Covenant Logistics Group Inc (CVLG) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to today's Covenant Logistics Group's Q1 2025 earnings release and investor conference call. Our host for today's call is Tripp Grant. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to turn the call over to your host, Mr. Grant. You may begin.

歡迎參加今天的 Covenant Logistics Group 2025 年第一季財報發布和投資者電話會議。今天電話會議的主持人是 Tripp Grant。（接線員指示）現在我想將電話轉給主持人格蘭特先生。你可以開始了。

Good morning everyone. Welcome to the Covenant Logistics Group first quarter 2025 conference call. As a reminder, this call will contain forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, which are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Please review our SEC filings and most recent risk factors. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

大家早安。歡迎參加 Covenant Logistics Group 2025 年第一季電話會議。提醒一下，本次電話會議將包含《私人證券訴訟改革法案》下的前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果大不相同。請查看我們的 SEC 文件和最新的風險因素。我們不承擔公開更新或修改任何前瞻性聲明的義務。

Our prepared comments and additional financial information are available on our website at www.covenantlogistics.com/investors. Joining me on the call today, our CEO, David Parker; President, Paul Bunn; and COO, Dustin Koehl.

我們的備忘評論及其他財務資訊可在我們的網站 www.covenantlogistics.com/investors 上查閱。今天與我一同參加電話會議的還有我們的執行長 David Parker、總裁 Paul Bunn 和營運長 Dustin Koehl。

Before diving into the details, I'd like to give an overview of changes in our business mix that impact our revenue and expense comparisons year over year.

在深入探討細節之前，我想先概述一下影響我們逐年收入和支出比較的業務組合變化。

We continue to increase assets and people invested in our dedicated protein business and reduce assets and people allocated to lower return business.

我們繼續增加對專用蛋白質業務的資產和人員投入，並減少分配給回報較低的業務的資產和人員。

In general, specialized dedicated customers have higher revenue per mile, higher cost per mile, and fewer miles per tractor per year than our other asset-based customers. As this specialized business grows, revenue per mile, driver, and other employee costs per mile, and fixed costs per mile, all increase.

總體而言，與我們的其他基於資產的客戶相比，專業專用客戶每英里的收入更高、每英里的成本更高，而每輛拖拉機每年的行駛里程更少。隨著這項專業業務的成長，每英里的收入、每英里的司機和其他員工成本以及每英里的固定成本都在增加。

The year over year changes are more indicative of business mix than apples to apples rate and cost increases. Even with the change in business mix, miles remained an important part to our business, and the combination of whether an avian influenza took its toll on miles. We had lower fixed cost coverage, higher layover costs, and worse equipment damage than a normal first quarter.

與去年同期相比，變化更能說明業務組合，而不是同類利率和成本的成長。即使業務組合發生變化，里程仍然是我們業務的重要組成部分，而禽流感是否對里程造成影響也有很大影響。與正常第一季相比，我們的固定成本覆蓋率較低，停工成本較高，設備損壞情況更為嚴重。

Lower miles enhance the impact of business mix on our statistics. While our margins did not meet our standards, we navigated the difficult general freight market, absorbed inefficiencies from startups, overhead from lower based business and dedicated, and weather better than most first quarters in our history and many companies in our industry.

較低的里程數增強了業務組合對我們統計數據的影響。雖然我們的利潤率沒有達到我們的標準，但我們度過了艱難的普通貨運市場，吸收了新創企業的低效率、低基礎業務和專用業務的管理費用，並且比我們歷史上大多數第一季以及我們行業中的許多公司表現得更好。

Overall, our strategy is on track and Covenant is well-positioned to grow revenue and earnings over time. Recognizing that a variety of external factors are creating both uncertainty and opportunity in our business.

總體而言，我們的策略正在順利進行，Covenant 已做好準備，隨著時間的推移增加收入和收益。認識到各種外部因素為我們的業務帶來了不確定性和機會。

Year-over-year highlights for the quarter include consolidated freight revenue declined by 1.8% or approximately $4.5 million to $243.2 million primarily as a result of our managed freight segment, which generated $6 million less freight revenue, but exceeded our profit expectations by improving adjusted operating income by $0.8 million.

