ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
When evaluating our company, the following risks should be considered in conjunction with the other information contained in this Annual Report. If we are unable to mitigate and/or are exposed to any of the following risks in the future, then there could be a material, adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
Our risks are grouped into the following risk categories:
Strategic Operational Compliance Financial
*Market Changes *Customers *Internal Controls *Debt
*International Operations *Insurance *Labor Regulation *Investments
*Mergers and Acquisitions *Employees *ESG *Taxation
*Independent Contractors *Climate Change
*Systems and Cybersecurity
*Public Health
Strategic Risk
Our business is subject to economic, credit, business, and regulatory factors that are largely beyond our control, any of which could have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations.
The full truckload, LTL, intermodal, and brokerage industries are 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. In the pursuit of our goal of building a nationwide LTL network, there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully add new markets or terminals, or whether such markets and terminals will be profitable. Expansion of our LTL network could disrupt our existing operations, distract management as they seek to improve operations from the expansion, incur additional costs as we work to make new locations operational, and increase the risks associated with our LTL operations if such expansion is detrimental to our profitability, service levels, or operations.
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 US economy is weakened. During such times, we may experience a reduction in overall freight levels and freight patterns may change as supply chains are redesigned, resulting in an imbalance between our capacity and our customers’ freight demands. Unfavorable market and economic conditions such as weakened freight demand and inflation have had a materially adverse impact on our results of operations in the past, and the occurrence or continuance thereof could have similar impacts in the future.
We cannot predict future economic conditions, fuel price fluctuations, cost increases, revenue equipment resale values, or how consumer confidence, macroeconomic conditions, or production capabilities, could be affected by armed conflicts or terrorist attacks, government efforts to combat terrorism, military action against a foreign state or group located in a foreign state, or heightened security requirements. Enhanced security measures in connection with such events could impair our operating efficiency and productivity and result in higher operating costs.
We operate in a highly competitive and fragmented industry, and numerous competitive factors could limit growth opportunities and could have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations.
We operate in a highly competitive industry. The following factors could limit our growth opportunities and have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations:
•many of our competitors periodically reduce their freight rates to gain business, especially during times of reduced growth rates in the economy, which may limit our ability to maintain or increase freight rates or maintain or grow profitability of our business;
•some of our customers operate their own private trucking fleets and they may decide to transport more of their own freight;
•competition from non-asset-based and other logistics and freight brokerage companies may adversely affect our customer relationships and freight rates;
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•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; and
•our brand names are valuable assets that are 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.
Increased prices for new revenue equipment, design changes of new engines, decreased availability of new revenue equipment, future use of autonomous trucks, 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 equipment for our full truckload and LTL operations. We have experienced an increase in prices for new tractors and trailers over the past few years, a significant increase in costs in recent quarters, and the resale value of the tractors and trailers has not increased to the same extent. Increased regulation has increased the cost of our new tractors and could impair equipment productivity, in some cases, resulting in lower fuel mileage, and increasing our operating expenses. Future use of autonomous and alternative fuel tractors could increase the price of new tractors and decrease the value of used, non-autonomous tractors. We expect to continue to pay increased prices for equipment and incur additional expenses for the foreseeable future.
Furthermore, 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. Tractor and trailer manufacturers have recently experienced periodic shortages of certain components and supplies, including semiconductor chips, forcing some manufacturers to curtail or suspend their production, which has led to a lower supply of tractors and trailers, higher prices, and lengthened trade cycles, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations, particularly our maintenance expense and driver retention.
We have certain revenue equipment leases and financing arrangements with balloon payments at the end of the lease term equal to the residual value we are contracted to receive from certain equipment manufacturers upon sale or trade back to the manufacturers. If we do not purchase new equipment that triggers the trade-back obligation, or the equipment manufacturers do not pay the contracted value at the end of the lease term, we could be exposed to losses equal to the excess of the balloon payment owed to the lease or finance company over the proceeds from selling the equipment on the open market.
We have trade-in and repurchase commitments that specify, among other things, what our primary equipment vendors will pay us for disposal of a substantial portion of our revenue equipment. The prices we expect to receive under these arrangements may be higher than the prices we would receive in the open market. We may suffer a financial loss upon disposition of our equipment if these vendors refuse or are unable to meet their financial obligations under these agreements.
Declines in demand for our used revenue equipment could result in decreased equipment sales, resale values, and gains on sales of assets.
We are sensitive to the used equipment market and fluctuations in prices and demand for tractors and trailers. The market for used equipment is affected by several factors, including the demand for freight, the supply of new and used equipment, the availability and terms of financing, the presence of buyers for export to foreign countries, and commodity prices for scrap metal. Declines in demand for the used equipment we sell could result in diminished sales volumes or lower used equipment sales prices, either of which could negatively affect our gains on sales of assets. We have seen a softening of the used equipment market recently, which has led to lower gain on sale in recent quarters.
If fuel prices increase significantly or fuel availability becomes scarce, our results of operations could be adversely affected.
Our full truckload and LTL operations are dependent upon diesel fuel, and accordingly, significant increases in diesel fuel costs or decreases in availability of fuel could materially and adversely affect our results of operations
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and financial condition if we are unable to pass increased costs on to customers through rate increases or fuel surcharges.
The price and availability of diesel fuel are subject to fluctuations due to changes in the level of global oil production, seasonality, weather, global politics, and other market factors. Fuel is subject to regional pricing differences and often costs more on the West Coast and in the Northeast, where we have significant operations. While we use a fuel surcharge program to recapture a portion of the increases in fuel prices it does not protect us against the full effect of increases in fuel prices. 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. Our results of operations would be negatively affected and more volatile to the extent we cannot recover higher fuel costs or fail to improve our fuel price protection through our fuel surcharge program. Any widespread or long-term shortage or rationing of diesel fuel could materially and adversely affect our results of operations.
The conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, expansion of such conflicts to other areas or countries, or similar conflicts could adversely impact our business and financial results.
Although we do not have any direct operations in the current areas of conflict, we may be affected by the broader consequences of such conflicts or their expansion to other areas or countries or similar conflicts elsewhere, such as increased inflation, supply chain issues, including shortages of new revenue equipment, 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 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.
We are subject to certain risks arising from doing business in Mexico.
We have growing operations in Mexico, which subjects us to general international business risks, including:
•foreign currency fluctuation;
•changes in Mexico's economic strength;
•disruptions related to port of entry restrictions;
•difficulties in enforcing contractual obligations and intellectual property rights;
•burdens of complying with a wide variety of international and US export, import, business procurement, transparency, and corruption laws, including the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act;
•changes in trade agreements and US-Mexico relations;
•theft or vandalism of our revenue equipment; and
•social, political, and economic instability.
We may not make acquisitions in the future, or if we do, we may not be successful in our acquisition strategy.
Historically, acquisitions have been a part of our growth strategy. There is no assurance that we will be successful in identifying, negotiating, or consummating any future acquisitions. If we do not make any future acquisitions, our growth rate could be materially and adversely affected. Any future acquisitions we undertake could involve issuing dilutive equity securities or incurring indebtedness, the terms of which may be less favorable to us than anticipated. In addition, acquisitions (including our recent acquisition of U.S. Xpress) involve numerous risks, any of which could have a materially adverse effect on our business and results of operations, including:
•the acquired company may not achieve anticipated revenue, earnings, or cash flow;
•we may assume liabilities beyond our estimates or what was disclosed to us;
•we may be unable to successfully assimilate or integrate the acquired company's operations or assets into our business and realize the 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;
•transaction costs and acquisition-related integration costs could adversely affect our results of operations in the period in which such costs are recorded;
•the potential for deficiencies in internal controls at the acquired business, as well as implementing our own management information systems, operating systems and internal controls for the acquired operations;
•the timing and impact of purchase accounting adjustments;
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•diverting our management's attention from other business concerns;
•risks of entering into new markets or business offerings in which we have had no or only limited prior experience; and
•the potential loss of customers, key employees, or driving associates of the acquired company.
Operational Risk
We may not grow substantially in the future and we may not be successful in sustaining or improving our profitability.
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 or by changes in economic conditions or that we will be able to sustain or improve our profitability in the future.
Furthermore, the continued progression and development of new business offerings are subject to risks, including, but not limited to:
•initial unfamiliarity with pricing, service, operational, and liability issues;
•the potential need for additional capital, including for terminals and equipment;
•customer relationships may be difficult to obtain or retain, or we may have to reduce rates to gain and develop customer relationships;
•specialized equipment and information and management systems technology may not be adequately utilized;
•insurance and claims may exceed our past experience or estimations; and
•we may be unable to recruit and retain qualified personnel and management with requisite experience or knowledge of our logistics services, LTL operations, and other developing service offerings.
We derive a significant portion of our revenues from our major customers, the loss of one or more of which could have a materially adverse effect on our business.
A significant portion of our operating revenue is generated from a number of major customers, the loss of one or more of which could have a materially adverse effect on our business. Refer to Part I, Item 1, "Business" for information regarding our customer concentrations. Aside from our dedicated operations, we generally do not have long-term contractual relationships, rate agreements, or minimum volume guarantees with our customers. There is no assurance any of our customers will continue to utilize our services, renew our existing contracts, continue at the same volume levels, or not seek to modify terms of existing contracts, including rates. A reduction in or termination of our services by one or more of our major customers could have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Retail and discount retail customers account for a substantial portion of our freight. Accordingly, our results may be more susceptible to trends in unemployment and retail sales than carriers that do not have this concentration.
In addition, our customers' financial difficulties could negatively impact our results of operations and financial condition, especially if these customers were to delay or default on payments to us. 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.
We depend on third-party capacity providers, and service instability from these transportation providers could increase our operating costs and reduce our ability to offer intermodal and brokerage services, which could adversely affect our revenue, results of operations, and customer relationships.
Our intermodal operations use railroads and some third-party drayage carriers to transport freight for our customers, and intermodal dependence on railroads could increase if we expand our intermodal services. In certain markets, rail service is limited to a few railroads or even a single railroad. Intermodal providers have experienced poor service from providers of rail-based services in the past. Our ability to provide intermodal services in certain traffic lanes would be reduced or eliminated if the railroads' services became unstable. Railroads could reduce their services in the future for various reasons, which may include work stoppages insufficient network capacity, adverse weather conditions, accidents, or other factors, which could increase the cost of the rail-based services we provide,
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could create cargo claims, and could reduce the reliability, timeliness, efficiency, and overall attractiveness of our rail-based intermodal services.
Our intermodal operations were negatively impacted by labor difficulties in the rail industry in 2022. Although labor challenges in the rail industry have softened, the future threat or occurrence of a work stoppage or strike among rail employees could significantly reduce or even halt operating capacity of our intermodal operations, which could have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Furthermore, price increases could result in higher costs to us, which we may be unable to pass on to our customers and could result in the reduction or elimination of our ability to offer intermodal services. In addition, we may not be able to negotiate additional contracts with railroads to expand our capacity, add additional routes, obtain multiple providers, or obtain railroad services at current cost levels, any of which could limit our ability to provide this service.
