ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
In addition to the factors outlined previously in this Form 10-K regarding forward-looking statements and other comments regarding risks and uncertainties, the following risk factors should be carefully considered when evaluating our business. Our business, financial condition or financial results could be materially and adversely affected by any of these risks.
Risks Related to Our Industry
Our business can be significantly impacted by economic conditions, customer business cycles, government policies, and seasonal factors.
Our business is dependent on the freight shipping needs of our customers, which can be heavily impacted by economic conditions and other factors affecting their businesses. Recessionary economic cycles and downturns in customers’ business cycles, particularly in market segments and industries where we have a significant concentration of customers, may substantially reduce freight volumes for which our customers need transportation services and lead to excess capacity in the industry and resulting pressure on the rates we are able to obtain for our services. Adverse economic conditions may also require us to increase our reserve for bad debt losses. Rapid changes in government or political policies, including border or trade policies and tariffs, can also impact our customers operations and reduce their need for freight shipping, or may have an impact on the cost or availability of our equipment. In addition, our results of operations may be affected by seasonal factors. Customers tend to reduce shipments after the winter holiday season, and our operating expenses tend to be higher in the winter months, primarily due to colder weather, which causes higher fuel consumption from increased idle time and higher maintenance costs. Any of these factors could have a significant adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Extreme or unusual weather conditions can disrupt our operations, impact freight volumes, and increase our costs, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business results.
Certain weather conditions such as ice and snow can disrupt our operations. Increases in the cost of our operations, such as towing and other maintenance activities, frequently occur during the winter months. Natural disasters such as hurricanes and flooding can also impact freight volumes and increase our costs.
Our operations are subject to various environmental laws and regulations, including legislative and regulatory responses to climate change. Compliance with environmental requirements could result in significant expenditures and the violation of these regulations could result in substantial fines or penalties.
We are subject to various environmental laws and regulations dealing with the handling of hazardous materials, underground fuel storage tanks, and discharge and retention of storm water. We operate in industrial areas, where truck terminals and other industrial activities are located and where groundwater or other forms of environmental contamination have occurred. Our operations involve the risks of fuel spillage or seepage, environmental damage, and hazardous waste disposal, among others. We also maintain bulk fuel storage and fuel islands at several of our facilities. If a spill or other accident involving hazardous substances occurs, or if we are found to be in violation of applicable laws or regulations, it could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results. If we should fail to comply with applicable environmental regulations, we could be subject to substantial fines or penalties and to civil and criminal liability.
We are also subject to existing and potential future laws and regulations with regards to public policy on climate change. If current regulatory requirements become more stringent or new environmental laws and regulations regarding climate change are introduced, we could be required to make significant expenditures or abandon certain activities, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.
We depend on third parties in the operation of our business, particularly rail service providers, transportation equipment manufacturers, third party carriers and independent contractors.
Our JBI business segment utilizes railroads in the performance of its transportation services. The majority of these services are provided pursuant to contractual relationships with the railroads. While we have agreements with a number of Class I railroads, the majority of our business travels on the BNSF and the Norfolk Southern railways. The transportation services provided by these railroads have been in recent years and may from time to time in the future be impacted by contractual disagreements, labor disruptions or shortages, and other rail network inefficiencies. A material change in the relationship with, the ability to utilize or the overall service levels provided by one or more of these railroads could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results. In addition, a portion of the freight we deliver is imported to the United States through ports of call that are subject to labor union contracts. Work stoppages or other disruptions at any of these ports could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We regularly purchase new revenue equipment, including trucks, chassis and trailing equipment, in each of our operating segments to expand our fleets and replace aging equipment. Any significant delays in the availability of new revenue equipment or increases in the cost of such equipment could have a material adverse affect on our business and profitability by reducing productivity, increasing maintenance expenses and capital expenditures, and limiting our ability to expand our business.
We also utilize independent contractors and third-party carriers to complete our services. These third parties are subject to similar regulation requirements, which may have a more significant impact on their operations, causing them to exit the transportation industry. Aside from when these third parties may use our trailing equipment to fulfill loads, we do not own the revenue equipment or control the drivers delivering these loads. The inability to obtain reliable third-party carriers and independent contractors could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and business growth.
Rapid changes in fuel costs could impact our periodic financial results.
Fuel costs can be very volatile. We have a fuel surcharge revenue program in place with the majority of our customers, which has historically enabled us to recover the majority of higher fuel costs. Most of these programs automatically adjust weekly depending on the cost of fuel. However, there can be timing differences between a change in our fuel cost and the timing of the fuel surcharges billed to our customers. In addition, we incur additional costs when fuel price increases cannot be fully recovered due to our engines being idled during cold or warm weather and empty or out-of-route miles that cannot be billed to customers. Rapid increases in fuel costs or shortages of fuel could have a material adverse effect on our operations or future profitability. As of December 31, 2025, we had no derivative financial instruments to reduce our exposure to fuel-price fluctuations.