本季的同比亮點包括綜合貨運收入下降 1.8% 或約 450 萬美元至 2.432 億美元，這主要是由於我們的管理貨運部門的貨運收入減少了 600 萬美元，但調整後的營業收入提高了 80 萬美元，超出了我們的利潤預期。

Consolidated adjusted operating income shrank by 26.6% to $10.9 million primarily as a result of adverse operating conditions in the quarter that reduced utilization of our revenue producing equipment. Salaries, wages, and related expenses increased with business mix as well as poor workers' compensation experience.

合併調整後營業收入下降 26.6% 至 1,090 萬美元，主要原因是本季經營條件惡劣，導致創收設備的利用率降低。隨著業務組合以及工人賠償經驗不佳，薪資、薪水和相關費用增加。

Combined cost of depreciation, interest, rents, and gain loss on sale increased due to lower fixed cost absorption from lower miles per unit. Our net indebtedness as of March 31 increased by $5.8 million to $225.4 million yielding an adjusted leverage ratio of approximately 1.55 times and debt to capital ratio of 33.7%. The average age of our tractors at December 31 slightly decreased to 20 months compared to 21 months a year ago.

由於每單位里程數減少導致固定成本吸收減少，折舊、利息、租金和銷售損益的綜合成本增加。截至 3 月 31 日，我們的淨負債增加了 580 萬美元，達到 2.254 億美元，調整後的槓桿率約為 1.55 倍，負債資本比率為 33.7%。截至 12 月 31 日，我們拖拉機的平均使用年限為 20 個月，而去年同期為 21 個月。

On an adjusted basis, return on average invested capital was 7.6% versus 8.3% in the prior year. Now providing a little more color on the performance of the individual business segments.

經調整後，平均投資資本報酬率為 7.6%，而上年度為 8.3%。現在提供更多關於各個業務部門表現的資訊。

Our expedited segment yielded a 94.2 adjusted operating ratio. While this result falls short of our expectations, we were pleased with the improvement we witnessed late in the period as operating conditions improved.

我們的加急部門實現了 94.2 的調整後營運比率。雖然這項結果未達到我們的預期，但我們對後期隨著營運條件改善而看到的改善感到高興。

Compared to the prior year, expedited average fleet size shrunk by 48 units, or 5.3% to 852 average tractors in the period. We expect the size of this fleet to flex up and down modestly based on various market factors. Going forward, our focus will be on improving margins through rate increases, exiting less profitable business, and adding more profitable business.

與前一年相比，本期間加急貨運車隊平均規模減少了 48 輛，即 5.3%，平均拖拉機數量為 852 輛。我們預計，該船隊的規模將根據各種市場因素適度波動。展望未來，我們的重點將是透過提高利率來提高利潤率，退出利潤較低的業務，並增加利潤更高的業務。

Dedicated experienced average fleet growth in the first quarter of 212 units, or approximately 16.7%, and grew freight revenue by $9.5 million or 13.1% compared with the 2024 quarter. Revenue per tractor fell by 3.1% principally as a result of the impact of inclement weather and reduced volumes associated with avian influenza.

第一季度，Dedicated 的車隊平均成長了 212 輛，增幅約為 16.7%，與 2024 年季度相比，貨運收入成長了 950 萬美元，增幅為 13.1%。每輛拖拉機的收入下降了 3.1%，主要是由於惡劣天氣的影響和禽流感導致的產量減少。

The result was an operating ratio of 90.1, far short of our expectations for this segment. Going forward, we remain focused on our strategy of growing our dedicated fleet, specifically in areas that provide value added services for customers. We believe that if we are successful in providing best-in-class service and controlling our costs, growth and improved profitability will result.

結果是營運比率為 90.1，遠低於我們對該部門的預期。展望未來，我們將繼續專注於擴大專用機隊的策略，特別是在為客戶提供增值服務的領域。我們相信，如果我們成功地提供一流的服務並控製成本，就會帶來成長和獲利能力的提高。

Managed freight exceeded profitability expectations for the quarter by focused execution on profitable freight, assisting our expedited fleet with overflow capacity and reducing insurance-related claims extends as a result of improvements to our cargo control procedures.

