Hub Group, Inc. 10-K

Item 1. BUSINESS General Hub Group, Inc. (the “Company”, “Hub”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is a leading supply chain solutions provider that offers comprehensive transportation and logistics management services focused on reliability, visibility and value for our customers. Our mission is to continuously elevate each customer’s business to drive long term success. Our vision is to build the industry’s premier supply chain solutions. Our service offerings include a full range of freight transportation and logistics services, some of which are provided by assets we own and operate, and some of which are provided by third parties with whom we contract. Our transportation services include intermodal, truckload, less-than-truckload (“LTL”), flatbed, temperature-controlled, dedicated and regional trucking. Our logistics services include full outsource logistics solutions, transportation management services, freight consolidation, warehousing and fulfillment, final mile delivery, parcel and international services. We are one of the largest freight transportation providers in North America. Hub services a large and diversified customer base in a broad range of industries, including retail, consumer products and durable goods. We believe our strategy to offer multi-modal supply chain management solutions serves to strengthen and deepen our relationships with our customers and allows us to provide a more cost effective and higher service solution. We employ sales and marketing representatives throughout North America who service local, regional and national accounts. We believe that fostering long-term customer relationships is critical to our success and allows us to better understand our customers’ needs and specifically tailor the transportation and logistics services we provide to them. Our top 50 customers represent approximately 63% of revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 while one customer accounted for more than 10% of our annual revenue. Our business is seasonal to the extent that certain customer groups, such as retail, are seasonal. A significant portion of our revenue and earnings is related to the provision of services to customers who serve consumer end markets in North America. As such our business generally experiences a higher level of demand during the time leading up to the December holidays, as our customers seek to build their inventories by moving their goods into distribution centers (both their own, as well as locations that we operate) and retail store locations in the second half of the calendar year. The transportation and logistics services industry is highly competitive. We compete against intermodal providers, logistics companies, third-party brokers, trucking carriers, transportation management providers, warehousing providers and railroads that market their own services. Competition is based primarily on rates charged for services provided, quality of service, reliability, transit time and scope of operations. Several transportation and logistics services providers and trucking companies, and all of the major railroads, may have substantially greater financial and other resources than we do. 2 Our service offering facilitates our customers’ desires for energy-efficient transportation and logistics solutions and assists in meeting their objectives to reduce their environmental footprint. Our intermodal service is significantly more fuel efficient as compared to trucking transportation, and we continually seek opportunities to convert our customers’ transportation needs from trucking to intermodal. In addition, our logistics offering includes shipment consolidation and network optimization services that seek to maximize the amount of freight carried per mile which reduces fuel consumption. One of the objectives of our investment strategy is to replace older model tractors with newer, more energy-efficient equipment. We also evaluate new technologies such as electric-powered tractors that offer attractive environmental benefits to us and our customers. Our GPS-enabled container fleet allows for our truck drivers and third-party carriers to efficiently locate our containers without driving wasted miles. We are an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) SmartWay® Transport Partner, having been awarded the EPA’s SmartWay® Excellence Award nine times since 2008. Our headquarter buildings in Oak Brook, IL are certified as “Gold” by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) organization. Please see the Investors section of our website ( https://investors.hubgroup.com/ ) for additional information on our environmental, social and governance attributes. Our strategy to grow revenue, net income and cash flow includes the following elements: • Deepen and diversify our customer relationships through a best-in-class customer experience across all of our service offerings; • Acquire and organically develop new service offerings for our customers that will diversify our revenue streams and deliver sophisticated supply chain logistics solutions; • Selectively invest in assets, such as containers and tractors, to drive organic growth and reduce our costs; • Build an industry leading information technology platform to drive growth and efficiency and support future innovations; and • Sustain a culture that continues to enable innovation, service and teamwork. We are committed to investing in technology to facilitate the growth of our business while enabling efficiency in our operations. Our digital strategy leverages advanced technology for our core operating systems, while we invest in emerging technologies to achieve our business goals and enable innovative solutions for our stakeholders, which include customers, drivers, vendors and employees. Consistent with our strategy of acquiring companies that strengthen our offering to our customers, in 2022 we achieved system integration of Choptank and TAGG into our tech landscape which enabled cross-selling of our brokerage and fulfillment services for our expended customer base. We continue to make significant investment in refreshing critical technology for key functions including customer management, pricing, and order to cash processes, while