Insurance and claims expenses could significantly reduce our earnings.
Our future insurance and claims expenses might exceed historical levels, which could reduce our earnings. We have experienced substantial increases in the cost of auto liability claims and in recent periods these increases have exceeded our insurance coverage layers, which has adversely impacted our operating results. If the number of claims for which we are self-insured increases or the cost of such claims continues to increase, our operating results could be further adversely affected. We have policies in place for 2026 with substantially the same terms as our 2025 policies for personal injury, property damage, workers’ compensation, and cargo loss or damage. We purchase insurance coverage for the amounts above which we are self-insured. As a result of the increased cost of auto liability claims across the transportation industry, insurance premiums for auto liability coverage have increased substantially in recent years. If these expenses increase further and we are to offset the increase with higher freight rates, our earnings could be materially and affected.
We operate in a regulated industry, and increased direct and indirect costs of compliance with, or liability for violation of, existing or future regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business.
The DOT, FMCSA, and various state agencies exercise broad powers over our business, generally governing matters including authorization to engage in motor carrier service, equipment operation, safety, and financial reporting. We are audited periodically by the DOT to ensure that we are in compliance with various safety, hours-of-service, and other rules and regulations. If we were found to be out of compliance, the DOT could restrict or otherwise impact our operations. Our failure to comply with any applicable laws, rules or regulations to which we are subject, whether actual or alleged, could expose us to fines, penalties or potential litigation liabilities, including costs, settlements and judgments. Further, these agencies could institute new laws, rules or regulations or issue interpretation changes to existing regulations at any time. Compliance with new laws, rules or regulations could substantially impair labor and equipment productivity, increase our costs or impact our ability to offer certain services.
Difficulty in attracting and retaining drivers and delivery personnel could affect our profitability and ability to grow.
If we are unable to attract and retain the necessary quality and number of employees, we could be required to significantly increase our employee compensation package, let revenue equipment sit idle, dispose of the equipment altogether, or rely more on higher-cost third-party carriers, which could adversely affect our growth and profitability. In addition, our growth could be limited by an inability to attract third-party carriers upon whom we rely to provide transportation services.
We operate in a competitive and highly fragmented industry. Numerous factors could impair our ability to maintain our current profitability and to compete with other carriers and private fleets.
We compete with many other transportation service providers of varying sizes and, to a lesser extent, with LTL carriers and railroads, some of which have more equipment and greater capital resources than we do. Additionally, some 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 to maintain our profit margins.
In an effort to reduce the number of carriers it uses, a customer often selects so-called “core carriers” as approved transportation service providers, and in some instances, we may not be selected. Many customers periodically accept bids from multiple carriers for their shipping needs, and this process may depress freight rates or result in the loss of some business to competitors. Also, certain customers that operate private fleets to transport their own freight could decide to expand their operations, thereby reducing their need for our services.
Our business can be significantly impacted by the effects of national or international health pandemics on general economic conditions and the operations of our customers and third-party suppliers and service providers.
Our operations can be heavily impacted by the effects of a widespread outbreak of contagious disease. The effects of a pandemic may disrupt or restrict the freight shipping activities of some of our customers, on which our business is dependent. In addition, adverse economic conditions caused by a pandemic may also require us to increase our reserve for bad debt losses. Furthermore, pandemic related social and economic disruptions may lead to other events which could negatively impact our operations including service limitations of our third-party purchased transportation providers, reduced availability of drivers and other key employees, disruptions in the procurement of revenue equipment, restrictions at U.S. ports of call, excess capacity or rate reductions within the intermodal or trucking industries, inability of suppliers to continue activities, or volatile financial credit markets. The extent to which a pandemic will impact general economic and business conditions is highly uncertain and ; however, any of these factors could have a significant effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Business
We derive a significant portion of our revenue from a few major customers, the loss of one or more of which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
For the calendar year ended December 31, 2025, our top 10 customers, based on revenue, accounted for approximately 33% of our revenue. Our JBI, ICS, and JBT segments typically do not have long-term contracts with their customers. While our DCS and FMS segments may involve long-term written contracts, those contracts may contain cancellation clauses, and there is no assurance that our current customers will continue to utilize our services or continue at the same levels. A reduction in or termination of our services by one or more of our major customers could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.
A determination that independent contractors are employees could expose us to various liabilities and additional costs.