透過專注於獲利貨運，幫助我們的加急車隊實現超額運力，並透過改進貨物控製程序減少保險相關索賠，管理貨運超出了本季度的盈利預期。

Going forward, we seek to grow [managed freight] with profitable revenue from new customers, work closely with our asset-based segments to capitalize on overflow opportunities when available, and optimize costs to yield longer term margin goals in the mid-single digits, which will generate an acceptable return on capital given the asset-like nature of this business.

展望未來，我們尋求透過來自新客戶的獲利收入來成長[管理貨運]，與我們的資產型部門密切合作，利用可用的溢出機會，並優化成本以實現中等個位數的長期利潤目標，考慮到該業務的資產性質，這將產生可接受的資本回報率。

Our warehouse segment saw a 6% decrease in freight revenue and a 42% decrease of adjusted operating profit compared to the prior year. The significant reduction in adjusted operating profit is largely due to facility-related cost increases for which we have not yet been able to negotiate rate increases with our customers and startup related costs and inefficiencies related to the new business.

與前一年相比，我們的倉庫部門的貨運收入下降了 6%，調整後的營業利潤下降了 42%。調整後營業利潤的大幅減少主要是由於與設施相關的成本增加（我們尚未能夠與客戶協商漲價）以及與新業務相關的啟動成本和效率低下。

For the remainder of the year, we anticipate improvement in revenue and adjusted margin for this segment. Our minority investment in TEL contributed pre-tax net income of $3.8 million for the quarter compared to $3.7 million in the prior year period. TEL's revenue in the quarter increased by 25% compared to the prior year by increasing its truck fleet by 431 trucks to 2,513 and increasing its trailer fleet by 1,000 to 7,824.

在今年剩餘時間內，我們預計該部門的收入和調整後的利潤率將會提高。我們對 TEL 的少數股權投資為本季貢獻了 380 萬美元的稅前淨收入，而去年同期為 370 萬美元。TEL 本季營收較上年同期成長 25%，原因是其卡車車隊增加了 431 輛，達到 2,513 輛，拖車車隊增加了 1,000 輛，達到 7,824 輛。

Regarding our outlook for the future, although our first quarter's operational results fell short of our expectations. We were pleased with the improvement we witnessed late in the period, momentum we have taken into the second quarter.

關於我們對未來的展望，雖然我們第一季的營運表現沒有達到我們的預期。我們對本季末看到的改善感到高興，這是我們進入第二季度的動力。

Although April is shaping up to be a good operational month with better weather conditions and better poultry volumes, we recognize volumes can quickly shift negatively as port volumes are reduced with fewer imports. Although we were expecting 2025 to be a year of recovery for the freight economy, we recognize that economic uncertainties may create a delay to an improved freight environment.

儘管四月天氣狀況好轉，家禽交易量增加，預計將成為一個良好的營運月份，但我們認識到，隨著進口量減少，港口交易量減少，交易量可能迅速出現負面變化。儘管我們預計 2025 年將是貨運經濟復甦的一年，但我們認識到經濟不確定性可能會導致貨運環境改善的延遲。

Regardless of what the remainder of 2025 has in store for us, we remain positive about our team and strategy, which is focused on discipline capital allocation, executing with a high sense of urgency, improving operational leverage as conditions improve, growing our dedicated fleet, and improving our cost profile.

無論 2025 年剩餘時間為我們帶來什麼，我們仍然對我們的團隊和策略持樂觀態度，該策略專注於嚴格的資本配置、以高度的緊迫感執行、隨著條件改善而提高營運槓桿、擴大我們的專用機隊以及改善我們的成本狀況。

Thank you for your time, and we will now open the call for any questions.

感謝您抽出時間，我們現在將開始回答任何問題。

(Operator Instructions) Jason Seidl, TD Cowen.

（操作員指示）Jason Seidl，TD Cowen。

I wanted to talk a little bit about the dedicated side, obviously I know you had some issues with the bird flu epidemic here, but I wanted to talk about the competitive nature of sort of the non-poultry business that you're seeing out there. You know what we should expect going forward and how do you think that's going to play with margins as we move throughout '25 and maybe even in the '26 given the longer term nature of those contracts.