enabling advanced technologies for data mining and trend analysis. We carry commercial general liability insurance subject to a policy aggregate limit, and trucker’s automobile liability insurance with a limit per occurrence. Additionally, we have an umbrella excess liability policy and maintain motor truck cargo liability insurance. We contract with various third-party insurers to manage our business and operational risks and expenses. Development of the Business We have been a leader in the intermodal industry since our business was founded in 1971. Today we generate over $5 billion in annual revenue, having grown through the addition of new customers, through cross-selling our services to our customer base, by investing in equipment such as containers and tractors, by developing new service offerings, and through the acquisitions of new business lines. For example, over the past several years we have invested in a fleet of refrigerated intermodal containers that represents a new service line which we marketed to our existing customer base. We regularly evaluate acquisition and divesture transactions as a component of our strategy to enhance our core business lines and diversify our service offerings. Our recent strategic transactions include the following: TAGG Acquisition. On August 22, 2022, we acquired 100% of the equity interests of TAGG Logistics, LLC (“TAGG” ). The acquisition expanded our presence in the consolidation and fulfillment space and added a complementary e-commerce offering to serve our customers' multimodal transportation and logistics needs. The acquisition added scale to our logistics service line and has enabled cross-selling opportunities. The financial results of TAGG, since the date of acquisition, are primarily included in our logistics line of business. Choptank Acquisition. On October 19, 2021, we acquired 100% of the equity interests of Choptank Transport, LLC ("Choptank"). The acquisition added scale to our truck brokerage operation, enhanced our refrigerated trucking transportation services offering and complemented our growing fleet of refrigerated intermodal containers. The financial results of Choptank, since the date of acquisition, are primarily included in our truck brokerage line of business. NonstopDelivery Acquisition. On December 9, 2020, we acquired NonstopDelivery, LLC (“NSD”). NSD provides residential final mile delivery services throughout the United States. The financial results of NSD, since the date of acquisition, are included in our logistics line of business. 3 Services Provided As part of our profit improvement initiatives, we have focused on realizing efficiencies between our drayage trucking operation (which supports our intermodal service) and our dedicated trucking operation, including through the sharing of equipment and drivers, and by leveraging a combined set of driver support services including driver recruiting, asset management and safety functions. As a result, beginning in first quarter of 2022, we report revenue for these operations under the “Intermodal and Transportation Solutions” line of business. We operate the following lines of business: Intermodal and transportation solutions. Our intermodal and transportation solutions line of business offers high service, nationwide door-to-door intermodal transportation, providing value, visibility and reliability in both transcontinental and local lanes by combining rail transportation with local trucking. Our service offering is well positioned to assist our customers in reducing their transportation spend and achieving their carbon emissions objectives. As an intermodal provider, we arrange for the movement of our customers’ freight in one of our containers, typically over long distances of 750 miles or more. We contract with railroads to provide transportation for the long-haul portion of the shipment between rail terminals. Local pickup and delivery services (referred to as “drayage”) between origin or destination and rail terminals are provided by our own trucking operations and third parties with whom we contract. Our predictive track and trace technology monitors the shipment to ensure that it arrives as scheduled and provides notification to our customer service personnel if there are service delays. As of December 31, 2022, we owned approximately 48,000 dry, 53-foot containers and 750 refrigerated 53-foot containers. We also exclusively leased approximately 225 dry, 53-foot containers. As of December 31, 2022, our trucking transportation operation consisted of approximately 2,300 tractors, 3,000 employee drivers and 4,600 trailers. We also contract for services with approximately 750 independent owner-operators who supply their own equipment and operate under our regulatory authority. These assets and contractual services are used to support drayage for our intermodal service offering and to serve our customers who require high service local and regional trucking transportation using equipment dedicated to their needs. Our dedicated service operation offers fleets of equipment and drivers to each customer on a contract basis, as well as the management and infrastructure to operate according to the customer’s high service expectations. During 2022, approximately 55% of Hub’s drayage needs were provided by our own drivers and tractors, or by owner operators with whom we contracted. As of December 31, 2022, we operated trucking terminals at 26 locations throughout the United States, with locations in many large metropolitan areas. Truck Brokerage. We operate one of the largest truck brokerage operations in the United States, providing customers with a trucking option for their transportation needs. Our brokerage does not operate any trucks; instead we match customers’ needs with trucking carriers’ capacity to provide the most effective combination of service and price. We have contracts with a substantial base of carriers allowing us to meet the varied needs of our customers. Approximately half of our truck brokerage volume is generated from transactions in which we offer lane-based pricing at a fixed rate for periods of up to one year (referred to as “committed” pricing). The remaining portion of our volume is generated based on shorter term transactional