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, Inc., Star Transportation, Inc., Bank of America, N.A., and JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Report on Form 8-K, filed January 31, 2013)
10.14
Ninth Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement and Related Security Documents, dated effective as of August 6, 2014, among Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, Inc., Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, Inc., Star Transportation, Inc., Bank of America, N.A., and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Form 10-Q, filed November 13, 2014)
10.15
Tenth Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement and Related Security Documents, dated effective as of September 8, 2014, among Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, Inc., Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, Inc., Star Transportation, Inc., Bank of America, N.A., and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company's Form 10-Q, filed November 13, 2014)
10.16
Joinder, Supplement and Eleventh Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated effective as of August 6, 2015, among Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, LLC, Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, Inc., Star Transportation, Inc., Driven Analytic Solutions, LLC, Covenant Properties, LLC, Bank of America, N.A., and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Form 10-Q, filed November 9, 2015)
10.17
Twelfth Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated effective as of February 25, 2016, among Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, LLC, Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, Inc., Star Transportation, Inc., Driven Analytic Solutions, LLC, Covenant Properties, LLC, Bank of America, N.A., and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company's Form 10-Q, filed May 10, 2016)
10.18
Thirteenth Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated effective as of December 16, 2016, among Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, LLC, Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, Inc., Star Transportation, Inc., Driven Analytic Solutions, LLC, Bank of America, N.A., and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.26 to the Company's Form 10-K, filed March 14, 2017)
10.19
Fourteenth Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated effective as of November 28, 2017, among Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, LLC, Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, Inc., Star Transportation, Inc., Driven Analytic Solutions, LLC, Transport Management Services, LLC, Bank of America, N.A., and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.27 to the Company's Form 10-K, filed February 28, 2018)
10.20
Fifteenth Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated effective as of June 19, 2018, among Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, LLC, Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, LLC, Star Transportation, Inc., Covenant Logistics, Inc., Driven Analytic Solutions, LLC, Transport Management Services, LLC, Bank of America, N.A., and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Form 10-Q, filed August 8, 2018)
10.21
Sixteenth Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated effective as of July 3, 2018, among Covenant Transportation Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, LLC, Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, LLC, Star Transportation, Inc., Covenant Logistics, Inc., Driven Analytic Solutions, LLC, Transport Management Services, LLC, Landair Holdings, Inc., Landair Transport, Inc., Landair Logistics, Inc., Landair Leasing, Inc., Bank of America, N.A., and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Form 10-Q, filed November 9, 2018)
10.22 Seventeenth Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of September 23, 2020, among Covenant Logistics Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, LLC, Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, LLC, Star Transportation, Inc., Covenant Logistics, Inc., Transport Management Services, LLC, Landair Holdings, Inc., Landair Transport, Inc., Landair Logistics, Inc., Landair Leasing, Inc., and Bank of America, N.A. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Company's Form 10-Q, filed November 3, 2020)
10.23 Eighteenth Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of October 23, 2020, among Covenant Logistics Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, LLC, Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc., Covenant Transport Solutions, LLC, Star Transportation, Inc., Covenant Logistics, Inc., Transport Management Services, LLC, Landair Holdings, Inc., Landair Transport, Inc., Landair Logistics, Inc., Landair Leasing, Inc., and Bank of America, N.A. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.23 to the Company’s Form 10-K, filed March 5, 2021)
10.24 * First Amendment to the Covenant Transportation Group, Inc. Third Amended and Restated 2006 Omnibus Incentive Plan (Incorporated by reference to Appendix A to the Company's Definitive Proxy Statement filed with the SEC on April 8, 2019 in connection with the 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders)
10.25
* Second Amendment to the Company’s Third Amended and Restated 2006 Omnibus Incentive Plan (Incorporated by reference to Appendix A to the Company's Schedule 14A, filed June 8, 2020)
10.26 * Form of Restricted Stock Award Notice under the Third Amended and Restated 2006 Omnibus Incentive Plan, as amended (Double Trigger Change in Control) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Form 10-Q, filed August 10, 2020)