我想談談專門方面的問題，顯然我知道你們對禽流感疫情有一些擔憂，但我想談談你們所看到的非家禽業務的競爭性質。您知道我們應該對未來抱持怎樣的期望嗎？考慮到這些合約的長期性，您認為這將如何影響 25 年甚至 26 年的利潤率？

Yeah, hey, Jason, it's Paul. How are you doing?

是的，嘿，傑森，我是保羅。你好嗎？

Good, Paul.

很好，保羅。

Here's what I would say, splitting out the non-poultry, it's really competitive out there in the, I would say, I'll break dedicated into two worlds, specialized and non-specialized and so because some of what we have is specialized that is not poultry and that business where you've got a specialized truck, a specialized trailer, or a specialized driver, I would say it's still, there's not as much pressure there.

我想說的是，將非家禽行業分開來看，那裡的競爭真的很激烈，我想說，我會把專業行業分成兩個世界，專業化和非專業化，因為我們有一些專業化的業務，不是家禽，而是有專業卡車、專業拖車或專業司機的業務，我想說，那裡的壓力仍然沒有那麼大。

The business that is, more 53 foot drive-in dedicated is it's tough right now and there's a lot of competition and so, I think the longer this one way market has stayed down, the more competition and more folks are moving freight to the one-way market and more one-way people are running to dedicate it and so it is it is hurt.

53 英尺長的免下車服務業務目前比較困難，競爭非常激烈，所以，我認為，這個單向市場低迷的時間越長，競爭就越激烈，就會有越多的人將貨物轉移到單向市場，就會有越多的單向人湧向這個市場，所以這很不利。

That said, I think, like you've seen in cycles past, whenever the one-way market goes the other way. And the premium for dedicated is not as high as it is today. You'll probably see, more, see that loosen up from a customer perspective a little bit. So -- but it's definitely a pretty competitive environment out there as it relates to, just margins in total, you know I think on the -- I think we'll see dedicated margins improve for a couple of things.

話雖如此，我認為，就像你在過去的周期中看到的那樣，每當單向市場走向另一個方向時。而且專用車的保費也不像今天這麼高。您可能會看到，從客戶的角度來看，情況有所放鬆。所以 - 但就總利潤率而言，這絕對是一個相當有競爭力的環境，你知道我認為 - 我認為我們會看到一些產品的專用利潤率有所提高。

I think the weather just like expedited the weather significantly affected, dedicated in the first quarter. So just with better weather and whatnot, it'll help dedicated. And then as we continue to laugh, the bird flu, the worst of the bird flu was probably over in January, early February, but little chickens don't eat as much as big chickens and it takes a little while to kind of to get the train back on track and get the pump primed again and so the combination of those two margins and dedicated in total should improve.

我認為天氣就像加速天氣一樣明顯受到影響，專注於第一季。因此，只要天氣好轉等等，就會有所幫助。然後，當我們繼續笑的時候，禽流感，最嚴重的禽流感可能在一月份或二月初就結束了，但是小雞吃的沒有大雞多，需要一點時間才能讓火車回到正軌並再次啟動泵，因此，這兩個利潤率和總體投入的結合應該會有所改善。

But in the non-commoditized space -- in the commoditized dedicated stuff, it's a tough market right now.

但在非商品化領域－在商品化的專用產品中，目前的市場競爭十分激烈。

And how should we view your presence in the space? Are you going to look to continue to move away from the commoditized market and trying to get more into specialty?

我們該如何看待你在太空中的存在？您是否打算繼續遠離商品化市場並嘗試更多地進入專業市場？

Yeah, I would tell you, every time we can find a specialty deal, that's what we're looking for, and I think most of our, we've purged through most of the commoditized stuff that's true commodity. I think a lot of that stuff is left and gone to the one-way market, or kind of reset over the last 12 to 18 months.

是的，我會告訴你，每次我們都能找到一項特殊交易，那就是我們所尋找的，而且我認為我們已經清除了大多數真正的商品化的商品。我認為很多東西都被留下並進入了單向市場，或者在過去 12 到 18 個月內進行了某種重置。

Yeah, I would say Jason, that's been our strategy probably for the last couple of years and Lew Thompson -- the acquisition of Lew Thompson was probably the biggest indicator of, that being our strategy and our biggest investment in that.