lane-based rates (referred to as “transactional” pricing). In a typical truck brokerage transaction, the customer places an order with us for trucking transportation. We identify a third-party trucking carrier to handle the load and coordinate a delivery appointment. Once we receive confirmation that the freight has been picked up, we monitor the movement of the shipment until it reaches its destination and the delivery has been confirmed. We offer a full range of trucking transportation services, including dry van, expedited, less-than-truckload, refrigerated and flatbed. We substantially increased the size of our brokerage service line and increased our refrigerated transportation capabilities through the acquisition of Choptank in October 2021. Logistics . Our logistics business offers a wide range of transportation management services and technology solutions including shipment optimization, load consolidation, mode selection, carrier management, load planning and execution, and shipment visibility. We offer multi-modal transportation services including full truckload, LTL, intermodal, final mile, railcar, small parcel and international transportation. We leverage proprietary technology along with collaborative relationships with third-party service providers to deliver cost savings and performance-enhancing supply chain services to our clients. Our transportation management offering also serves as a source of volume for our intermodal and truck brokerage service lines. Our logistics offering also includes warehousing, fulfillment, cross-docking and consolidation services. Many of the customers for these solutions are consumer goods companies who sell into the retail channel. Our business operates or has access to approximately 9.5 million square feet of warehousing and cross-dock space across North America, to which our customers ship their goods to be stored and distributed to destinations including residences, retail stores and other commercial locations. These services offer our customers shipment visibility, transportation cost savings, high service and compliance with retailers’ increasingly stringent supply chain requirements. In August 2022, we acquired TAGG which enhanced our presence in the consolidation and fulfillment space and added a complementary e-commerce offering to serve our customers' multimodal transportation and logistics needs. The acquisition added scale to our logistics service line and has resulted in cross-selling opportunities. 4 In December 2020, we acquired NSD which added residential final mile transportation services to our logistics offering. Our final mile services include warehousing, product assembly, inbound transportation to warehouses, delivery of goods to residential locations, and reverse logistics services. Customers for our final mile services include retailers and consumer goods companies. We contract with nearly 200 vendors across the United States who provide warehousing and transportation to support our final mile offering. Relationships with Transportation and Warehouse Vendors We utilize an asset-light strategy that employs a combination of our company-operated equipment as well as assets operated by third parties to transport and store our customers’ goods, which allows us to optimize our investment in equipment and facilities and reduce the level of capital we employ in our business. We are one of the largest purchasers of rail transportation services in North America and generally have multi-year contractual agreements with our railroad providers that specify the costs we pay for transportation and related services, as well as service levels and other provisions. Due to the importance of our relationship, some of our railroad providers have dedicated support personnel to focus on our day-to-day service requirements. On a regular basis, our senior executives and our railroad providers meet to discuss major strategic issues concerning intermodal transportation. Approximately 55% of our drayage services are provided by our fleet. We contract with approximately 750 owner-operators who supply their own equipment and operate under our regulatory authority. We also procure drayage services from third parties, and we believe we are one of the largest purchasers of drayage transportation in the United States. Our brokerage and logistics business lines are significant purchasers of truckload and less-than-truckload transportation from third- parties. We contract with a large number of trucking companies that we use to provide these transportation services. Our relationships with these trucking companies are important since these relationships determine pricing, load coverage and service that we provide to our customers. We have relationships with several national and local operators of warehouses and cross-dock facilities who provide a range of services to us including storage, product handling and related activities. We also operate our own warehouse locations which are leased from third-party landlords. Our final mile operation contracts with nearly 200 vendors across the United States who provide warehousing and delivery services. We require all of our trucking vendors to carry truckman’s auto liability insurance and cargo insurance. Railroads, which are self-insured, provide limited cargo protection. To cover freight loss or damage when a carrier’s liability cannot be established or a carrier’s insurance is insufficient to cover the claim, we carry our own cargo insurance. We also carry general liability insurance with a companion umbrella policy on this general liability insurance. We maintain separate insurance policies to cover potential exposure from our company-owned drayage and dedicated operations. Government Regulations The Company and several of our subsidiaries are licensed by the United States Department of Transportation (“DOT”) as brokers in arranging for the transportation of general commodities by motor vehicle. To the extent that we perform truck brokerage services, we do so under these licenses. The DOT prescribes qualifications for acting in this capacity. Our trucking subsidiaries operate under DOT motor carrier authority. We are licensed by the United States Federal Maritime Commissions (“FMC”) as an