Item 1A. Risk Factors.
The following are important factors that could affect our financial performance and could cause actual results for future periods to differ materially from our anticipated results or other expectations, including those expressed in any forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report or our other filings with the SEC or in oral presentations such as telephone conferences and webcasts open to the public. You should carefully consider the following factors in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 and our Consolidated Financial Statements and related Notes in Part II, Item 8.
Risks Related to Our Business
Risks Related to Industry Dynamics
We operate in a highly competitive industry and, if we are unable to adequately address factors that may adversely affect our revenue and costs, our business could suffer.
Competition in the transportation services industry is intense. Increased competition may lead to a reduction in revenues, reduced profit margins, or a loss of market share, any one of which could harm our business. There are many factors that could impair our profitability, including the following: (i) competition from other transportation services companies, some of which offer different services or have a broader coverage network, more fully developed information technology systems and greater capital resources than we do; (ii) a reduction in the rates charged by our competitors to gain business, especially during times of declining economic growth, which may limit our ability to maintain or increase our rates, maintain our operating margins or achieve significant growth in our business; (iii) shippers soliciting bids from multiple carriers for their shipping needs, which may result in the depression of freight rates or loss of business to competitors; (iv) the establishment by our competitors of cooperative relationships to increase their ability to address shipper needs; (v) decisions by our current or prospective customers to develop or expand internal capabilities for some of the services we provide; (vi) the development of new technologies or business models that could result in our disintermediation in certain services we provide; and (vii) competition from other transportation services companies and technology companies that are aggressively pursuing strategies and business models to digitize their services and expand their digital service offerings, including through the development and implementation of new technology that provides a significant competitive advantage.
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Economic recessions and other factors that reduce economic activity could have a material adverse impact on our business.
The transportation industry in North America historically has experienced cyclical fluctuations in financial results due to economic recessions, downturns in the business cycles of our customers, increases in the prices charged by third-party carriers, interest rate fluctuations, prolonged periods of inflation, political instability, pandemics, geopolitical conflict and war, changes in international trade policies and other U.S. and global economic factors beyond our control. During economic downturns, a reduction in overall demand for transportation services will likely reduce demand for our services and exert downward pressures on our rates and margins. The pricing environment also generally becomes more competitive during economic downturns, which may, as it has in the past, affect our ability to obtain price increases from customers both during and following such periods, especially during periods of increased economic inflation. In addition, in periods of strong economic growth, overall demand may exceed the available supply of transportation resources, resulting in increased network congestion and operating . Changes in international trade policies could significantly reduce the volume of goods transported globally and affect our business and results of operations. These factors subject our business to various risks that may have a material impact on our operating results and future prospects. These risks may include the following:
• A reduction in overall freight volume reduces our opportunities for growth. In addition, if a downturn in our customers’ business causes a reduction in the volume of freight shipped by those customers, our operating results could be adversely affected;
• Some of our customers may experience financial distress, file for bankruptcy protection, go out of business, or suffer disruptions in their business and may be unable to pay us. In addition, some customers may not pay us as quickly as they have in the past, causing our working capital needs to increase;
• A significant number of our carriers may go out of business or may be unable to secure sufficient equipment capacity or services to enable us to meet our commitments to our customers;
• We may not be able to adjust appropriately our expenses to rapid changes in market demand. In order to maintain high variability in our business model, it is necessary to adjust staffing levels when market demand changes. In periods of rapid change, it is more difficult to match our staffing levels to our business needs. In addition, we have other expenses that are primarily variable but are fixed for a period of time, as well as certain significant fixed expenses;
• Prolonged, escalated or expanded current and future international conflicts, and potential sanctions imposed in response to these conflicts, may adversely impact global supply chain activities and the economy at large; and
• The U.S. government has made significant changes in U.S. trade policy and has taken certain actions that have negatively impacted U.S. trade, including imposing tariffs on certain goods imported into the United States. To date, several governments, including the European Union and China have imposed tariffs on certain goods imported from the United States. These actions may contribute to weakness in the global economy that could adversely affect our results of operations. Any further changes in U.S. or international trade policy could trigger additional retaliatory actions by affected countries, resulting in “trade wars” and further increased costs for goods transported globally, which may reduce customer demand for these products if the parties having to pay those tariffs increase their prices, or in trading partners limiting their trade with countries that impose anti-trade measures.