Our logistics operations are dependent upon the services of third-party capacity providers, including other truckload and LTL capacity providers. These third-party providers may seek other freight opportunities and may require increased compensation in times of improved freight demand or tight full truckload and LTL capacity. Most of our third-party capacity provider transportation services contracts are cancelable on 30 days' notice or less. 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, and we are not able to obtain corresponding customer rate increases, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
Insurance and claims expenses could significantly reduce our earnings.
Our future insurance and claims expense might exceed historical levels, which could reduce our earnings. We self-insure, or insure through our captive insurance companies, a significant portion of our claims exposure. For a detailed discussion of our self-insurance programs, including self-insurance retention limits, please refer to Note 12 to the consolidated financial statements, included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report. Higher self-insured retention levels may increase the impact of auto liability occurrences on our results of operations. We reserve for anticipated losses and expenses and periodically evaluate and adjust our claims reserves to reflect our experience. Estimating the number and severity of claims, as well as related judgment or settlement amounts, is inherently difficult, and claims may ultimately prove to be more severe than our estimates. This, along with legal expenses, incurred but not reported claims, and other uncertainties can cause unfavorable differences between actual self-insurance costs and our reserve estimates. Accordingly, ultimate results may differ materially from our estimates, which could result in losses over our reserved amounts and could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Although we believe our aggregate insurance limits should be sufficient to cover reasonably expected claims, it is possible that the amount of one or more claims could exceed our aggregate coverage limits. If any claim were to exceed our coverage, we would bear the excess, in addition to our other self-insured amounts. Furthermore, insurance carriers have raised premiums for many businesses, including transportation companies.
In addition, rising healthcare costs could negatively impact financial results or force us to make changes to existing benefit programs, which could negatively impact our ability to attract and retain employees.
Insuring risk through our captive insurance companies could adversely impact our operations.
We insure certain affiliated risks through our captive insurance company, Mohave and through our risk retention group, Red Rock. Additionally, Mohave provides reinsurance to third-party insurance companies for affiliated risks insured by those third-party insurance companies. Red Rock insures a share of our automobile liability risk. The insurance and reinsurance markets are subject to market pressures. Our captive insurance companies' abilities or needs to access the reinsurance markets may involve the retention of additional risk, which could expose us to volatility in claims expenses.
Our captive insurance companies are regulated by state authorities. State regulations generally provide protection to policy holders, rather than stockholders. These regulations may increase our costs of regulatory compliance, limit our ability to change premiums, restrict our ability to access cash held in our captive insurance companies, and otherwise impede our ability to take actions we deem advisable.
In the future, we may continue to insure our automobile liability risk through our captive insurance subsidiaries, which will cause increases in the required amount of our restricted cash or other collateral, such as letters of credit. Significant increases in the amount of collateral required by third-party insurance carriers and regulators would reduce our liquidity.
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If we are unable to recruit, develop, and retain our key employees, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected.
We are highly dependent upon the services of certain key employees and we believe their valuable knowledge about the trucking industry and relationships with our key customers and vendors would be difficult to replicate. We currently do not have employment agreements with our key employees, and the loss of any of their services or inadequate succession planning could negatively impact our operations and future profitability.
Increases in driving associate compensation or difficulties attracting and retaining qualified driving associates could have a materially adverse effect on our profitability and the ability to maintain or grow our fleet.
Difficulty in attracting and retaining sufficient numbers of qualified driving associates, independent contractors, and third-party capacity providers, could have a materially adverse effect on our growth and profitability. The full truckload and LTL transportation industries are subject to a shortage of qualified driving associates. Such shortage is exacerbated during periods of economic expansion, in which there may be alternative employment opportunities, 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 COVID-19 or other contagious diseases and any governmental imposed lockdown or other attempts to reduce the spread of such an outbreak may reduce the pool of potential drivers available to us. Regulatory requirements could further reduce the number of eligible driving associates. We believe our employee screening process, which includes extensive background checks and hair follicle drug testing, is more rigorous than generally employed in our industry and has decreased the pool of qualified applicants available to us.Our inability to engage a sufficient number of driving associates and independent contractors may negatively affect our operations.
In addition, we suffer from a high turnover rate of driving associates and independent contractors. This high turnover rate requires us to spend significant resources on recruiting and retention.
Further, our driving associate compensation and independent contractor expenses are subject to market conditions and we may find it necessary to increase driving associate and independent contractor contracted rates in future periods.
Our arrangements with independent contractors expose us to risks that we do not face with our company driving associates.
Our financing subsidiaries offer financing to some of the independent contractors we contract with to purchase or lease tractors from us. If these independent contractors default or experience a lease termination in conjunction with these agreements and we cannot replace them, we may incur losses on amounts owed to us. Also, if liquidity constraints or other restrictions prevent us from providing financing to the independent contractors we contract with in the future, then we could experience a shortage of independent contractors.
Our lease contracts with independent contractors are governed by federal leasing regulations, which impose specific requirements on us and the independent contractors. In the past, we have been the subject of lawsuits, alleging violations of lease agreements or failure to follow the contractual terms, some of which resulted in adverse decisions against the Company. We could be subjected to similar lawsuits and decisions in the future, which if determined adversely to us, could have an adverse effect on our financial condition.
"Other Regulation" in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report, discusses how we could be affected by changes in law or regulations regarding our leasing arrangements with independent contractors.
We have operations and business lines in ancillary areas that may increase risk or impair our financial position.
We have from time to time expanded our business lines into ancillary areas, such as support services provided to our customers and third-party carriers, including insurance coverage, equipment maintenance, equipment leasing, warehousing, trailer parts manufacturing, and warranty services. We may incur significant costs in the development and refinement of these business lines, some of which may be outside of our core competency. In addition, the development and expansion of these areas may result in us incurring unanticipated costs to effectively support the new business lines, the potential for disruption to our core business, the distraction of management, the inability to effectively compete with competitors in the areas of our new lines of business, and the potential that we may need to discontinue operations or business lines and incur significant related costs. We cannot guarantee that these businesses or strategies will be successful and any of these businesses or strategies may not achieve the
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anticipated financial results and could have an adverse effect on volatility, our business, financial condition and operating results.
We are dependent on management information and communications systems and other information technology assets (including the data contained therein), and a significant systems disruption or failure in the foregoing, including those caused by cybersecurity breaches, whether internally or with third parties, could adversely affect our business.
Our business depends on the efficient, stable, and uninterrupted operation of our management information and communications systems and other information technology assets (including the data contained therein). Our management information and communication systems are used in various aspects of our business. If any of our critical information or communications systems fail or become unavailable, it could temporarily affect the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations. Our operations and those of our 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. We are also vulnerable to interruption by power loss, telecommunications failure, cyber-attacks, terrorist attacks, internet failures, and other events beyond our control. Our business and operations could be adversely affected in the event of a system failure, disruption, or security breach that causes a delay, interruption, or impairment of our services and operations. Although we carry insurance to help protect us from losses due to an interruption of our systems, the risk of a system failure, especially due to a cyber-attack, has increased since the commencement of the war between Russia and Ukraine. However, we are unable to quantify the degree which the risk has increased due to the conflict. In addition, there is no guarantee such an attack will fall within the coverage limits of our insurance. Any such failure, inability to upgrade or update, disruption, or security breach (including cyberattacks) related to our systems and technological assets may also impact third-parties upon which we rely in our business, and could hinder our services or such third-parties, which could have a materially adverse effect on our business.
We receive and transmit confidential data in the normal course of business. Despite our implementation of safeguards, our information and communication systems are vulnerable to disruption, unauthorized access and viewing, misappropriation, altering, or deleting of information. A security breach could damage our business operations and reputation and could cause us to incur costs associated with repairing our systems, increased security, customer notifications, lost operating revenue, litigation, regulatory action, and reputational damage.
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, our results of operation may be negatively affected.
Some of our employees work remotely, which may increase the cybersecurity risks to our business, including an increased demand for information technology resources, increased risk of phishing, and other cybersecurity attacks.
We have, and will continue to have, a portion of our employee population that works from home full-time or under flexible work arrangements, and we have provided associates with expanded remote network access options which enable them to work outside of our corporate infrastructure and, in some cases, use their own personal devices, which exposes us to additional cybersecurity risks. Our employees working remotely may expose us to cybersecurity risks through: (i) unauthorized access to sensitive information as a result of increased remote access, including our employees’ use of Company-owned and personal devices and videoconferencing functions and applications to remotely handle, access, discuss, or transmit confidential information, (ii) increased exposure to phishing and other scams as cybercriminals may, among other things, install malicious software on our systems and equipment and access sensitive information, and (iii) violation of international, federal, or state-specific privacy laws. We believe that the increased number of employees working remotely has incrementally increased our cyber risk profile, but we are unable to predict the extent or impacts of those risks at this time. A significant disruption of our information technology systems, unauthorized access to or loss of confidential information, or legal claims resulting from our violation of privacy laws could each have a material adverse effect on our business.
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Seasonality and the impact of weather and other catastrophic events could have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations and profitability or make our results of operations and profitability more volatile.
"Seasonality" in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report, discusses in detail how seasonality and weather could impact 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, and financial impacts, such as increased costs, tightening of credit markets, 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.
Compliance Risk
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 various federal and state agencies in the states, provinces, and countries in which we operate. Future laws and regulations or changes to existing 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, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
"Industry Regulation" and "Other Regulation" in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report, discusses in detail regulations related to our business that could materially impact our business, financial condition, and operations.
Receipt of an unfavorable DOT safety rating or an unfavorable ranking under the CSA program could have a material adverse effect on our profitability and operations.
If we, or one of our subsidiaries, received a conditional or unsatisfactory DOT safety rating or an unfavorable ranking under the CSA program, it could lead to increased risk of liability, increased insurance, maintenance and equipment costs, and potential loss of customers, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
"Industry Regulation" in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report, provides discussion of the DOT safety rating system and the CSA program.
Ineffective internal controls could have a negative impact on our business, results of operations, and our reputation.
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 reasonable assurance with respect to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements. If we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, 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, our business and operating results could be harmed and we could fail to meet our financial reporting obligations, which also could have a negative impact on our reputation.
Compliance with various environmental laws and regulations to 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.
We are subject to various environmental laws and regulations. We have instituted programs to monitor and control environmental risks and promote compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations; however, in the event of any of the following, we could be subject to clean-up costs and liabilities, including substantial fines or
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penalties or civil and criminal liability, any of which could have a materially adverse effect on our business and results of operations:
•we are involved in a spill or other accident involving hazardous substances;
•there are releases of hazardous substances we transport;
•soil or groundwater contamination is found at our facilities or results from our operations; and
•we are found to be in violation of or fail to comply with applicable environmental laws or regulations.