10.27 * Form of Restricted Stock Award Notice under the Third Amended and Restated 2006 Omnibus Incentive Plan, as amended (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company’s Form 10-Q, filed August 5, 2021)
10.28 * Form of Option Award Notice under the Third Amended and Restated 2006 Omnibus Incentive Plan, as amended (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.28 to the Company’s Form 10-K, filed March 5, 2021)
10.29 * Form of Executive Severance Agreement (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Company’s Form 10-Q, filed November 3, 2020)
10.30 Account Management Agreement, Amendment to Purchase Agreement and Mutual Release, by and among Covenant Transport Solutions, LLC, Covenant Logistics Group, Inc., Triumph Bancorp, Inc., and Advance Business Capital LLC, dated as of September 23, 2020 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company's Form 10-Q, filed November 3, 2020)
10.31 Draw Note in the face amount of $45.0 million by Covenant Logistics Group, Inc. and Covenant Transport Solutions, LLC with TBK Bank, SSB as Lender and Agent, dated as of September 23, 2020 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Company's Form 10-Q, filed November 3, 2020)
10.32 Nineteenth Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of May 4, 2022, among Covenant Logistics Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, LLC, Southern Refrigerated Transport, LLC, Covenant Transport Solutions, LLC, Star Transportation, LLC, Covenant Logistics, Inc., Transport Management Services, LLC, Landair Holdings, Inc., Landair Transport, Inc., Landair Logistics, Inc., Landair Leasing, Inc., AAT Carriers, Inc., and Bank of America, N.A. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Form 10-Q, filed August 5, 2022)
10.33 * Covenant Logistics Group Supplemental Savings Plan, effective July 1, 2022 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company’s Form 10-Q, filed August 5, 2022)
10.34 * Third Amendment to the Covenant Transportation Group, Inc. Third Amended and Restated 2006 Omnibus Incentive Plan (Incorporated by reference to Appendix A to the Company’s Definitive Proxy Statement filed with the SEC on April 14, 2023 in connection with the 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders)
10.35 * Retirement Agreement, by and between Joey B. Hogan and Transport Management Services, LLC, dated as of May 22, 2023 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company’s Form 10-Q, filed August 9, 2023)
10.36 * Amended and Restated Covenant Logistics Group Supplemental Savings Plan, dated as of May 17, 2023 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Company’s Form 10-Q, filed August 9, 2023)
10.37 ** Stock Purchase Agreement, dated April 26, 2023, by and among Landair Holdings, Inc., Covenant Logistics Group, Inc., Lew Thompson & Son Trucking, Inc. and related entities, and the stockholders of Lew Thompson & Son Trucking, Inc. and related entities (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Report on Form 8-K/A, filed August 3, 2023)
10.38 * Amended and Restated Covenant Logistics Group Supplemental Savings Plan, dated as of August 15, 2023 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Form 10-Q, filed November 9, 2023)
10.39 # Twentieth Amendment to Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of December 24, 2024, among Covenant Logistics Group, Inc., Covenant Transport, Inc., CTG Leasing Company, Covenant Asset Management, LLC, Southern Refrigerated Transport, LLC, Covenant Transport Solutions, LLC, Star Transportation, LLC, Covenant Logistics, Inc., Transport Management Services, LLC, Landair Holdings, Inc., Landair Transport, Inc., Landair Logistics, Inc., Landair Leasing, Inc., AAT Carriers, Inc., Covenant Logistics Holdings, Inc., and Bank of America, N.A.
19 # Covenant Logistics Group, Inc. Insider Trading Policy
#
List of Subsidiaries
23.1
#
Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm - Grant Thornton LLP
23.2 # Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm - Coulter & Justus, P.C.
31.1
##
Certification pursuant to Item 601(b)(31) of Regulation S-K, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, by David R. Parker, the Company's Principal Executive Officer
31.2
##
Certification pursuant to Item 601(b)(31) of Regulation S-K, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, by James S. Grant, the Company's Principal Financial Officer
32.1
##
Certification pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, by David R. Parker, the Company's Chief Executive Officer
32.2
##
Certification pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, by James S. Grant, the Company's Chief Financial Officer
97 # Covenant Logistics Group, Inc. Clawback Policy
101.INS
Inline XBRL Instance Document - the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document
101.SCH
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
101.CAL
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
101.DEF
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document
101.LAB
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Labels Linkbase Document
101.PRE
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document
104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101)
References:
#
Filed herewith.
## Furnished herewith.
*
Management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.
** Pursuant to Item 601(a)(5) of Regulation S-K, certain schedules and similar attachments to the exhibit have been omitted.