Any of these factors could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition, as well as on the price of our common stock.
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Volatility in fuel prices impacts our fuel surcharge revenue and may impact our profitability.
We are subject to risks associated with the availability and price of fuel, all of which are subject to political, economic and market factors that are outside of our control.
Fuel expense constitutes one of the greatest costs to the independent contractor drivers and third-party carriers who transport freight arranged by our operations. Accordingly, we may be adversely affected by the timing and degree of fuel price fluctuations. As is customary in our industry, most of our customer contracts include fuel surcharge programs or other cost-recovery mechanisms to mitigate the effect of any fuel price increases over base amounts established in the contract. However, these mechanisms may not fully capture an increase in fuel price. Furthermore, market pressures may limit our ability to assess fuel surcharges in the future. The extent to which we are able to recover increases in fuel costs may be impacted by the amount of empty or out-of-route truck miles or engine idling time.
Decreases in fuel prices reduce the cost of transportation services and, accordingly, will reduce our revenues and may reduce margins. Significant changes in the price or availability of fuel in future periods, or significant changes in our ability to mitigate fuel price increases through the use of fuel surcharges, could have a material adverse impact on our operations, fleet capacity and ability to generate both revenues and profits.
Higher carrier prices may result in decreased income from operations and increases in working capital usage.
Motor carriers can be expected to charge higher prices if market conditions warrant or to cover higher operating expenses. Our income from operations may decrease if we are unable to increase our pricing to our customers. Increased demand for over-the-road transportation services, changes in regulations and increased enforcement of existing regulations may reduce available capacity and increase motor carrier pricing. In some instances where we have entered into contract freight rates with customers, in the event market conditions change and those contracted rates are below market rates, we may be required to provide transportation services at a loss or lower margin. This may be more acute when we have a high percentage of contracted freight with customers and when there are significant changes in prices charged by motor carriers in a short period, as most of our transportation services are procured transactionally. To date, such losses have not been material, but there can be no assurances that such losses will not be material in the future.
As our volumes increase or we increase freight rates charged to our customers, the resulting increase in revenues may increase our working capital needs due to our business model, which generally has a higher length of days sales outstanding than days payables outstanding.
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.
Our business depends, in part, on predictable temperate weather patterns. Certain seasonal weather conditions and isolated weather events can disrupt our operations. At least some of our operations are constantly at risk of extreme adverse weather conditions. Any unusual or prolonged adverse weather patterns in our areas of operations or markets, whether due to climate change or otherwise, can temporarily impact freight volumes and increase our costs.
Our operations may be subject to seasonal fluctuations, and our inability to manage these fluctuations could negatively affect our business and our results of operations.
Many of our customers typically realize a significant portion of their sales in the fourth quarter of each year during the holiday season. Although not all of our customers experience the same seasonal variation, and some customers may have seasonal peaks that occur in periods other than the fourth quarter, the seasonality of our customers’ businesses places higher demands on our services, requiring us to take measures, including temporarily expanding our workforce, to meet our customers’ demands. Our failure to meet our customers’ expectations during these seasonal peaks may negatively affect our customer relationships, could expose us to penalties under our contractual arrangements with customers and ultimately could negatively affect our business and our results of operations.
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Risks Related to Third-Party Relationships
We depend on third parties in the operation of our business.
We generally do not own or control the transportation assets that deliver our customers’ freight, and we do not employ the people directly involved in delivering this freight. In addition, we engage third-party contractors who own and operate their own equipment and vendors to provide value-added services. Accordingly, we are dependent on third parties to provide truck, rail, ocean, air and other transportation and related services and to report certain events to us, including delivery information and cargo claims. This reliance on third parties could cause delays in reporting certain events, impacting our ability to recognize revenue and claims in a timely manner.