Certain of our terminals are located on or near environmental Superfund sites designated by the EPA and/or state environmental authorities. We have not been identified as a potentially responsible party with regard to any such site. Nevertheless, we could be deemed responsible for clean-up costs.
In addition, tractors and trailers used in our full truckload and LTL operations are affected by laws and regulations related to air emissions and fuel efficiency. 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.
As the environmental laws and regulations to which we are subject become more stringent, we may experience increased costs related to compliance, and if such laws and regulations take effect faster than we anticipate or are prepared for, we may experience difficulty complying. In addition, certain environmental laws and regulations may require us to disclose certain metrics or other data related to our operations that have historically been confidential. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations may result in fines or penalties, a decrease in productivity, and other constraints that could impair our financial and operational position and have a negative impact on our stock price and reputation. "Environmental Regulation" in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report, provides a discussion of the environmental laws and regulations applicable to our business and operations.
Developments in labor and employment law and any unionizing efforts by employees could have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations.
Although our only collective bargaining agreement exists at our Mexican subsidiary, we always face the risk that our employees will try to unionize. If we entered into a collective bargaining agreement with our domestic employees, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, customer retention, financial condition, results of operations, and liquidity, and could cause significant disruption of, or inefficiencies in, our operations, because:
•restrictive work rules could hamper our ability to improve or sustain operating efficiency or could impair our service reputation and limit our ability to provide certain services;
•a strike or work stoppage could negatively impact our profitability and could damage customer and employee relationships;
•shippers may limit their use of unionized companies because of the threat of strikes and other work stoppages;
•unionization of any of our operations could lead to pressure on our LTL and full truckload employees to unionize;
•collective agreements could result in material increases in wages and benefits; and
•an election and bargaining process could divert management’s time and attention from our overall objectives and impose significant expenses.
If the independent contractors we contract with were ever re-classified as employees, the magnitude of this risk would increase. "Industry Regulation" in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report, provides discussion of labor and employment laws applicable to our business and operations.
If our independent contractors are deemed by regulators or the 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 contractors in the trucking industry are employees rather than independent contractors. Carriers such as us that operate or have operated lease-purchase programs have been more susceptible to lawsuits seeking to reclassify independent contractors that have engaged in such programs. We have been subject to litigation relating
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to such matters in the past and continue to be at risk moving forward. If the independent contractors we engage were determined to be our employees, we would incur additional exposure under federal and state tax, workers' compensation, unemployment benefits, labor, employment, insurance, discrimination, and tort laws, including for prior periods, as well as potential liability for employee benefits and tax withholdings. Furthermore, if independent contractors were deemed employees, then certain of our third-party revenue sources, including shop and insurance margins, would be eliminated. "Industry Regulation" in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report, provides discussion of legislation regarding independent contractors.
Litigation may adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
The nature of our business exposes us to the potential for various claims and litigation, including class-action litigation and other legal proceedings related to personal injury, labor and employment, property damage, cargo claims, safety and contract compliance, environmental liability, and other matters, and we have been subject to litigation regarding these matters in the past. The number and severity of litigation claims may be worsened by various factors, including, among others, weather and distracted driving by both truck drivers and other motorists. These legal proceedings have resulted, and may result in the future, in the payment of substantial settlements or damages and increases in our insurance costs.
Recently, trucking companies, including us, have been 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.
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. We establish reserves based on our assessment of known legal matters and contingencies. New legal claims, or subsequent developments related to known claims, may affect our assessment and estimates of our recorded legal reserves and may require us to make payments in excess of our reserves. The cost to defend litigation may also be significant. Because of the potential expenses and uncertainties associated with litigation, we may from time to time settle disputes, even where we believe we have a meritorious position. Further, 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, and our involvement in legal proceedings could negatively impact our business reputation and our relationship with our customers, suppliers, and employees.
Changes to trade regulation, quotas, duties or tariffs, caused by the changing US and geopolitical environments or otherwise, may increase our costs and adversely affect our business.
The imposition of additional tariffs or quotas or changes to certain trade agreements, 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 an adverse effect on our business.
Increasing attention 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.
Companies are facing increasing attention from stakeholders relating to ESG matters, including environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and diversity and inclusion. 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.
Our Sustainability Report reflects our current initiatives and is not a guarantee that we will be able to achieve them. Our ability to successfully execute these initiatives and accurately report our progress presents numerous operational, financial, legal, reputational and other risks, many of which are outside our control, and all of which could have a material negative impact on our business. Additionally, the implementation of these initiatives imposes additional costs on us. If our ESG initiatives fail to satisfy our stakeholders, then our reputation, our ability to attract
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or retain employees, and our attractiveness as an investment and business partner could be negatively impacted. Similarly, our failure, or perceived failure, to pursue or fulfill our goals, targets and objectives or to satisfy various reporting standards within the timelines we announce, or at all, could also have similar negative impacts and expose us to government enforcement actions and private litigation.
We are subject to risks associated with climate change, including the potential increased impacts of severe weather events on our operations and infrastructure.
The potential physical effects of climate change, such as increased frequency and severity of storms, floods, fires, fog, mist, freezing conditions, sea-level rise and other climate-related events, could cause loss or damage to our equipment or properties, deteriorate or destroy the infrastructure upon which we rely, increase the likelihood of accidents, disrupt fuel supplies, and/or increase our claims liabilities and our cost to obtain insurance coverage, any of which could impair our operations and financial position. Operational impacts, such as the delay or difficulty in delivering freight, could result in loss of revenue, decrease the demand for our services, and harm our reputation. In addition, certain warehouses and loading docks that we frequently utilize and certain of our terminals are in locations susceptible to the impacts of storm-related flooding and sea-level rise, which could result in costs and loss of revenue. We could incur significant costs to improve the climate resiliency of our equipment and properties and otherwise prepare for, respond to, and mitigate such physical effects of climate change. We are not able to accurately predict the materiality of any potential losses or costs associated with the physical effects of climate change.
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.
Financial Risk
We have significant ongoing capital requirements that could affect our profitability if our capital investments do not match customer demand for invested resources, we are unable to generate sufficient cash from operations, or we are unable to obtain financing on favorable terms.
Our full truckload and LTL operations are capital intensive, and our policy of operating newer equipment requires us to expend significant amounts on capital annually. If anticipated demand differs materially from actual usage, our capital intensive full truckload and LTL operations may have too many or too few assets. The recent expansion of our operations to LTL has increased and will continue to increase our capital requirements for real estate associated with LTL operations. During periods of decreased customer demand, our asset utilization may suffer, and we may be forced to sell equipment on the open market or turn in equipment under certain equipment leases in order to right-size our fleet. This could cause us to incur losses on such sales or require payments in connection with such turn-ins, particularly during times of a softer used equipment market, either of which could have a materially adverse effect on our profitability.
In the event that we are unable to generate sufficient cash from operations, maintain compliance with financial and other covenants in our financing agreements, or obtain equity capital or financing on favorable terms in the future, we may have to limit our fleet size, enter into less favorable financing, or operate our revenue equipment for longer periods, any of which could have a materially adverse effect on our operations and profitability.
If credit markets weaken, it may be difficult for us to access our current sources of credit and may be difficult for our lenders to find the capital to fund us. We may need to incur additional debt, or issue debt or equity securities in the future, to refinance existing debt, fund working capital requirements, make investments, or support other business activities. Declines in consumer confidence, decreases in domestic spending, economic contractions, rating agency actions, and other trends in the credit market may impair our future ability to secure financing on satisfactory terms, or at all.
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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 then-existing stockholders.
We may need to raise additional funds in order to:
•finance unanticipated 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 could be significantly limited. If we raise additional funds by issuing equity or convertible debt securities, the percentage ownership of our then-existing stockholders may be reduced, and holders of these securities may have rights, preferences, or privileges senior to those of our then-existing stockholders. Volatility to equity markets could also impair our financial position in general terms and our ability to effectively capitalize on potential merger and acquisition opportunities.
In the event of an economic downturn or disruption in the credit markets, our indebtedness could place us at a competitive disadvantage in terms of our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations, limit our ability to react to changes in the economy or our industry, and prevent us from meeting our debt obligations compared to our competitors that are less leveraged.
This could have negative consequences that include:
•increased vulnerability to adverse economic, industry, or competitive developments;
•cash flows from operations that are committed to payment of principal and interest, thereby reducing our ability to use cash for our operations, capital expenditures, and future business opportunities;
•increased interest rates that would affect our variable rate debt or our ability to utilize appropriate leverage in general;
•potential noncompliance with financial covenants, borrowing conditions, and other debt obligations (where applicable);
•lack of financing for working capital, capital expenditures, product development, debt service requirements, and general corporate or other purposes;
•limits on our flexibility to plan for, or react to, changes in our business, market conditions, or in the economy; and
•undertaking cost-saving measures that adversely impact on our ability to grow and our long-term financial position.
Our debt agreements contain restrictions that limit our flexibility in operating our business.
As detailed in Note 15 to the consolidated financial statements, included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report, we must comply with various affirmative, negative, and financial covenants. A breach of any of these covenants could result in default or (when applicable) cross-default. Upon default under our primary credit facility, the lenders could elect to declare all outstanding amounts to be immediately due and payable, as well as terminate all commitments to extend further credit. Such actions by those lenders could cause cross-defaults with our other debt agreements. If we were unable to repay those amounts, the lenders could use any collateral granted to satisfy all or part of the debt owed to them. If the lenders accelerated our debt repayments, we might not have sufficient assets to repay all amounts borrowed.
In addition, we have other financing that includes certain affirmative and negative covenants and cross-default provisions. Failure to comply with these covenants and provisions may jeopardize our ability to continue to sell receivables under the facility and could negatively impact our liquidity.
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Our debt agreements contain variable rate debt that could affect our financial results should interest rates rise.
We are subject to exposure from variable interest rates, as described in Item 7A of this Annual Report.
We could determine that our goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangibles are impaired, thus recognizing a related impairment loss.
We have goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets on our balance sheet, which has increased since our U.S. Xpress acquisition. Given our history of acquisitions and growth objectives, our goodwill and intangible assets could grow. We periodically evaluate our goodwill and indefinite-lived 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.
If our investments in entities are not successful or decrease in market value, we may be required to write off or lose the value of a portion or all of our investments, which could have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations.
Through one of our wholly-owned subsidiaries, we have directly or indirectly invested in certain entities that make privately negotiated equity investments. In the past, the Company has recorded impairment charges to reflect the other-than-temporary decreases in the fair value of its portfolio. If the financial position of any such entity declines, we could be required to write down all or part of our investment in that entity, which could have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations.
Changes in taxation could lead to an increase of our tax exposure and could affect the Company’s financial results.
