Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
We are exposed to certain risks arising from both our business operations and overall economic conditions. Our market risks include interest rate risk and fuel price risk. We do not enter into derivatives or other financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes.
Interest Rate Risk
Our debt exposes us to risk of fluctuations in interest rates. Floating rate debt, where the interest rate fluctuates periodically, exposes us to short-term changes in market interest rates. Fixed rate debt, where the interest rate is fixed over the life of the instrument, exposes us to changes in market interest rates reflected in the fair value of the debt and to the risk that we may need to refinance maturing debt with new debt at higher rates. We manage our debt portfolio to achieve an overall desired position of fixed and floating rates and may employ interest rate swaps as a tool to achieve that position. We have entered into interest rate swap agreements to limit our exposure to variable interest rate terms on certain borrowings under our Initial Term Loan Facility. The risks from interest rate swaps include changes in the interest rates affecting the fair value of such instruments, potential increases in interest expense due to market increases in floating interest rates and the creditworthiness of the counterparties.
After considering interest rate swaps that fixed the interest rate on $550 million of the principal amounts of our Initial Term Loan Facility , approximately 57% of the principal amount of our debt bore interest at floating rates based on LIBOR or an alternative base rate, as defined in our credit agreements, as of January 2, 2021 . A hypothetical 1% change in the applicable rate would cause the
37
interest expense on our floating rate debt to change by approximately $33 million per year (see Note 13, Debt, in our consolidated financial statements). In July 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR announced that it intends to phase out the use of LIBOR by the end of 2021. We are unable to predict the impact of using alternative reference rates and corresponding rate risk as of this time.
Fuel Price Risk
We are also exposed to risk due to fluctuations in the price and availability of diesel fuel. We require significant quantities of diesel fuel for our vehicle fleet, and the price and supply of diesel fuel are unpredictable and fluctuate based on events outside our control, including geopolitical developments, supply and demand for oil and gas, regional production patterns, weather conditions and environmental concerns. Increases in the cost of diesel fuel can negatively affect consumer confidence and discretionary spending and increase the prices we pay for products, and the costs we incur to deliver products to our customers.
Our activities to minimize fuel cost risk include route optimization, improving fleet utilization and assessing fuel surcharges. We also enter into forward purchase commitments for a portion of our projected diesel fuel requirements. As of January 2, 2021, we had diesel fuel forward purchase commitments totaling $53 million, which fix approximately 41% of our projected diesel fuel purchase needs through December 2021. Our remaining fuel purchase needs will occur at market rates unless contracted for a fixed price or hedged at a later date. Using current published market price projections for diesel and estimated fuel consumption needs, a hypothetical 10% unfavorable change in diesel prices from the market price could result in approximately $9 million in additional fuel cost on uncommitted volumes through December 2021.
38