Our inability to maintain positive relationships with independent carriers could significantly limit our ability to serve our customers on competitive terms. In addition, changes in the terms of the relationships with our vendors may make our value-added services less compelling to customers and adversely impact our results. Our ability to secure sufficient equipment or other transportation services to meet our commitments to customers or provide our services on competitive terms is subject to inherent risks, many of which are beyond our control, including equipment and labor shortages in the transportation industry, interruptions or stoppages in transportation services, “Acts of God” or acts of terrorism, changes in regulations impacting transportation, increases in operating expenses for carriers that result in a reduction in available carriers, and changes in transportation rates; and if we are unable to meet our commitments to our customers or provide our services on competitive terms, our operating results could be materially and adversely affected, and our customers could shift their business to our competitors temporarily or permanently.
Our business relies on third-party carriers to conduct its operations, and the status of these parties as independent contractors, rather than employees, is being challenged.
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. There can be no assurance that interpretations supporting independent contractor status will not change, that other federal or state legislation will not be enacted or that various authorities will not successfully assert a position that re-classifies independent contractors to be employees. If the third-party carriers with which we contract for the performance of delivery services, or their delivery workers, are determined to be our 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 and tax withholdings. Any of the above increased costs would adversely affect our business and operating results.
In addition, we are involved in several class action and collective action lawsuits claiming that the third-party carriers with which we contract, or their delivery workers, should be treated as our employees, rather than independent contractors. These lawsuits may seek substantial monetary damages (including claims for unpaid wages, overtime, unreimbursed business expenses, deductions from wages and other items), injunctive relief, or both.
While we believe that our third-party carriers are properly classified as independent contractors rather than as employees, and that their delivery workers are not employees of the Company, adverse final outcomes in these matters could result in changes to their independent contractor status and could, among other things, entitle certain claimants to reimbursement of certain expenses and to the benefit of wage-and-hour laws, and result in employment and withholding taxes, back wages and benefit liability for us. These claims involve potentially significant classes that could involve thousands of claimants and, accordingly, significant potential damages and litigation costs, and could lead others to bring similar claims. Adverse final outcomes in these matters or changes to state or federal laws could cause us to change our business model, which could have a material adverse effect on our business strategies, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
The results of these matters cannot be predicted with certainty and an unfavorable resolution of one or more of these matters could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
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Our business may be materially adversely affected by labor disputes or organizing efforts .
Our business could be adversely affected by strikes and labor negotiations at seaports, labor disputes between railroads and their union employees, or by a work stoppage at one or more railroads or local trucking companies servicing rail or port terminals, including work disruptions involving owner-operators under contract with our local trucking operations. Port shutdowns and similar disruptions to major points in national or international transportation networks could result in terminal embargoes, disrupt equipment and freight flows, depress volumes and revenues, increase costs and have other negative effects on our operations and financial results.
Labor disputes involving our customers could affect our operations. If our customers experience plant slowdowns or closures because they are unable to negotiate labor contracts, our revenue and profitability could be negatively impacted.
We are subject to one collective bargaining agreement that covers fewer than 20 of our employees. We have not experienced any work stoppages due to strikes by unionized workers, but we cannot make assurances that there will not be any work stoppages due to strikes or other job actions in the future. Labor unions may continue to attempt to organize our employees. Further successful unionization by our employees or organizing efforts could lead to business interruptions, work stoppages and the reduction of service levels due to work rules that could have an adverse effect on our customer relationships and our revenues, earnings, financial position and outlook.
Risks Related to Our Use of Technology
Our business will be seriously harmed if we fail to develop, implement, maintain, upgrade, enhance, protect and integrate our information technology systems, including those systems of any businesses that we acquire.
We rely heavily on our information technology systems in managing our business; they are a key component of our customer-facing services and internal growth strategy. In general, we expect our customers to continue to demand more sophisticated, fully integrated technology from their carriers. To keep pace with changing technologies and customer demands, we must correctly address market trends and enhance the features and functionality of our proprietary technology platform in response to these trends. This process of continuous enhancement may lead to significant ongoing software development costs, which will continue to increase if we pursue new acquisitions of companies and their current systems. In addition, we may fail to accurately determine the needs of our customers or trends in the transportation industry, or we may fail to respond appropriately by implementing functionality for our technology platform in a timely or cost-effective manner. Any such failures could result in decreased demand for our services and a corresponding decrease in our revenues.