President Biden has provided some informal guidance on what federal tax law changes he supports, such as an increase in the corporate tax rate from its current top rate of 21%. If an increase in the corporate tax rate is passed by Congress and signed into law, it could have a materially adverse effect on our financial results and financial position. At December 31, 2023, the Company has a deferred tax liability of $951.7 million. The amount of deferred tax liability is determined by using the enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which differences between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities are expected to reverse. Accordingly, our net current tax liability has been determined based on the currently enacted rate of 21%. If the current rate were increased due to legislation, it would have an immediate revaluation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities in the year of enactment. For example, an increase in the tax rate from 21% to 28% would result in the immediate increase in our net deferred tax liability of approximately $273.4 million, with a corresponding increase to income tax expense in the year of enactment to reflect the revaluation.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
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ITEM 1C. CYBERSECURITY
Cybersecurity Risk Management and Strategy
Risk Management Strategy
While no organization can eliminate cybersecurity risk entirely, we devote significant resources to our cybersecurity strategy that we believe is reasonably designed to mitigate our cybersecurity and information technology risk. These efforts are designed to protect against, and mitigate the effects of, among other things, cybersecurity incidents where unauthorized parties attempt to access confidential, sensitive, or personal information; potentially hold such information for ransom; destroy data; disrupt or delay our operations or systems; or otherwise cause harm to the Company, our customers, employees, or other key stakeholders.
Process —We use a multi-layered defensive cybersecurity strategy based on best practices to identify risks, protect technology assets, detect anomalies, respond to, and recover from cybersecurity incidents. Our processes to identify, assess, and manage material risks from cybersecurity threats includes the following:
•Identify - We identify risks from cybersecurity threats by first developing and maintaining an understanding of assets and systems essential to our operation and reputation, as well as assets and systems that could provide value to threat actors. Any attempt by a threat actor is considered a potential risk if a threat actor can use it to reduce the value of an asset, reduce our ability to utilize or otherwise access the value of an asset, or surreptitiously gain or increase their access to an asset or system which would result in decreased information security or a disruption in our operations.
•Assess - We assess risks from cybersecurity threats by evaluating exposure of our assets to identified cyber risks, as well as potential impacts to our operations or reputation from our inability to access or utilize an asset or system, or a threat actor’s ability to gain access to an asset or system. We further evaluate the potential materiality of these risks based on the potential impact to our operations or reputation.
•Manage - We mitigate risks from cybersecurity threats by applying multiple layers of defense to maximize our continued ability to access or utilize an asset or system and minimize threat actors' ability to gain or increase their access to an asset or system. We prioritize defensive mechanisms, including administrative, physical, and technical controls, according to their relative cost and reduction in risk.
We further monitor, test, assess, and update these processes, including working with technology partners, government agencies, regulators, law enforcement, industry groups, and peers to implement practices to guard against an evolving cyber threat environment and to ensure we remain compliant with relevant regulatory requirements. We offer cybersecurity training for staff at key sites, focusing on reducing human risk through anti-phishing and social engineering exercises. We also carry cybersecurity insurance that provides protection against potential losses arising from certain cybersecurity incidents as part of our cybersecurity risk mitigation strategy.
Integration into our Risk Management Program —Our processes to assess, identify, and manage cybersecurity risks are expressly incorporated into our risk management program, which includes technology as one of the five primary risk categories addressed by our risk program, with cybersecurity risks being one of the three subcategories within the technology risk category. As a result, our risk management leadership team works with the Chief Information Officer ("CIO") and Vice President of Information Technology Security ("VPIT"), which we refer to collectively as "Cybersecurity Leadership," to define the top areas of risk in both the technology and cybersecurity areas, with such risks incorporated into our risk management program. Our risk management leadership team also meets on a quarterly basis with our cross-functional technology risk working group, comprised of leaders across the information technology, operations, internal audit, information security and legal departments, to monitor developments on an ongoing basis in the threat landscape in order to identify and prioritize key cybersecurity threats that may impact the Company.
Incident Response
The Company has a dedicated cybersecurity incident response team, overseen by Cybersecurity Leadership, which is responsible for managing and coordinating the Company’s cybersecurity incident response plans and efforts. This team also collaborates closely with other teams in identifying, protecting from, detecting, responding to, and recovering from cybersecurity incidents. Cybersecurity incidents that meet certain thresholds are escalated to Cybersecurity Leadership and cross-functional teams on an as-needed basis for support and guidance. Additionally, this team tracks potentially material cybersecurity incidents to help identify and analyze them. The Company’s cybersecurity incident response team partners with the Company’s internal cybersecurity teams as well as with
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external legal advisors, communication specialists, government agencies, regulators, law enforcement, and other key stakeholders as appropriate to respond to cybersecurity incidents. The Company maintains a cybersecurity incident response plan to prepare for and respond to cybersecurity incidents. The incident response plan includes standard processes for reporting and escalating cybersecurity incidents to senior management and the Board as appropriate. Additionally, the Company conducts at least one cybersecurity tabletop exercise on an annual basis, where members of a cross-functional team engage in a simulated cybersecurity incident scenario. This preparedness exercise is intended to provide training for the participants and to help the Company assess its processes and capabilities in addressing major cybersecurity incidents.
Use of Third Parties
The Company engages cybersecurity consultants, auditors, and other third parties to assess and enhance its cybersecurity practices. These third parties conduct assessments, penetration testing, and risk assessments to identify weaknesses and recommend improvements. Additionally, the Company leverages a number of third-party tools and technologies as part of its efforts to enhance cybersecurity functions. This includes a managed security service provider to augment the Company’s dedicated security operations team, an endpoint detection and response system for continuous monitoring, detection, and response capabilities, and a security information and event management solution to automate real-time threat detection, investigation, and prioritization.
We also rely on third-party service providers to support our business and operations, which may include processing of confidential and other sensitive data. We are committed to continuing to develop and enhance our onboarding and monitoring processes for third-party vendors to ensure alignment with best practices. Despite our efforts, it's important to note our service providers are ultimately responsible to establish and uphold their respective cybersecurity programs. We have limited ability to monitor the cybersecurity practices of our service providers and there can be no assurance that we can prevent or mitigate the risk of any compromise or failure in the information systems, software, networks, or other assets owned or controlled by our service providers. Notwithstanding our efforts to mitigate any such risk, there can be no assurance that the compromise or failure of supplier information systems, technology assets, or cybersecurity programs would not have an adverse effect on the security of our information systems.
Risks from Material Cybersecurity Threats
As of the date of this report, the Company has not identified any cybersecurity threats that have materially affected or are reasonably anticipated to have a material effect on the organization. Although the Company has not experienced cybersecurity incidents that are individually, or in the aggregate, material, the Company has experienced cyberattacks in the past, which the Company believes have thus far been mitigated by preventative, detective, and responsive measures put in place by the Company. Further, despite the capabilities, processes, and other security measures we employ that we believe are designed to detect, reduce, and mitigate the risk of cybersecurity incidents, we may not be aware of all vulnerabilities or might not accurately assess the risks of incidents, and such preventative measures cannot provide absolute security and may not be sufficient in all circumstances or mitigate all potential risks. For a detailed discussion of the Company’s cybersecurity related risks, refer to "Operational Risk" within Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors of this Annual Report.
Cybersecurity Governance
Board Oversight
The Board is responsible for overseeing management’s assessments of major risks facing the Company and for reviewing options to mitigate such risks. The Board’s oversight of major risks, including cybersecurity risks, occurs at both the full Board level and at the Board committee level through the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.
The Board — The Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Officer, the CIO, members of senior management, and other personnel and advisors, as requested by the Board, report on the risks to the Company, including cybersecurity risks, at regularly scheduled meetings of the Board and its committees. Based on these reports, the Board requests follow-up data and presentations to address any specific concerns and recommendations. Additionally, the Board committees have opportunities to report regularly to the entire Board and review with the Board any major issues that arise at the committee level, which may include cybersecurity risks.
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Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee — The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, which is comprised entirely of independent directors, reviews with management the Company's technology and cybersecurity frameworks, policies, programs, opportunities, and risk profile both at its regularly scheduled meetings and, if appropriate, in real time. Cybersecurity Leadership, members of the cybersecurity team, or other advisors, as requested by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, report at least quarterly on the Company's technology, data privacy, and cybersecurity strategies and risks. Cybersecurity topics are presented to the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee on a quarterly basis and generally highlight any significant cybersecurity incidents, the cyber threat landscape, cybersecurity program enhancements, cybersecurity risks and related mitigation activities, and any other relevant cybersecurity topics. Reporting to the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is multi-format and includes both live presentations and memoranda. The Board believes that this regular cadence of reporting helps to provide the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee with an informed understanding of the Company's dynamic cybersecurity program and threat landscape. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee further reviews with management the Company's business continuity and disaster recovery plans and capabilities, including our cybersecurity and business interruption insurance coverages, and the effectiveness of the Company's escalation procedures. Based on these management reports, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee may request follow-up data and presentations to address any specific concerns and recommendations. In addition to this regular reporting, significant cybersecurity risks or threats may also be escalated by management on as needed basis to the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee may also escalate such issues to the full Board at any time.
Management's Role
The Company has a dedicated cybersecurity organization within its technology department that focuses on current and emerging cybersecurity matters. The Company’s cybersecurity function is led by Cybersecurity Leadership who are actively involved in assessing and managing cybersecurity risks. They are responsible for implementing cybersecurity policies, programs, procedures, and strategies. The responsibilities and relevant experience of each of the Cybersecurity Leaders are listed below:
•The CIO provides leadership for the Company’s technology department, including responsibility for leading organization-wide cybersecurity strategy, policy, and processes. Our CIO has served in this role since the 2017 Merger, has been at Swift since 2003, and has over 25 years of cybersecurity experience, including technology positions at AlliedSignal, Sara Lee, and J-Del.
•The VPIT, reporting to the CIO, is responsible for the assessment, oversight, and management of our enterprise-wide cybersecurity strategy and governance. Our VPIT has served in this role since 2020 and has significant relevant experience and professional certifications, including 18 years of cybersecurity and infrastructure experience. The VPIT, along with our cybersecurity team, has guided the organization through building a multi-layer cybersecurity program.
The Company's cybersecurity department is comprised of teams that engage in a range of cybersecurity activities such as threat intelligence, security architecture, and incident response. These teams, in coordination with third parties, conduct vulnerability management and penetration testing to identify, classify, prioritize, remediate, and mitigate vulnerabilities. The results of these tests are reviewed with the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Leaders from each team regularly meet with Cybersecurity Leadership to provide visibility into major issues and seek alignment with strategy. As noted above under "Incident Response," the Company’s cybersecurity incident response plan includes standard processes for reporting and escalating cybersecurity incidents to senior management and the Board, as appropriate. Cybersecurity incidents that meet certain thresholds are escalated to Cybersecurity Leadership and cross-functional teams on an as-needed basis for support and guidance. The Company’s incident response team also coordinates with external legal advisors, communication specialists, government agencies, regulators, law enforcement, and other key stakeholders.