Federal and state legislation as well as tax and other regulatory authorities have sought to assert that independent contractors in the transportation service industry are employees rather than independent contractors. The laws of several states, including California, apply stricter tests for determining whether an independent contractor should be classified as an employee. We believe we are in compliance with all applicable independent contractor classification requirements. However, it is possible that other federal or state legislation or regulations could be enacted or that various authorities could assert a position that re-classifies independent contractors as employees. If our independent contractors are determined to be properly classified as employees, that determination could materially increase our exposure under a variety of federal and state tax, workers’ compensation, unemployment benefits, labor, employment and tort laws, as well as our potential liability for employee benefits. In addition, such changes may be applied retroactively, and if so, we may be required to pay additional amounts to compensate individuals for prior time periods. Any of the above increased costs would adversely affect our business and operating results.
We may be subject to litigation claims that could result in significant expenditures.
We by the nature of our operations are exposed to the potential for a variety of litigation, including personal injury claims, vehicular collisions and accidents, alleged violations of federal and state labor and employment laws, such as class-action lawsuits alleging wage and hour violations and improper pay, commercial and contract disputes, cargo loss and property damage claims. While we purchase insurance coverage at levels we deem adequate, future litigation may exceed our insurance coverage or may not be covered by insurance. We accrue a provision for a matter according to applicable accounting standards based on the ongoing assessment of the and of the , its likelihood of , and an evaluation of the possible range of . Our to ourselves one or more significant could have a material effect on our financial results.
We rely significantly on our information technology systems, a disruption, failure or security breach of which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We rely on information technology throughout all areas of our business to initiate, track, and complete customer orders; process financial and nonfinancial data; compile results of operations for internal and external reporting; and achieve operating efficiencies and growth. We have also invested significantly in the development of our Marketplace for J.B. Hunt 360 online freight matching platform. Each of our information technology systems may be susceptible to various interruptions, including equipment or network failures, failed upgrades or replacement of software, user error, power outages, natural disasters, cyber-attacks, theft or misuse of data, terrorist attacks, computer viruses, hackers, or other security breaches. Increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks such as ransomware and AI-powered phishing scams could compromise the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of these systems, network and terminal operations, freight movements, or result in data or exfiltration. We have in the past experienced security and other of our information technology systems and may in the future experience such or our efforts to prevent them. We have mitigated our exposure to these risks through the establishment and maintenance of technology security programs and recovery plans, but these mitigating activities may not anticipate or prevent every attack or , particularly as actors and technologies evolve, nor may they fully prevent or mitigate all impacts. A significant , or security in our information technology systems could have a material effect on our business, which could include operational , of confidential information, external reporting or , legal , or to our business reputation.
An inability to develop, adopt, and integrate new or enhanced technologies, including rapidly evolving artificial intelligence, could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We operate in a rapidly evolving, technology-driven environment, and if we do not timely identify, prioritize, develop, and successfully integrate new or enhanced technologies into our operations, our service quality, efficiency, and competitiveness could suffer. Technology initiatives can be complex and costly, with risks of delays, defects, and training hurdles. Anticipated benefits from these initiatives may not be realized on the expected timeline or at all. In addition, competitors may introduce and scale new technologies more quickly or effectively than we do, which could diminish our competitive position, compress margins, and result in lost business opportunities. The rapid evolution and adoption of artificial intelligence(AI) and any efforts we may make to incorporate it into our business may amplify cyber, legal, and operational risks. AI adoption may introduce or amplify risks, including inaccurate or biased outputs that are to detect, governance and model-risk , privacy and intellectual property , and evolving legal disclosure obligations. AI can also increase cybersecurity exposure as actors leverage AI to social-engineering and techniques. Implementing and maintaining AI capabilities can be complex and , anticipated benefits may not be realized and expected timelines or at all, and could our operations, reputation, results of operations, and financial condition.
Acquisitions or business combinations may disrupt or have a material adverse effect on our operations or earnings.
Future growth strategies for our operating segments may involve the acquisition of one or more businesses. We could have difficulty integrating acquired companies’ assets, personnel and operations with our own. Regardless of whether we are successful in making an acquisition or completing a business combination, the negotiations could disrupt our ongoing business, distract our management and employees, and increase our operating costs. Acquisitions and business combinations are accompanied by a number of inherent risks, including, without limitation, the difficulty of integrating acquired companies and operations; potential disruption of our ongoing businesses and distraction of our management or the management of acquired companies; difficulties in maintaining controls, procedures and policies; potential impairment of relationships with employees and partners as a result of any integration of new management personnel; potential inability to manage an increased number of locations and employees; to realize expected , synergies and cost savings; or the effect of any government regulations which relate to the businesses acquired.
Our business could be materially impacted if and to the extent that we are unable to succeed in addressing any of these risks or other problems encountered in connection with an acquisition or business combination, many of which cannot be presently identified.