We must ensure that our information technology systems remain competitive. If our information technology systems are unable to manage high volumes with reliability, accuracy and speed as we grow, or if such systems are not suited to manage the various services we offer, our service levels and operating efficiency could decline. In addition, if we fail to hire and retain qualified personnel to implement, protect and maintain our information technology systems, or if we fail to enhance our systems to meet our customers’ needs, our results of operations could be seriously harmed.
Our technology may not be successful or may not achieve the desired results, and we may require additional training or different personnel to successfully implement this technology. Our technology development process may be subject to cost overruns or delays in obtaining the expected results, which may result in disruptions to our operations.
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We could be affected by cyberattacks or breaches of our information systems, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We may be subject to cybersecurity attacks and other intentional hacking. Any failure to identify and address such defects or errors or prevent a cyber-attack could result in service interruptions, operational difficulties, loss of revenues or market share, liability to our customers or others, the diversion of corporate resources, injury to our reputation or increased service and maintenance costs. Addressing such issues could prove to be impossible or very costly and responding to the resulting claims or liability could similarly involve substantial cost. Also, due to recent advances in technology and well-known efforts on the part of computer hackers and cyber-criminals to breach data security of companies, we face risks associated with potential to protect corporate, customer and employee data, which, if released, could impact our customer relationships, our reputation, and even privacy laws. Recently, regulatory and enforcement focus on data protection has heightened in the United States. to comply with applicable data protection regulations or other data protection standards may us to , , sanctions or other , which could our business, our reputation, results of operations and financial condition.
A failure of our information technology infrastructure, information systems, networks or processes may materially adversely affect our business.
The efficient operation of our business depends on our information technology systems. We rely on our information technology systems to effectively manage our sales and marketing, financial, legal and compliance functions, engineering and product development tasks, research and development data, communications, order entry and fulfillment and other business processes. We also rely on third parties and virtualized infrastructure to operate our information technology systems. Despite significant testing for risk management, external and internal risks, such as malware, insecure coding, “Acts of God,” data leakage and human error pose a direct threat to the stability or effectiveness of our information technology systems and operations. The failure of our information technology systems to perform as we anticipate could adversely affect our business through transaction errors, billing and invoicing errors, internal recordkeeping and reporting errors, processing and of sales, receivables collection or customers. Any such could result in to our reputation and have an ongoing impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition, including after the underlying have been remedied. Further, the or to implement information system upgrades and new systems effectively could our business, management’s focus and attention from our business operations, and increase our implementation and operating costs, any of which could impact our operations and operating results.
Issues related to the intellectual property rights on which our business depends, whether related to our failure to enforce our own rights or infringement claims brought by others, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We use both internally developed and purchased technologies in conducting our business. Whether internally developed or purchased, it is possible that users of these technologies could be claimed to infringe upon or violate the intellectual property rights of third parties. In the event that a claim is made against us by a third-party for the infringement of intellectual property rights, a settlement or adverse judgment against us could result in increased costs to license the technology or a legal prohibition against our using the technology. Thus, our failure to obtain, maintain or enforce our intellectual property rights could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We rely on a combination of intellectual property rights, including patents, copyrights, trademarks, domain names, trade secrets, intellectual property licenses and other contractual rights, to protect our intellectual property and technology. Any of our owned or licensed intellectual property rights could be challenged, invalidated, circumvented, infringed or misappropriated; our trade secrets and other confidential information could be disclosed in an unauthorized manner to third parties; or we may fail to secure the rights to intellectual property developed by our employees, contractors and others. Efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be time-consuming and costly, distract management’s attention, divert our resources and ultimately be unsuccessful. Moreover, should we fail to develop and properly manage future intellectual property, this could affect our market positions and business .
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Third-party security incidents could result in the loss of our or our customers’ data, expose us to liability, harm our reputation, damage our competitiveness and adversely impact our financial results.