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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Our Knight and Swift headquarters are both located in Phoenix, Arizona. Including Knight's former headquarters location, which was re-purposed as a regional operations facility, our headquarters cover approximately 200 acres, consisting of about 300,000 square feet of office space, 150,000 square feet of repair and maintenance facilities, a twenty thousand square-foot driving associates' center and restaurant, an eight thousand square-foot recruiting and training center, a six thousand square-foot warehouse, a 300-space parking structure, as well as two truck wash and fueling facilities. Our U.S. Xpress headquarters located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, covers approximately 29.4 acres of land consisting of about 100,000 square feet of office space. Our ACT headquarters located in Dothan, Alabama, covers approximately 20 acres of land consisting of about 57,474 square feet of office space, a 2,364 square foot supply warehouse, 37,248 square feet of repair and maintenance facilities, 8,274 square feet of parts warehousing, and a 15,110 square foot loading dock.
We have over 250 locations in the US and Mexico, including our headquarters, terminals, driving academies, and certain other locations, which are included in the table below. Our terminals may include customer service, marketing, fuel, and/or repair facilities. Given the fluidity of our operations, and to promote operational efficiency, our terminal properties are used by each of our Truckload, LTL, Logistics, Intermodal, and All Other Segments. We also own or lease parcels of vacant land, drop yards, and space for temporary trailer storage for ourselves and other carriers, as well as several non-operating facilities, which are excluded from the table below. As of December 31, 2023, our aggregate monthly rent for all leased properties was approximately $4.5 million with varying terms expiring through December 2039. We believe that substantially all of our property is in good condition and our facilities have sufficient capacity to meet our current needs.
The following listing shows our logos with our corresponding company descriptions, as the logos are used to depict brand representation by location in the accompanying table:
Logo Brand Reportable Segment(s)
Knight Truckload, Logistics
Swift Truckload, Logistics, Intermodal
U.S. Xpress Truckload, Logistics
ACT LTL
MME LTL
Barr-Nunn Transportation LLC Truckload
Abilene Motor Express, LLC Truckload
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Owned/Leased
Location Brand Owned Leased Total
Louisiana 6 6
Michigan 2 2
Mississippi 7 1 8
Nebraska 2 2
New Jersey 1 1
New Mexico 1 1
North Dakota 1 8 9
Pennsylvania 3 2 5
South Carolina 7 5 12
South Dakota 4 4
Virginia 2 2
Washington 2 2 4
West Virginia 1 1
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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
We are party to certain lawsuits in the ordinary course of business. Information about our legal proceedings is included in Note 19 in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report and is incorporated by reference herein. Based on management's present knowledge of the facts and (in certain cases) advice of outside counsel, management does not believe that loss contingencies arising from pending matters are likely to have a material adverse effect on the Company's overall financial position, operating results, or cash flows after taking into account any existing accruals. However, actual outcomes could be material to the Company's financial position, operating results, or cash flows for any particular period.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
PART II
Common Stock
Our common stock trades on the NYSE under the symbol "KNX". As of December 31, 2023, we had 161,384,768 shares of common stock outstanding. On February 19, 2024, there were 37 holders of record of our common stock. Because many of our shares of common stock are held by brokers or other institutions on behalf of stockholders, we are unable to estimate the total number of individual stockholders represented by the record holders.
See "Equity Plan Information" under Part III, Item 12 of this Annual Report for certain information concerning shares of our common stock authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans.
Dividend Policy
We have paid a quarterly cash dividend as Knight-Swift since December of 2017.
Our most recent dividend was declared in February of 2024 for $0.16 per share of common stock and is scheduled to be paid in March of 2024.
We currently expect to continue to pay comparable quarterly cash dividends in the future. Future payment of cash dividends, and the amount of any such dividends, will depend upon our financial condition, results of operations, cash requirements, tax treatment, contractual restrictions, and certain corporate law requirements, as well as other factors deemed relevant by our Board.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
The following table shows our purchases of our common stock and the remaining amounts we are authorized to repurchase for each monthly period in the fourth quarter of 2023.
1On April 25, 2022, we announced that the Board approved the $350.0 million 2022 Knight-Swift Share Repurchase Plan, replacing the 2020 Knight-Swift Share Repurchase Plan. There is no expiration date associated with this share repurchase authorization. See Note 20 in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report.
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Stockholders Return Performance Graph
The following graph compares the cumulative annual total return of stockholders from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2023 of our stock relative to the cumulative total returns of the NYSE Composite index and an index of other companies within the trucking industry (NASDAQ Trucking & Transportation) over the same period. The graph assumes that the value of the investment in Knight-Swift's common stock and in each of the indexes (including reinvestment of dividends) was $100 on December 31, 2018, and tracks it through December 31, 2023. The stock price performance included in this graph is not necessarily indicative of Knight-Swift's future stock price performance.
December 31,
ITEM 6. RESERVED
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Certain acronyms and terms used throughout this Annual Report are specific to our company, commonly used in our industry, or are otherwise frequently used throughout our document. Definitions for these acronyms and terms are provided in the "Glossary of Terms," available in the front of this document.
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, as well as the consolidated financial statements and accompanying footnotes in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report. 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, 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 Summary
Company Overview
Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. is one of North America's largest and most diversified freight transportation companies, providing multiple full truckload, LTL, intermodal, and other complementary services. Our objective is to operate our business with industry-leading margins, continued organic growth, and growth through acquisitions while providing safe, high-quality, and cost-effective solutions for our customers. Knight-Swift uses a nationwide network of business units and terminals in the US and Mexico to serve customers throughout North America. In addition to operating one of the country's largest truckload fleets, Knight-Swift also contracts with third-party equipment providers to provide a broad range of transportation services to our customers while creating quality driving jobs for our driving associates and successful business opportunities for independent contractors. Our four reportable segments are Truckload, LTL, Logistics, and Intermodal. Additionally, we have various other operating segments, included within our All Other Segments.
Key Financial Highlights
During 2023, consolidated total revenue was $7.1 billion, which is a 3.9% decrease over 2022. Consolidated operating income was $338.2 million in 2023, reflecting a decrease of 69.0% from 2022. Consolidated net income attributable to Knight-Swift decreased by 71.8% from 2022 to $217.1 million.
•Truckload— 93.7% operating ratio during 2023, with a 5.8% increase in revenue, excluding fuel surcharge and intersegment transactions, compared to 2022.
•LTL —89.0% operating ratio during 2023 with a 5.5% increase in revenue, excluding fuel surcharge.
•Logistics — 92.5% operating ratio during 2023. Load count reduced by 17.5%, leading to a 36.6% decrease in revenue, excluding intersegment transactions.
•Intermodal — 102.6% operating ratio during 2023, a 15.5% decrease in revenue, excluding intersegment transactions leading to a 121.8% decrease in operating income.
•All Other Segments —Operating loss was $111.6 million during 2023 compared to operating income of $36.5 million in 2022 primarily due to the $125.5 million operating loss of our third-party insurance business. Based on the recent results, including the continued unfavorable development of insurance reserves, the Company decided to initiate exiting this business during the fourth quarter of 2023 and expects to cease all third-party insurance operations and cancel any remaining policies by the end of the first quarter of 2024. We do not expect this business to have a material impact to our results in 2024.
•Acquisition of U.S. Xpress — Having closed on July 1, 2023, our synergy teams, composed of leaders from Knight, Swift, and U.S. Xpress have been sharing information, best practices, and further defining opportunities for improvement and action plans to execute on those plans. In the first two quarters of ownership, we have made significant cost improvement and even some rate improvement, leading to slight profitability in the fourth quarter of 2023.
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•Liquidity and Capital — During 2023, we generated $1.2 billion in operating cash flows. Our Free Cash Flow1 was $382.7 million. We paid down $59.3 million in long-term debt, $60.9 million in finance lease liabilities, and $120.6 million on our operating lease liabilities. We obtained financing of $250.0 million in new long-term debt and $108.0 million from net borrowings on our accounts receivable securitization and assumed $337.9 million in debt and finance lease liabilities related to the U.S. Xpress Acquisition. In 2023, we issued $91.1 million in dividends to our stockholders. Gain on sale of revenue equipment decreased to $64.7 million in 2023, compared to $92.9 million in 2022.
We ended 2023 with $168.5 million in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents, $67.0 million outstanding on the 2021 Revolver, $1.3 billion face value outstanding on the 2023 Term Loan and the 2021 Term Loans, and $7.1 billion of stockholders' equity. We do not foresee material liquidity constraints or any issues with our ongoing ability to meet our debt covenants. See discussion under "Liquidity and Capital Resources" for additional information.
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1Refer to "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below.
Key Financial Data and Operating Metrics
GAAP financial data: (Dollars in thousands, except per share data)
Revenue, excluding truckload and LTL fuel surcharge $ 6,308,169 $ 6,508,165
Earnings per diluted share $ 1.34 $ 4.73
Non-GAAP financial data:
Adjusted Net Income Attributable to Knight-Swift 1 $ 278,739 $ 821,196
Adjusted Operating Ratio 1 93.1 % 82.2 %
Revenue equipment statistics by segment:
Truckload
LTL
Intermodal
1Adjusted Net Income Attributable to Knight-Swift, Adjusted EPS, and Adjusted Operating Ratio are non-GAAP financial measures and should not be considered alternatives, or superior to, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. However, management believes that presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures provides useful information to investors regarding the Company's results of operations. Adjusted Net Income Attributable to Knight-Swift, Adjusted EPS, and Adjusted Operating Ratio are reconciled to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures under "Non-GAAP Financial Measures," below.
2Our tractor fleet within the Truckload segment had a weighted average age of 2.5 years and 2.7 years as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
3Note that average trailers includes 8,724 and 8,249 trailers within our All Other Segment. Our trailer fleet within the Truckload segment had a weighted average age of 8.9 years and 9.9 years as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
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4Our LTL tractor fleet had a weighted average age of 4.4 years and 4.3 years as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and includes 611 and 711 tractors from ACT's and MME's dedicated and other businesses for 2023and 2022, respectively.
5Our LTL trailer fleet had a weighted average age of 8.6 years and 8.1 years as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and includes 723 and 968 trailers from ACT's and MME's dedicated and other businesses for 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Market Trends and Outlook— On a year-over-year basis, the US gross domestic product, which is the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy, increased by 2.5%1 in 2023, as compared to a 1.9%1 increase in 2022. The year-over-year improvement primarily reflects increases in consumer spending, nonresidential fixed investments, state and local government spending, exports, and federal government spending that were partly offset by decreases in residential fixed investment and inventory investment. The national unemployment rate was 3.7%2 as of December 31, 2023, as compared to 3.5%2 as of December 31, 2022. Early estimates of the full-year 2023 US employment cost index indicate a year-over-year increase of 0.9%2 and a sequential increase of 0.7%2.