Ocean Transportation Intermediary authorized to provide ocean freight forwarding and non-vessel operating common carrier services, which are regulated by the FMC. Our business is also subject to requirements published by the United States Food and Drug Administration under the Food Safety Modernization Act regarding the use of sanitary transportation practices to ensure the safety of food transported by motor vehicle and rail. To date, compliance with these regulations and licensing requirements has not had a material adverse effect on our capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position. There are federal, state and local laws and regulations concerning environmental matters and employee health and safety that apply to the Company’s operations. The Company is also subject to various federal, state and local laws and government regulations related to employment in the jurisdictions where we conduct business. Complying with these and other laws and regulations has not had a materially adverse effect on the Company’s business. 5 Custom-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism One of our subsidiaries achieved Custom-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (“C-TPAT”) certification in 2013 and have maintained it since then. C-TPAT is a voluntary supply chain security program led by United States Customs and Border Protection focused on improving the security of private companies’ supply chains. Companies who achieve C-TPAT certification must have a documented process for determining and alleviating risks throughout their international supply chain. This certification allows us to be considered low risk, resulting in expedited processing of our customers’ cargo, including fewer customs examinations. Human Capital Hub conducts business with and provides services to customers through a combination of office employees, driver employees and warehouse employees. We also contract with independent contractors and with staffing firms who provide personnel who provide their services in our warehouse operations. As of December 31, 2022, Hub had approximately 5,900 employees, which included approximately 3,000 drivers and 700 warehouse employees. In addition, as of December 31, 2022, we contracted with approximately 750 independent contractor drivers and had approximately 400 contractors working in our warehouse locations. We are not a party to any collective bargaining agreements and consider our relationship with our employees to be satisfactory. Hub’s success depends in part on our ability to attract and retain skilled staff members, drivers and warehouse employees. Our executive management team receives regular updates regarding headcount changes, turnover rates, hiring rates, manager training and employee satisfaction. We invest in the development of our employees through our Hub University learning management system, which provides access to a variety of e-learning courses and modules to further develop job skills, increase knowledge of our business, and promote adherence to safety and compliance procedures. We seek to offer a competitive compensation package, which may include incentive compensation elements, as well as an attractive package of employee benefits. We are committed to employee engagement and an inclusive culture that values and respects every employee. Hub strives to create a culture of accountability, safety and teamwork. We set annual performance goals for our operations teams relative to collisions and injuries and track performance monthly to ensure accountability. Further, we provide company-wide recognition on a monthly basis for employees who are nominated for performance that demonstrates our guiding principles of winning together, innovating with purpose and acting with integrity. Information About Our Executive Officers There exists no arrangement or understanding between any executive officer and any other person pursuant to which such executive officer was selected. The table sets forth certain information as of February 1, 2023 with respect to each person who is an executive officer of the Company. Name Age Position David P. Yeager 69 Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors Phillip D. Yeager 35 President and Chief Executive Officer Brian D. Alexander 43 Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Geoffrey F. DeMartino 45 Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Kevin W. Beth 48 Executive Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer Dhruv Bansal 47 Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer Michele L. McDermott 52 Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Thomas P. LaFrance 61 Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary David P. Yeager has served as the Executive Chairman of our Board of Directors since January 2023. Mr. Yeager previously served as Chairman of the Board between November 2008 and December 2022 and as Chief Executive Officer between March 1995 and December 2022. From March 1995 through November 2008, Mr. Yeager served as Vice Chairman of the Board. From October 1985 through December 1991, Mr. Yeager was President of Hub City Terminals (Hub Chicago). From 1983 to October 1985, he served as Vice President, Marketing of Hub Chicago. Mr. Yeager founded our St. Louis office in 1980 and served as its President from 1980 to 1983. Mr. Yeager founded our Pittsburgh office in 1975 and served as its President from 1975 to 1977. Mr. Yeager received a Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Dayton. Mr. Yeager is the father of Phillip D. Yeager. 6 Phillip D. Yeager became our President and Chief Executive Officer on January 1, 2023. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Yeager served as President and Chief Operating Officer since July 2019, and as Chief Commercial Officer overseeing Intermodal and Truck Brokerage operations as well as sales, pricing, solutions and account management since January 2018. Mr. Yeager formerly held the role of Executive Vice President, Account Management and Intermodal Operations since January 2016 after serving as Vice President of Account Management and Business Development from February 2014 to January 2016. Mr. Yeager joined the Company in 2011 as the Director of Strategy and Acquisitions. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Yeager served as Assistant Vice President of Commercial Banking at BMO Harris Bank, and as an investment banking analyst for Lazard Freres & Co. Mr. Yeager earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity College and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Mr. Yeager is the son of David P. Yeager. Brian D. Alexander became our Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer on January 1, 2023. Mr. Alexander previously served as Executive Vice President, Logistics between September 2015 and December 2022. Before being named Executive Vice President, Mr. Alexander served as Vice President of Operations of Logistics from December 2010 to September 2015 and was responsible for the operational execution and excellence for manufacturing, retail and consumer packaged goods clients. Prior to that, Mr. Alexander was Senior Director of Strategic Accounts, where he had a ten-year history of managing and directing continuous improvement initiatives for key accounts. Mr. Alexander earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Marquette University and Masters of Business Administration degree from Cardinal Stritch University. Geoffrey F. DeMartino has served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer since July 2020. In this role Mr. DeMartino has responsibility for our financial reporting, financial operations, investor relations, debt and equity financing, and corporate development activities. Mr. DeMartino joined the Company in 2016 as Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy and led our acquisition and divestiture activities. Prior to joining the Company he spent over 15 years in various financial roles, including corporate development and investment banking. Mr. DeMartino received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Northwestern University. Kevin W. Beth has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer since July 2020. Mr. Beth joined the Company in October 2003 as Corporate Controller and served as Controller and Assistant Treasurer beginning in March 2007. He has been instrumental in transforming the Company’s financial systems and leading the accounting organization through the integration of acquisitions, divestures, and implementation of accounting standards. Mr. Beth is a Certified Public Accountant and held various auditing and corporate accounting positions prior to joining the Company. Mr. Beth received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Illinois. Dhruv Bansal was named Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer in March 2022. Previously, Mr. Bansal served as Senior Vice President of Application Development and was responsible for the development, configuration, and delivery of Hub’s software as well as the product development strategy, architecture, and technical solutions. Mr. Bansal has spent over 20 years in engineering and product development roles. Before joining Hub in 2020, Mr. Bansal served as Vice President Transport IT Solutions for XPO Logistics, Inc. where he led IT for multiple North American transportation business units and was Vice President, Product Development at E2Open, a developer of a SaaS-based supply-chain management platform. Mr. Bansal earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, India and a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from V.J.T.I. in Bombay, India. Michele L. McDermott joined the Company in August 2019 as our Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer (“CHRO”). Ms. McDermott has nearly 25 years of experience in human resources and, prior to joining the Company, served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Assurance Agency, an insurance brokerage, from October 2015 through July 2019 and in a variety of executive roles at National Express Corporation prior to her employment with Assurance Agency. As CHRO, Ms. McDermott is responsible for developing the Company’s employees, managing diverse workforces and implementing strategic plans for benefits, safety programs and technology systems. Ms. McDermott earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Lewis University and a Master of Business Administration, Operations and Finance from DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. Ms. McDermott is a Society for Human Resources Management Senior Certified Professional and has received her Senior Professional in Human Resources certification from the HR Certification Institute. Thomas P. LaFrance joined the Company as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary in August 2021. In this role, Mr. LaFrance leads the Company’s legal, compliance and governance efforts. Mr. LaFrance has over 30 years of global legal experience in multiple sectors, including having served as general counsel of General Electric Company's transportation and security technology divisions, as well as senior legal roles at Wabtec Corporation, National Grid plc and United Technologies Corporation. Earlier in his career, Mr. LaFrance was a partner at the law firm Goodwin Proctor. Mr. LaFrance graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Boston College and received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. 7 Available Information Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to reports filed pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“Exchange Act”), are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). We are subject to the informational requirements of the Exchange Act and file or furnish reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. The reports and other information that we file with the SEC are available free of charge on our website at www.hubgroup.com as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish such reports to the SEC. In addition, the SEC maintains a website (http://www.sec.gov) that contains our annual, quarterly, and current reports, proxy and information statements, and other information we electronically file with, or furnish to, the SEC. Information on the websites referenced in this Form 10-K is not incorporated by reference into this filing. Further, our references to website URLs are intended to be inactive textual references only.