We rely on third parties to provide us with a number of operational and technical services. These third parties may have access to our systems, provide hosting services or otherwise possess data about us or our customers, employees or partners. Our ability to monitor such third parties’ security measures is limited. Any security incident involving such third parties could compromise the integrity or availability of, or result in the theft of, our and our customers’ data. Unauthorized access to data and other confidential or proprietary information may be obtained through break-ins, network breaches by unauthorized parties, employee theft or misuse, or other misconduct. If any of the foregoing were to occur or to be perceived to occur, our reputation may suffer, our competitive position may be diminished, we could face lawsuits, regulatory investigation, fines, and potential liability and our financial results could be impacted.
We use, and may continue to expand our use of, machine learning and artificial intelligence (“AI”) technologies to deliver our services and operate our business.
If we fail to successfully integrate AI into our platform and business processes, or if we fail to keep pace with rapidly evolving AI technological developments, including attracting and retaining talented AI developers and programmers and cybersecurity personnel, we may face a competitive disadvantage. At the same time, the use or offering of AI technologies may result in new or expanded risks and liabilities, including enhanced government or regulatory scrutiny, litigation, privacy and compliance issues, ethical concerns, confidentiality, reputational harm, and security risks. It is not possible to predict all of the risks related to the use of AI and changes in laws, rules, directives, and regulations governing the use of AI that may adversely affect our ability to develop and use AI or subject us to legal liability. The cost of complying with laws and regulations governing AI could be significant and would increase our operating expenses, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Further, market demand and acceptance of AI technologies are uncertain, and we may be in efforts to further incorporate AI into our processes.
Risks Related to Our Credit and Liquidity
Challenges in the commercial and credit environment may adversely affect our future access to capital on favorable terms.
Volatility in global financial markets could increase borrowing costs or affect our ability to access the capital markets. Our ability to issue debt or enter into other financing arrangements on acceptable terms could be adversely affected if there is a material decline in the demand for our services or in the financial health of our customers or suppliers or if there are other significantly unfavorable changes in economic conditions.
We incurred debt obligations that could adversely affect our business and profitability and our ability to meet other obligations.
As of December 31, 2025, we had $408 million of outstanding debt and finance leases, consisting primarily of $355 million of our unsecured notes, in addition to $565 million of undrawn commitments under the unsecured, multi-currency revolving credit facility that matures in 2029 (the “Revolver”). On February 5, 2026, we entered into the ABL Facility (as defined below) and, in connection therewith, the Revolver was fully repaid and terminated. Refer to Note 10 — Debt to the consolidated financial statements for additional information. We may also incur additional indebtedness in the future.
Our inability to generate sufficient cash flows to satisfy our debt obligations, or to refinance our indebtedness on commercially reasonable terms or at all, could materially and adversely affect our financial position and results of operations. Further, failure to comply with the covenants under our indebtedness may have a material adverse impact on our operations. If we fail to comply with any of the covenants under our debt and are unable to obtain a waiver or amendment, such failure may result in an event of default under our indebtedness. We may not have sufficient liquidity to repay or refinance our indebtedness if such indebtedness were accelerated upon an event of default.
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Risks Related to Litigation and Regulation
We are subject to claims arising from our transportation operations.
We use the services of thousands of transportation companies in connection with our transportation operations. From time to time, the drivers employed and engaged by the motor carriers we contract with are involved in accidents, which may result in serious personal injuries. The resulting types and/or amounts of damages may be excluded by or exceed the amount of insurance coverage maintained by the third-party carrier. Although these drivers are not our employees and all of these drivers are employees, owner-operators, or independent contractors working for the third-party carriers, from time to time, claims may be asserted against us for their actions or for our actions in retaining them. Claims against us may exceed the amount of our insurance coverage or may not be covered by insurance at all. A material increase in the frequency or severity of accidents, liability claims or workers’ compensation , or resolutions of , could materially and affect our operating results. In addition, significant increases in insurance costs or the to purchase insurance as a result of these could reduce our . Our involvement in the transportation of certain goods, including but not limited to, materials, could also increase our exposure in the event one of our third-party carriers is involved in an resulting in or contamination.
In North America, as a property freight broker, we are not legally liable for loss or damage to our customers’ cargo. In our customer contracts, we may agree to assume cargo liability up to a stated maximum. We typically do not assume cargo liability to our customers above minimum industry standards in our international freight forwarding, ocean transportation, or air freight businesses on international or domestic air shipments. Although we are not legally liable for loss or damage to our customers’ cargo while operating as a property freight broker, from time to time, claims may be asserted against us for cargo losses.