The freight market outlook for the first half of 2024 includes the following:
•LTL demand remains strong;
•LTL improvement in revenue (excluding fuel) per hundredweight year-over-year;
•Truckload freight demand softness anticipated to continue into the first quarter of 2024, with modest seasonality in the second quarter of 2024;
•Truckload - contract rate sequentially stable;
•Cost inflation continues to be a challenge, though pace eases;
•Labor alternatives in the general economy remain attractive, providing a headwind to retention and utilization until freight conditions improve;
•Demand in the used equipment market weakens further as small carriers struggle.
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1 bea.gov
2 bls.gov
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Results of Operations — Summary
Notes regarding presentation: A discussion of changes in our results of operations from 2021 to 2022 has been omitted from this Annual Report, but may be found in "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" of our 2022 Annual Report filed with the SEC on February 23, 2023.
In accordance with accounting treatment applicable to each of our recent acquisitions, Knight-Swift's reported results do not include the operating results of the acquired entities prior to the respective acquisition dates. Accordingly, comparisons between the Company's 2023 results and prior periods may not be meaningful. Refer to Note 1 in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report for a list of our recent acquisitions.
Operating Results: 2023 Compared to 2022 — The $554.2 million decrease in net income attributable to Knight-Swift to $217.1 million in 2023 from $771.3 million in 2022, includes the following:
•Contributor — $448.6 million decrease in operating income within our Truckload segment was primarily due to a 0.6% decrease in average revenue per tractor, which includes the results of U.S. Xpress. Excluding U.S. Xpress, revenue, excluding fuel surcharge, per tractor decreased 10.2% year-over-year.
•Contributor — $90.5 million decrease in operating income within our Logistics segment driven by a 17.5% decrease in load count.
•Contributor — $58.7 milliondecrease in operating income within our Intermodal segment driven by a 19.9% decrease in revenue per load, partially offset by a 5.5% increase in load count.
•Contributor — $7.7 million decrease in operating income from our LTL segment as a result of a 1.9% decrease in weight per shipment and other costs related to expanding our service area and transitioning our operational systems on one network.
•Contributor — $148.1 million decrease in operating results within our All Other Segments, primarily due to the $125.5 million operating loss in the third-party insurance business, including additional costs incurred in the fourth quarter of 2023 as we prepare to exit the business in the first quarter of 2024.
•Contributor — $60.2 million increase in net interest expense primarily due to an increase in interest rates.
•Offset — $63.6 million increase in "Other income (expenses), net," primarily driven by an unrealized loss on our investment in Embark recorded in 2022.
•Offset — $194.6 million decrease in consolidated income tax expense, primarily due to a decrease in income before income taxes and a release of a valuation allowance in the third quarter of 2023. This resulted in a 2023 effective tax rate of 20.3% and a 2022 effective tax rate of 24.4%.
See additional discussion of our operating results within "Results of Operations — Consolidated Operating and Other Expenses" below.
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Results of Operations — Segment Review
The Company has four reportable segments: Truckload, LTL, Logistics, and Intermodal, as well as certain other operating segments included within our All Other Segments. Refer to Note 25 in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report for descriptions of our segments. Refer to Part I, Item 1, "Business – Our Mission and Company Strategy" of this Annual Report for discussion related to our segment operating strategies.
Consolidating Tables for Total Revenue and Operating Income
Revenue: (Dollars in thousands)
Operating income (loss): (Dollars in thousands)
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Revenue
•Our truckload services include irregular route and dedicated, refrigerated, expedited, flatbed, and cross-border transportation of various products, goods, and materials for our diverse customer base with approximately 15,100 irregular route and 5,900 dedicated tractors.
•Our LTL business, which was initially established in 2021 through the ACT Acquisition and later the MME acquisition, provides our customers with regional LTL transportation service through our growing network of approximately 120 facilities and a door count of approximately 4,550. Our LTL segment operates approximately 3,200 tractors and approximately 8,500 trailers, including equipment used for ACT's and MME's dedicated and other businesses. The LTL segment also provides national coverage to our customers by utilizing partner carriers for areas outside of our direct network.
•Our Logistics and Intermodal segments provide a multitude of shipping solutions, including additional sources of truckload capacity and alternative transportation modes, by utilizing our vast network of third-party capacity providers and rail providers, as well as certain logistics and freight management services. We continue to offer power-only services through our Logistics segment by leveraging our fleet of over 96,000 trailers as of December 31, 2023.
•All Other Segments include support services provided to our customers and third-party carriers including insurance, equipment maintenance, equipment leasing, warehousing, trailer parts manufacturing, and warranty services. All Other Segments also include certain corporate expenses (such as legal settlements and accruals, certain impairments, and amortization of intangibles related to the 2017 Merger and various acquisitions).
•In addition to the revenues earned from our customers for the trucking and non-trucking services discussed above, we also earn fuel surcharge revenue from our customers through our fuel surcharge programs, which serve to recover a majority of our fuel costs. This generally applies only to loaded miles for our Truckload and LTL segments and typically does not offset non-paid empty miles, idle time, nor out-of-route miles driven. Fuel surcharge programs involve a computation based on the change in national or regional fuel prices. These programs may update as often as weekly, but typically require a specified minimum change in fuel cost to prompt a change in fuel surcharge revenue. Therefore, many of these programs have a time lag between when fuel costs change and when the change is reflected in fuel surcharge revenue for our Truckload and LTL segments.
Expenses
Our most significant expenses typically vary with miles traveled and include fuel, driving associate-related expenses (such as wages and benefits), and services purchased from third-party service providers (including other trucking companies, railroad and drayage providers, and independent contractors). Maintenance and tire expenses, as well as the cost of insurance and claims generally vary with the miles we travel but also have a controllable component based on safety performance, fleet age, operating efficiency, and other factors. Our primary fixed costs are depreciation and lease expense for revenue equipment and terminals, non-driver employee compensation, amortization of intangible assets, and interest expenses.
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Operating Statistics
We measure our consolidated and segment results through the operating statistics listed in the table below. Our chief operating decision makers monitor the GAAP results of our reportable segments, supplemented by certain non-GAAP information. Refer to "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" for more details. Additionally, we use a number of primary indicators to monitor our revenue and expense performance and efficiency.
Operating Statistic Relevant Segment(s) Description
Shipments per Day LTL Average number of shipments completed each business day
Weight per Shipment LTL Total weight (in pounds) divided by total shipments
Revenue per shipment LTL Total revenue divided by total shipments
Average Trailers Truckload, LTL Average trailers in operation during the period
Average Containers Intermodal Average containers in operation during the period
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Segment Review
Truckload Segment
We generate revenue in the Truckload segment primarily through irregular route, dedicated, refrigerated, flatbed, expedited, and cross-border service offerings, with approximately 15,100 irregular route tractors and approximately 5,900 dedicated route tractors in use during 2023. Generally, we are paid a predetermined rate per mile or per load for our truckload services. Additional revenues are generated by charging for tractor and trailer detention, loading and unloading activities, dedicated services, other specialized services, and through the collection of fuel surcharge revenue to mitigate the impact of increases in the cost of fuel. The main factors that affect the revenue generated by our Truckload segment are rate per mile from our customers, the percentage of miles for which we are compensated, and the number of loaded miles we generate with our equipment.
The most significant expenses in the Truckload segment are primarily variable and include fuel and fuel taxes, driving associate-related expenses (such as wages, benefits, training, and recruitment), and costs associated with independent contractors primarily included in "Purchased transportation" in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income. Maintenance expense (which includes costs for replacement tires for our revenue equipment) and insurance and claims expenses have both fixed and variable components. These expenses generally vary with the miles we travel, but also have a controllable component based on safety, fleet age, efficiency, and other factors. The main fixed costs in the Truckload segment are depreciation and rent expenses from tractors, trailers, and terminals, as well as compensating our non-driver employees.
(Dollars in thousands, except per tractor data) Increase (decrease)
Non-GAAP: Adjusted Operating Ratio 1 2 92.2 % 80.4 % 1,180 bps
Non-paid empty miles percentage 2 14.3 % 14.6 % (30 bps)
Average length of haul (miles) 2 393 395 (0.5 %)
1Refer to "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below.
2Defined within "Operating Statistics" above.
3Includes 18,821 and 16,228 company-owned tractors for 2023 and 2022, respectively.
4Average trailers includes 8,724 and 8,249 trailers from our All Other Segments for 2023 and 2022, respectively.
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2023 Compared to 2022 — The Truckload segment continues to experience an extremely difficult environment, operating with an Adjusted Operating Ratio of 92.2% in 2023, as compared to 80.4% in 2022. The Adjusted Operating Ratio of the truckload business, excluding U.S. Xpress that was acquired in the third quarter of 2023, was 90.3% in 2023. The inclusion of U.S. Xpress negatively impacted the Adjusted Operating Ratio by 190 basis points. Revenue per loaded mile, excluding fuel surcharge and intersegment transactions, decreased 10.9% year-over-year, while total miles increased 18.5% (before including the U.S. Xpress business, total miles decreased 2.9%). Miles per tractor increased 11.4% year-over-year (0.2% before including U.S. Xpress). Revenue, excluding fuel surcharge and intersegment transactions was $4.0 billion, an increase of 5.8% year-over-year, reflecting a 12.9% decline in the existing truckload business prior to the inclusion of U.S. Xpress. Excluding U.S. Xpress, revenue, excluding fuel surcharge, per tractor decreased 10.2% year-over-year as the decline in rates outweighed the improvement in miles per tractor.
We believe our extensive trailer fleet, which has grown to approximately 96,000 trailers as of the end of 2023, positions us to provide valuable capacity, flexibility, and efficiency to our customers through our Truckload and Logistics segments. We remain focused on managing costs and improving utilization, as we expect inflationary pressures in driver-related costs, equipment maintenance, and insurance to continue to affect the freight market in the first half of 2024.
LTL Segment
Dothan, Alabama-based ACT and Bismarck, North Dakota-based MME, both acquired in 2021, comprise our LTL segment. We provide regional direct service and serve our customers' national transportation needs by utilizing key partner carriers for coverage areas outside of our network. We primarily generate revenue by transporting freight for our customers through our core LTL services.
Our revenues are impacted by shipment volume and tonnage levels that flow through our network. Additional revenues are generated through fuel surcharges and accessorial services provided during transit from shipment origin to destination. We focus on the following multiple revenue generation factors when reviewing revenue yield: revenue per hundredweight, revenue per shipment, weight per shipment, and length of haul. Fluctuations within each of these metrics are analyzed when determining the revenue quality of our customers' shipment density.
Our most significant expenses are related to direct costs associated with the transportation of our freight moves including direct salary, wage and benefit costs, fuel expense, and depreciation expense associated with revenue equipment costs. Other expenses associated with revenue generation that can fluctuate and impact operating results are insurance and claims expense, as well as maintenance costs of our revenue equipment. These expenses can be influenced by multiple factors including our safety performance, equipment age, and other factors. A key component to lowering our operating costs is labor efficiency within our network. We continue to focus on technological advances to improve the customer experience and reduce our operating costs.