From time to time, we are involved in lawsuits and are subject to various claims that could result in significant expenditures and impact our operations.
The nature of our business exposes us to the potential for various types of claims and litigation. We are subject to claims and litigation related to independent contractor classification, labor and employment, personal injury, vehicular accidents, cargo and other property damage, commercial disputes, environmental liability and other matters, including with respect to claims asserted under various other theories of agency or employer liability. Claims against us may exceed the amount of insurance coverage that we have or may not be covered by insurance at all. Businesses that we acquire also increase our exposure to litigation. Material increases in liability claims or workers’ compensation claims, or the resolution of , or our to recover, in full or in part, under indemnity provisions could materially and affect our operating results. In addition, significant increases in insurance costs or the to purchase insurance as a result of these could reduce our .
Our third-party carriers are subject to increasingly stringent laws protecting the environment, including transitional risks relating to climate change, which could directly or indirectly have a material adverse effect on our business.
Future and existing environmental regulatory requirements, including evolving transportation technology, in the United States and abroad could adversely affect operations and increase operating expenses, which in turn could increase our purchased transportation costs or further exacerbate shortages of trucking equipment. If we are unable to retain compliant third-party carriers or pass such operating expenses along to our customers, our business could be materially and adversely affected. Even without any new legislation or regulation, increased public concern regarding greenhouse gases emitted by transportation carriers could harm the reputations of companies operating in the transportation industry and shift consumer demand toward more locally sourced products and away from our services.
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We are subject to governmental regulations and political conditions, which could negatively impact our business.
Our operations are regulated and licensed by various governmental agencies at the local, state and federal levels in the United States and in the foreign countries where we operate. These regulatory agencies have authority and oversight of domestic and international activities. Our subsidiaries must also comply with applicable regulations and requirements of various agencies.
The regulatory landscape in which we operate is constantly evolving and subject to significant change, including as a result of evolving political and social attitudes. Future laws, regulations and regulatory reforms, including without limitation future laws and regulations related to increased minimum wages, the expansion of union organization rights or changes in the classification of employees and independent contractors, may be more stringent and may require changes to our operating practices that influence the demand for our services or require us to incur significant additional costs, which could adversely affect our results of operations to the extent we are unable to obtain a corresponding increase in price from our customers.
Furthermore, political conditions may increase the level of intensity of regulations that impact our business, may require changes to our operating practices, may influence demand for our services, or may require us to incur significant additional costs, any of which could negatively impact our business.
Risks Related to Our Strategy and Operations
We depend on our ability to attract and retain qualified employees and temporary workers.
We depend on our ability to attract and retain qualified talent, including temporary, part-time and full-time team members; sales representatives; brokerage agents; managers; and executive officers. If we are unable to attract and retain such individuals, we may be unable to maintain our current competitive position within the industry, meet our customers’ expectations or successfully expand and grow our business.
In addition to our permanent employees, our ability to meet customer demands and expectations, especially during periods of peak volume, is substantially dependent on our ability to recruit and retain qualified temporary workers. Increased demand for temporary workers, low unemployment or changes in federal or state minimum wage laws may increase the costs of temporary labor, and any such increases in labor costs could adversely affect our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition. Moreover, our inability to recruit a qualified temporary workforce may result in our inability to meet our customers’ performance targets.
Failure to successfully implement our cost and revenue initiatives could cause our future financial results to suffer.
We are implementing various cost and revenue initiatives to further increase our profitability, including advanced pricing analytics and revenue management tools, our digital brokerage platform, our shared distribution network, cross-selling to strategic accounts, workforce productivity and further back-office optimization. If we are not able to successfully implement these cost and revenue initiatives, our future financial results may suffer.
We may not successfully manage our growth.
We have grown rapidly and substantially over prior years, including by expanding our internal resources, making acquisitions and entering into new markets, and we intend to continue to focus on rapid growth, including organic growth and potentially additional acquisitions. We may experience difficulties and higher-than-expected expenses in executing this strategy as a result of unfamiliarity with new markets, changes in revenue and business models, entry into new geographic areas and increased pressure on our existing infrastructure and information technology systems.
Our growth will place a significant strain on our management, operational, financial and information technology resources. We will need to continually improve existing procedures and controls, as well as implement new transaction processing, operational and financial systems, and procedures and controls to expand, train and manage our employee base. Our working capital needs will continue to increase as our operations grow. Failure to manage our growth effectively, or obtain necessary working capital, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition.
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Our inability to successfully manage the costs and operational difficulties of adding new customers or more volume from existing customers may negatively affect our financial condition and operations.
Establishing new customer relationships or adding operational sites for existing customers requires a significant amount of time, operational focus and capital. Although we typically partner with our new customers to ensure that onboarding is smooth and allocate costs appropriately, our inability to integrate new customers or operational sites into our technology systems or recruit additional employees to manage new customer relationships, or higher than anticipated costs to onboard new customers, may negatively affect our financial condition or operations.
We derive a significant portion of our total revenue from our largest customers.
Our top five customers comprised approximately 23% of our consolidated total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2025. Our largest customer comprised approximately 11.4% of our consolidated total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2025. The sudden loss of one or more major customers could materially and adversely affect our operating results.
Damage to our reputation through unfavorable publicity or the actions of our employees or independent contractors could adversely affect our financial condition.
Our success depends on our ability to consistently deliver operational excellence and strong customer service. Our inability to deliver our services and solutions as promised on a consistent basis, or our customers having a negative experience or otherwise becoming dissatisfied, can negatively impact our relationships with new or existing customers and adversely affect our brand and reputation, which could, in turn, adversely affect revenue and earnings growth. Adverse publicity (whether or not justified) relating to activities by our employees, contractors, agents or others with whom we do business, such as customer service mishaps or noncompliance with laws, could tarnish our reputation and reduce the value of our brand. With the increase in the use of social media outlets, adverse publicity can be disseminated quickly and broadly, making it increasingly for us to effectively respond. This publicity could also require us to allocate significant resources to rebuild our reputation.
If we determine that our goodwill has become impaired, we may incur impairment charges, which would negatively impact our operating results.
As of December 31, 2025, we had $1.1 billion of goodwill on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Goodwill represents the excess of cost over the fair value of net assets acquired in business combinations. We assess potential impairment of our goodwill annually, or more frequently if an event or circumstance indicates an impairment loss may have been incurred. Impairment may result from significant changes in the manner or use of the acquired assets, in connection with the sale, spin off or other divestiture of a business unit, negative industry or economic trends and/or significant underperformance relative to historic or projected operating results. For a discussion of our goodwill impairment testing, see “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates—Evaluation of Goodwill” in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”
Any acquisitions that we may complete in the future may be unsuccessful or result in other risks or developments that adversely affect our financial condition and results.
While we intend for acquisitions to improve our competitiveness and profitability, we cannot be certain that any future acquisitions will be accretive to earnings or otherwise meet our operational or strategic expectations. Special risks, including accounting, regulatory, compliance, information technology or human resources issues, may arise in connection with, or as a result of, the acquisition of an existing company, including the assumption of unanticipated liabilities and contingencies, difficulties in integrating acquired businesses, possible management distractions, or the inability of the acquired business to achieve the levels of revenue, profit, productivity or synergies we anticipate or otherwise perform as we expect on the timeline contemplated. Any of these events could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
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We may not realize all of the anticipated benefits of any divestitures we may make in the future, or the benefits of any such divestitures may take longer to realize than expected.
We may in the future sell certain businesses or exit particular markets. Any such divestitures may not yield the targeted improvements in our business. Divestitures involve risks, including difficulties in the separation of operations, services, and personnel, disruption in our operations or businesses, finding a suitable purchaser, and the diversion of management’s attention from our other businesses. Any impairments and losses on divestiture resulting from this process may cause us to record significant charges, including those related to goodwill and other intangible assets. Any charges that we are required to record or the failure to achieve the intended financial results associated with divestitures of businesses or assets could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
Sales of shares of our common stock in connection with registration rights granted to certain stockholders, or the prospect of any such sales, could affect the market price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through future sales of equity securities.