Non-GAAP: Adjusted Operating Ratio 1 2 85.3 % 83.6 % 170 bps
LTL average length of haul (miles) 2 553 520 6.3 %
LTL revenue xFSC per hundredweight 2 $ 15.56 $ 14.25 9.2 %
1Refer to "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below.
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2Defined under "Operating Statistics," above.
3Includes 611 and 711 tractors from ACT's and MME's dedicated and other businesses for 2023 and 2022, respectively.
4Includes 723 and 968 trailers from ACT's and MME's dedicated and other businesses for 2023 and 2022, respectively.
2023 Compared to 2022 — Our LTL segment operates across approximately 120 facilities with a door count of over 4,550. LTL operated well, producing an 85.3% Adjusted Operating Ratio during 2023, as revenue, excluding fuel surcharge, grew 5.5% but Adjusted Operating Income decreased 5.6% year-over-year. Volumes were strong with shipments per day for the year increasing 1.4% year-over-year. Revenue per hundredweight, excluding fuel surcharge, increased 9.2%, while revenue per shipment, excluding fuel surcharge, increased by 7.2%, reflecting a 1.9% decrease in weight per shipment.
We expect that our connected LTL network will provide additional opportunities for revenue growth. During 2023, we increased our door count by over 260 and we expect door capacity to continue to grow in 2024. We remain encouraged by the strong performance within our LTL segment, and we continue to look for both organic and inorganic opportunities to geographically expand our footprint within the LTL market.
Logistics Segment
The Logistics segment is less asset-intensive than the Truckload and LTL segments and is dependent upon capable non-driver employees, modern and effective information technology, and third-party capacity providers. Logistics revenue is generated by its brokerage operations. We generate additional revenue by offering specialized logistics solutions (including, but not limited to, trailing equipment, origin management, surge volume, disaster relief, special projects, and other logistic needs). Logistics revenue is mainly affected by the rates we obtain from customers, the freight volumes we ship through third-party capacity providers, and our ability to secure third-party capacity providers to transport customer freight.
The most significant expense in the Logistics segment is purchased transportation that we pay to third-party capacity providers, which is primarily a variable cost, and is included in "Purchased transportation" in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income. Variability in this expense depends on truckload capacity, availability of third-party capacity providers, rates charged to customers, current freight demand, and customer shipping needs. Fixed Logistics operating expenses primarily include non-driver employee compensation and benefits recorded in "Salaries, wages, and benefits," as well as depreciation and amortization expense recorded in "Depreciation and amortization of property and equipment" in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income.
(Dollars in thousands, except per load data) Increase (decrease)
Non-GAAP: Adjusted Operating Ratio 1 2 92.2 % 85.1 % 710 bps
1Refer to "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below.
2Defined under "Operating Statistics" above.
2023 Compared to 2022 — Logistics Adjusted Operating Ratio was 92.2%, with a gross margin of 18.7% in 2023, compared to 21.9% in 2022. Our existing logistics load count declined by 28.0% year-over-year, prior to the addition of U.S. Xpress logistics. With the inclusion of U.S. Xpress logistics volumes, the load count declined by 17.5% year-over-year. Revenue per load decreased by 23.1% year-over-year. We continue to innovate with technology designed to remove friction and allow seamless connectivity, leading to services that we expect will capture new opportunities for revenue growth.
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Intermodal Segment
The Intermodal segment complements our regional operating model, while also allowing us to better serve customers in longer haul lanes, and reduces our investment in fixed assets. Through the Intermodal segment, we generate revenue by moving freight over the rail in our containers and other trailing equipment, combined with revenue for drayage to transport loads between railheads and customer locations. The most significant expense in the Intermodal segment is the cost of purchased transportation that we pay to third-party capacity providers (including rail providers), which is primarily variable and included in "Purchased transportation" in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income. While rail pricing is primarily determined on an annual basis, purchased transportation varies as it relates to rail capacity, freight demand, and customer shipping needs. The main fixed costs in the Intermodal segment are depreciation of our company tractors related to drayage, containers, and chassis, as well as non-driver employee compensation and benefits.
(Dollars in thousands, except per load data) Increase (decrease)
1Refer to "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below.
2Defined within "Operating Statistics" above.
3Includes 577 and 544 company-owned tractors for 2023 and 2022, respectively.
2023 Compared to 2022 — Intermodal operated with a 102.6% operating ratio. While load count increased year-over-year by 5.5%, total revenue decreased 15.5% year-over-year to $410.5 million as revenue per load declined 19.9%, resulting from soft demand and competitive truck capacity.
We remain focused on growing our load count and improving the efficiency of our assets as Intermodal continues to provide value to our customers and is complementary to the many services we offer. Results can be impacted by the cost of alternative truck capacity.
All Other Segments
Our All Other Segments include support services provided to our customers and third-party carriers including insurance, equipment maintenance, equipment leasing, warehousing, trailer parts manufacturing, and warranty services. Our All Other Segments also include certain corporate expenses (such as legal settlements and accruals, certain impairments, and $47.3 million in annual amortization of intangibles related to the 2017 Merger and various acquisitions).
(Dollars in thousands) Increase (decrease)
2023 Compared to 2022 —Revenue declined 10.6% year-over-year, largely as a result of our actions to address the challenges within our third-party insurance program, including significantly reducing exposures. The $111.6 million operating loss within our All Other Segments is primarily driven by the $125.5 million operating loss in the third-party insurance business.
Based on recent results, including the continued unfavorable development of insurance reserves, the Company decided to initiate exiting this business during the fourth quarter of 2023 and expects to cease all third-party insurance operations and cancel any remaining policies by the end of the first quarter of 2024. We do not expect this business to have a material impact to our results in 2024.
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Results of Operations — Consolidated Operating and Other Expenses
Consolidated Operating Expenses
The following tables present certain operating expenses from our consolidated statements of comprehensive income, including each operating expense as a percentage of total revenue and as a percentage of revenue, excluding truckload and LTL fuel surcharge. Truckload and LTL fuel surcharge revenue can be volatile and is primarily dependent upon the cost of fuel, rather than operating expenses unrelated to fuel. Therefore, we believe that revenue, excluding truckload and LTL fuel surcharge is a better measure for analyzing many of our expenses and operating metrics.
(Dollars in thousands) Increase (decrease)
% of revenue, excluding truckload and LTL fuel surcharge 39.3 % 33.4 % 590 bps
Salaries, wages, and benefits expense is primarily affected by the total number of miles driven by and rates we pay to our company driving associates, and employee benefits including healthcare, workers' compensation, and other benefits. To a lesser extent, non-driver employee headcount, compensation, and benefits affect this expense. Driving associate wages represent the largest component of salaries, wages, and benefits expense.
Several ongoing market factors have reduced the pool of available driving associates, contributing to a challenging driver sourcing market, which we believe will continue. Having a sufficient number of qualified driving associates is a significant headwind, although we continue to seek ways to attract and retain qualified driving associates, including heavily investing in our recruiting efforts, our driving academies, technology, our equipment, and our terminals that improve the experience of driving associates. We expect labor costs (related to both driving associates and non-driver employees) to remain inflationary, which we expect will result in additional pay increases in the future, thereby increasing our salaries, wages, and benefits expense.
2023 Compared to 2022 — The increase in consolidated salaries, wages, and benefits includes a $344.2 million increase from the results of U.S. Xpress. This was partially offset by decreases in non-driver salaries and wages and driving associate wages due to a 1.7% reduction in miles driven by company driving associates, excluding U.S. Xpress.
(Dollars in thousands) Increase (decrease)
% of revenue, excluding truckload and LTL fuel surcharge 13.9 % 13.8 % 10 bps
Fuel expense consists primarily of diesel fuel expense for our company-owned tractors. The primary factors affecting our fuel expense are the cost of diesel fuel, the fuel economy of our equipment, and the miles driven by company driving associates.
Our fuel surcharge programs help to offset increases in fuel prices, but generally apply only to loaded miles for our Truckload and LTL segments and typically do not offset non-paid empty miles, idle time, or out-of-route miles driven. Typical fuel surcharge programs involve a computation based on the change in national or regional fuel prices. These programs may update as often as weekly, but typically require a specified minimum change in fuel cost to prompt a change in fuel surcharge revenue for our Truckload and LTL segments. Therefore, many of these programs have a time lag between when fuel costs change and when the change is reflected in fuel surcharge revenue. Due to this time lag, our fuel expense, net of fuel surcharge, negatively impacts our operating income during periods of sharply rising fuel costs and positively impacts our operating income during periods of falling fuel costs. We continue to utilize our fuel efficiency initiatives such as trailer blades, idle-control, management of tractor speeds, fleet updates for more fuel-efficient engines, management of fuel procurement, and driving associate training programs that we believe contribute to controlling our fuel expense.
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2023 Compared to 2022 — The decrease in consolidated fuel expense includes $139.6 million from the results of U.S. Xpress. The inclusion of U.S. Xpress's fuel expense was offset by lower average weekly DOE fuel prices of $4.20 per gallon in 2023 compared to $5.01 per gallon in 2022. It was also offset by a 1.7% reduction in the total miles driven by company driving associates, excluding U.S. Xpress.
(Dollars in thousands) Increase (decrease)
% of total revenue 6.6 % 5.7 % 90 bps
% of revenue, excluding truckload and LTL fuel surcharge 7.5 % 6.5 % 100 bps
Operations and maintenance expense consists of direct operating expenses, such as driving associate hiring and recruiting expenses, equipment maintenance, and tire expense. Operations and maintenance expenses are typically affected by the age of our company-owned fleet of tractors and trailers and the miles driven. We expect the driver market to remain competitive throughout 2023, which could increase future driving associate development and recruiting costs and negatively affect our operations and maintenance expense. We expect to continue refreshing our tractor fleet in the coming quarters, subject to availability of new revenue equipment, to maintain the average age of our equipment.
2023 Compared to 2022 — The increase in consolidated operations and maintenance expense includes a $79.5 million increase from the results of U.S. Xpress, partially offset by lower hiring and labor expense, as well as lower road expense.
(Dollars in thousands) Increase (decrease)
% of total revenue 8.5 % 6.1 % 240 bps
% of revenue, excluding truckload and LTL fuel surcharge 9.7 % 7.0 % 270 bps
Insurance and claims expense consists of premiums for liability, physical damage, and cargo, and will vary based upon the frequency and severity of claims, our level of self-insurance, and premium expense. In recent years, insurance carriers have raised premiums for many businesses, including transportation companies. As a result, our insurance and claims expense could increase in the future, or we could raise our self-insured retention limits or reduce excess coverage limits when our policies are renewed or replaced. In addition, our Iron Insurance line of business offers insurance products to third-party carriers, earning additional premium revenues, which are partially offset by increased insurance reserves, but does increase our exposure to claims and inability to collect premiums. Insurance and claims expense also varies based on the number of miles driven by company driving associates and independent contractors, the frequency and severity of accidents, trends in development factors used in actuarial accruals, and developments in large, prior-year claims. In future periods, our higher self-insured retention limits and lower excess coverage limits may cause increased volatility in our consolidated insurance and claims expense.