We have entered into agreements with certain stockholders that granted such stockholders certain registration rights. Pursuant to these agreements, we registered for resale 28.5 million shares of our common stock, which represents approximately 17.4% of our outstanding shares of common stock as of December 31, 2025. Any sales of these registered shares, or the prospect of any such sales, could adversely impact the market price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through future sales of equity securities.
Any stockholder’s percentage of ownership in RXO may be diluted in the future at any given time.
In the future, existing holders of our common stock may be diluted because of equity issuances for acquisitions, capital market transactions or otherwise, including any equity awards that we will grant to our directors, officers and employees. Our employees have stock-based awards that correspond to shares of our common stock. We anticipate that the compensation committee of our board of directors will grant additional stock-based awards to our employees under the employee benefits plan. Such awards will have a dilutive effect on the number of RXO shares outstanding, and therefore on our earnings per share, which could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
Certain provisions in RXO’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws, and of Delaware law, may prevent or delay an acquisition of RXO, which could decrease the trading price of our common stock.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws contain, and Delaware law contains, provisions that are intended to deter coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids by making such practices or bids unacceptably expensive to the bidder and to encourage prospective acquirers to negotiate with our board of directors rather than to attempt a hostile takeover. These provisions include:
• the ability of our remaining directors to fill vacancies on our board of directors;
• limitations on stockholders’ ability to call a special stockholder meeting or act by written consent;
• rules regarding how stockholders may present proposals or nominate directors for election at stockholder meetings;
• the right of our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval; and
• a classified board of directors, with each class serving a staggered three-year term, which could have the effect of making the replacement of incumbent directors more time consuming and difficult.
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In addition, we are subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”), which could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control. Section 203 provides that, subject to limited exceptions, persons that acquire, or are affiliated with persons that acquire, more than 15% of the outstanding voting stock of a Delaware corporation may not engage in a business combination with that corporation, including by merger, consolidation or acquisitions of additional shares, for a three-year period following the date on which that person or any of its affiliates becomes the holder of more than 15% of the corporation’s outstanding voting stock.
We believe these provisions will protect our stockholders from coercive or otherwise unfair takeover tactics by requiring potential acquirers to negotiate with our board of directors and by providing our board of directors with more time to assess any acquisition proposal. These provisions are not intended to make RXO immune from takeovers; however, these provisions will apply even if the offer may be considered beneficial by some stockholders and could delay or prevent an acquisition that our board of directors determines is not in the best interests of RXO and our stockholders. These provisions may also prevent or discourage attempts to remove and replace incumbent directors.
RXO’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains an exclusive forum provision that may discourage lawsuits against RXO and our directors and officers.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that unless the board of directors otherwise determines, the state courts within the State of Delaware (or, if no state court located within the State of Delaware has jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware) will be the sole and exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of RXO, any action asserting a claim for or based on a breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any current or former director or officer or other employee or stockholder of RXO in such capacity to RXO or to RXO stockholders, including a claim alleging the aiding and abetting of such a breach of fiduciary duty, any action asserting a claim against RXO or any current or former director or officer or other employee or stockholder of RXO in such capacity arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws, any action asserting a claim relating to or involving RXO governed by the internal affairs doctrine, or any action asserting an “internal corporate claim” as that term is defined in Section 115 of the DGCL.
Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Accordingly, both state and federal courts have jurisdiction to entertain such claims. To prevent having to litigate claims in multiple jurisdictions and the threat of inconsistent or contrary rulings by different courts, among other considerations, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the federal district courts of the United States will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty of liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder, and as a result, the exclusive forum provision does not apply to actions arising under the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. While the Delaware Supreme Court ruled in March 2020 that federal forum selection provisions to require under the Securities Act be brought in federal court are “facially valid” under Delaware law, there is uncertainty as to whether other courts will enforce our federal forum provision described above. Our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
This exclusive forum provision may limit the ability of our stockholders to bring a claim in a judicial forum that such stockholders find favorable for disputes with RXO or our directors or officers, which may discourage such lawsuits against RXO and our directors and officers. Alternatively, if a court were to find this exclusive forum provision inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings described above, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could negatively affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
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