2023 Compared to 2022 — Consolidated insurance and claims expense increased primarily due to increased frequency and unfavorable claim development during the periods within our Iron Insurance line of business. This was included in the $125.5 million operating loss of our third-party insurance business in 2023. The increase also includes unfavorable developments within our self-insured retention limits and $55.8 million of insurance and claims expense from the results of U.S. Xpress.
Based on recent results, including the continued unfavorable development of insurance reserves, the Company decided to initiate exiting the third-party insurance business during the fourth quarter of 2023 and expects to cease all third-party insurance operations and cancel any remaining policies by the end of the first quarter of 2024. We do not expect this business to have a material impact to our results in 2024.
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(Dollars in thousands) Increase (decrease)
% of total revenue 1.6 % 1.5 % 10 bps
% of revenue, excluding truckload and LTL fuel surcharge 1.9 % 1.7 % 20 bps
Operating taxes and licenses include state franchise taxes, state and federal highway use taxes, property taxes, vehicle license and registration fees, and fuel and mileage taxes, among others. The expense is impacted by changes in the tax rates and registration fees associated with our tractor fleet and regional operating facilities.
2023 Compared to 2022 — The increase in consolidated operating taxes and licenses expense is primarily due to the inclusion of operating taxes and licenses expense from the results of U.S Xpress during 2023.
(Dollars in thousands) Increase (decrease)
% of total revenue 0.4 % 0.3 % 10 bps
% of revenue, excluding truckload and LTL fuel surcharge 0.5 % 0.4 % 10 bps
Communications expense is comprised of costs associated with our tractor and trailer tracking systems, information technology systems, and phone systems.
2023 Compared to 2022 — The increase in consolidated communications expense is primarily due to the inclusion of $6.3 million of communications expense from the results of U.S. Xpress. This increase was partially offset by the implementation of new technology on our revenue equipment.
(Dollars in thousands) Increase (decrease)
% of total revenue 9.3 % 8.0 % 130 bps
% of revenue, excluding truckload and LTL fuel surcharge 10.5 % 9.1 % 140 bps
Depreciation relates primarily to our owned tractors, trailers, buildings, electronic logging devices, other communication units, and other similar assets. Changes to this fixed cost are generally attributed to increases or decreases in company-owned equipment, the relative percentage of owned versus leased equipment, and fluctuations in new equipment purchase prices. Depreciation can also be affected by the cost of used equipment that we sell or trade and the replacement of older used equipment. Management periodically reviews the condition, average age, and reasonableness of estimated useful lives and salvage values of our equipment and considers such factors in light of our experience with similar assets, used equipment market conditions, and prevailing industry practices.
2023 Compared to 2022 — The increase in consolidated depreciation and amortization of property and equipment includes a $41.2 million increase of expense from the results of U.S. Xpress. The remaining increase is primarily due to an increase in owned versus leased equipment and higher depreciation for capital improvements made to our terminals.
We anticipate that depreciation and amortization expense will increase, as a percentage of revenue, excluding truckload and LTL fuel surcharge, as we intend to purchase, rather than enter into operating leases, for a majority of our revenue equipment, terminal improvements, or terminal expansions in 2024.
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(Dollars in thousands) Increase (decrease)
% of total revenue 1.0 % 0.9 % 10 bps
% of revenue, excluding truckload and LTL fuel surcharge 1.1 % 1.0 % 10 bps
Amortization of intangibles relates to intangible assets identified with the 2017 Merger, ACT Acquisition, U.S. Xpress Acquisition, and other acquisitions. See Note 4 and Note 10 in Part II, Item 8, of this Annual Report for further details regarding the Company's intangible assets, historical amortization, and anticipated future amortization.
2023 Compared to 2022 — The increase in consolidated amortization of intangibles for 2023 is primarily attributed to the U.S. Xpress Acquisition. See Note 4 in Part II, Item 8, of this Annual Report for more details regarding our acquisitions.
(Dollars in thousands) Increase (decrease)
% of total revenue 1.8 % 0.8 % 100 bps
% of revenue, excluding truckload and LTL fuel surcharge 2.1 % 0.9 % 120 bps
Rental expense consists primarily of payments for our terminals and other real estate leases and, to a lesser extent, payments for revenue equipment from operating leases. The primary factors affecting the expense are the size and location of our leased properties.
2023 Compared to 2022 — The increase in consolidated rental expense is primarily related to the inclusion of $67.3 million from the results of U.S. Xpress. Additional increases relate to the incorporation of new facilities as we expand our network and were partially offset by a decrease in the rental expense for revenue equipment.
(Dollars in thousands) Increase (decrease)
% of revenue, excluding truckload and LTL fuel surcharge 18.9 % 22.2 % (330 bps)
Purchased transportation expense is comprised of payments to independent contractors in our trucking operations, as well as payments to third-party capacity providers related to logistics, freight management, and non-trucking services in our logistics and intermodal businesses. Purchased transportation is generally affected by capacity in the market, as well as changes in fuel prices. As capacity tightens, our payments to third-party capacity providers and to independent contractors tend to increase. Additionally, as fuel prices increase, payments to third-party capacity providers and independent contractors increase.
2023 Compared to 2022 — The decrease in consolidated purchased transportation expense is primarily due to decreased load volume within our logistics and intermodal businesses and lower miles driven by independent contractors, partially offset by $160.6 million of additional purchased transportation expense from the results of U.S. Xpress.
We expect that consolidated purchased transportation will increase as a percentage of revenue if we grow our logistics and intermodal businesses faster than our full truckload and LTL businesses. The increase could be partially offset if independent contractors exit the market due to regulatory changes.
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(Dollars in thousands) Increase (decrease)
2023 Compared to 2022 — In 2023, we incurred impairment charges related to certain revenue equipment held for sale (within the Truckload segment) and terminated software projects (recorded within our All Other Segments, specifically related to our third-party insurance business). In 2022, we incurred impairment charges associated with building improvements (within our All Other Segments).
(Dollars in thousands) Increase (decrease)
Miscellaneous operating expenses primarily consists of legal and professional services fees, general and administrative expenses, and other costs, net of gain on sales of equipment.
2023 Compared to 2022 — The increase in net consolidated miscellaneous operating expenses is primarily due to a $28.2 million decrease in gain on sales of equipment, as well as the inclusion of $22.3 million from the results of U.S. Xpress and $5.6 million in transaction fees related to the U.S. Xpress Acquisition.
Consolidated Other Expenses, net
The following table summarizes fluctuations in certain non-operating expenses included in our consolidated statements of comprehensive income:
(Dollars in thousands) Increase (decrease)
Interest income — Interest income includes interest earned from financing revenue equipment to independent contractors, as well as interest earned from our investments.
2023 Compared to 2022 — The increase in consolidated interest income is primarily due to the higher balances in our interest yielding cash accounts, coupled with an increase in interest rates during 2023.
Interest expense —Interest expense is comprised of debt and finance lease interest expense, as well as amortization of deferred loan costs.
2023 Compared to 2022 — Consolidated interest expense increased due to an increase in interest rates during 2023. Additional details regarding our debt are discussed in Note 15 in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report.
Other (income) expenses, net —Other (income) expenses, net is primarily comprised of (gains) and losses from our various equity investments, including our investment in Embark, as well as certain other non-operating income and expense items that may arise outside of the normal course of business.
2023 Compared to 2022 — The increased change in consolidated other (income) expenses, net is primarily due to unrealized losses recognized from our investment in Embark in 2022 and a net gain recorded within our portfolio of investments during 2023.
Income tax expense — In addition to the discussion below, Note 13 in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report provides further analysis related to income taxes.
2023 Compared to 2022 — The decrease in consolidated income tax expense was primarily due to a decrease in income before income taxes and a release of a valuation allowance in the third quarter of 2023. This resulted in a 2023 effective tax rate of 20.3% and a 2022 effective tax rate of 24.4%.
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Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The terms "Adjusted Net Income Attributable to Knight-Swift," "Adjusted EPS," "Adjusted Operating Income," "Adjusted Operating Ratio," and "Free Cash Flow," as we define them, are not presented in accordance with GAAP. These financial measures supplement our GAAP results in evaluating certain aspects of our business. We believe that using these measures improves comparability in analyzing our performance because they remove the impact of items from our operating results that, in our opinion, do not reflect our core operating performance. Management and the Board focus on Adjusted Net Income Attributable to Knight-Swift, Adjusted EPS, Adjusted Operating Income, and Adjusted Operating Ratio as key measures of our performance, all of which are reconciled to the most comparable GAAP financial measures and further discussed below. Management and the Board use Free Cash Flow as a key measure of our liquidity. Free Cash Flow does not represent residual cash flow available for discretionary expenditures. We believe our presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is useful because it provides investors and securities analysts the same information that we use internally for purposes of assessing our core operating performance.
Adjusted Net Income Attributable to Knight-Swift, Adjusted EPS, Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Operating Ratio, and Free Cash Flow are not substitutes for their comparable GAAP financial measures, such as net income, cash flows from operating activities, operating income, or other measures prescribed by GAAP. There are limitations to using non-GAAP financial measures. Although we believe that they improve comparability in analyzing our period to period performance, they could limit comparability to other companies in our industry if those companies define these measures differently. Because of these limitations, our non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered measures 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.
Pursuant to the requirements of Regulation G, the following tables reconcile GAAP consolidated net income attributable to Knight-Swift to non-GAAP consolidated Adjusted Net Income attributable to Knight-Swift, GAAP consolidated earnings per diluted share to non-GAAP consolidated Adjusted EPS, GAAP consolidated operating ratio to non-GAAP consolidated Adjusted Operating Ratio, GAAP reportable segment operating income to non-GAAP reportable segment Adjusted Operating Income, GAAP reportable segment operating ratio to non-GAAP reportable segment Adjusted Operating Ratio, and GAAP cash flow from operations to non-GAAP Free Cash Flow.
Note regarding presentation: A discussion of changes in our results of operations from 2022 to 2023 has been omitted from this Annual Report, but may be found in "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" of our 2022 Annual Report filed with the SEC on February 23, 2023.
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Non-GAAP Reconciliation:
Consolidated Adjusted Net Income Attributable to Knight-Swift and Adjusted EPS
(Dollars in thousands)
GAAP: Net income attributable to Knight-Swift $ 217,149 $ 771,325
Adjusted for:
Income tax expense attributable to Knight-Swift 54,768 249,388
Income before income taxes attributable to Knight-Swift 271,917 1,020,713
Legal accruals and loss contingencies 3 7,694 415
Transaction fees 4 6,868 —