是的，我想說傑森，這可能是我們過去幾年的策略，而對 Lew Thompson 的收購可能是最大的指標，這是我們的策略，也是我們在這方面最大的投資。

But one, I would say it's difficult to move the needle right now, and two, I think that over time you will see us continue to move our percentage of more specialized dedicated to a larger percentage of our fleet because there's no doubt about it, we're going to have to constantly, redefine what we consider as specialized or what we consider as defensible or niche because it is becoming increasingly competitive, and I think it's going to even become more so after this cycle ends.

但首先，我想說現在很難有所改變；其次，我認為隨著時間的推移，你會看到我們繼續將更專業化的比例轉移到我們船隊的更大比例，因為毫無疑問，我們將不得不不斷地重新定義我們認為的專業化或我們認為可防禦或利基化的東西，因為競爭越來越激烈，我認為在這個週期結束後，這種情況會變得更加激烈。

Interesting. Given all the macro uncertainty that's out there, what's that doing to the deal market because I know you guys are constantly in the market to do, probably on the smaller type deals, but talk to me a little bit about how that's been impacting.

有趣的。考慮到所有存在的宏觀不確定性，這對交易市場有何影響？因為我知道你們一直在市場上進行交易，可能是進行規模較小的交易，但請跟我談談這有何影響。

Here's what I think. There are a lot of what I call little bitty deals out there right now. I mean, and I think that's a signal of capacity exits and folks that are struggling for capital. I would say we continue to kind of sort through the intermediate size deals as they come through, but I would say the volume of those is about the same as it's been the last couple of years. I mean, there's one or two things a quarter that are interesting and that we evaluate.

這是我的想法。目前有很多我稱之為小交易的事情。我的意思是，我認為這是產能退出和人們為資金而苦苦掙扎的信號。我想說，我們會繼續對中等規模的交易進行分類，但我想說這些交易的數量與過去幾年大致相同。我的意思是，每個季度都會有一兩件有趣的事情，我們會對其進行評估。

I think there's one or two a quarter that's interesting that we evaluate and then there's 15 a quarter, nope, you can just see people wanting out.

我認為我們每季會評估一兩個有趣的案例，然後每季就會有 15 個，不，你只能看到人們想要退出。

And a lot of those are on the smaller scale or the [OTR] market.

其中許多規模較小或屬於 [OTR] 市場。

Yeah, agreed.

是的，同意。

Daniel Imbro, Stephens Inc.

丹尼爾·伊姆布羅（Daniel Imbro），史蒂芬斯公司

Maybe want to start on the on the expedited business a little bit because obviously you have LTL line haul within that. I'm curious any commentary from your standpoint on how that end market is shaping up? We're seeing any signs of improvement kind of with your LTL customers there and then how the AAT or the government business trending as you move here through the first part of the year.

也許想稍微開始一下加急業務，因為顯然其中有零擔幹線運輸。我很好奇，從您的角度來看，對於終端市場的發展情況，您有何評論？我們看到你們的 LTL 客戶出現了一些改善的跡象，隨著你們在今年上半年搬到這裡，AAT 或政府業務的趨勢如何。

I would say this, David, I would say on the LTL side it's really a smorgasbord. I mean, I see some of our LTLs that are doing better than others and I see that our national LTLs are probably being hurt more so than the regional LTL guys, but we had a discussion on that just in the last few days.

我想說的是，大衛，我想說在 LTL 方面它真的是大雜燴。我的意思是，我發現我們的一些 LTL 比其他的做得更好，而且我發現我們的國家 LTL 可能比地區 LTL 受到的傷害更大，但我們在過去幾天就這個問題進行了討論。

I see a lot of the industrial side that the LTL guys are involved in that it's hurting some of those guys, and what I mean by that is down 2% to 3% kind of numbers, but yeah, I'm seeing some stress on the LTL side on probably half of our business.

我看到很多零擔運輸人員參與的工業方面正在損害其中一些人的利益，我的意思是下降了 2% 到 3% 左右的數字，但是是的，我看到零擔運輸方面可能對我們一半的業務造成了壓力。

So that is something that we're just having to work through and see what happens and as well as when I say LTL, I'm also included in their freight forwarders and air freight industry, that we haul for and all that segment of substitute service.

所以這是我們必須努力解決的問題，看看會發生什麼，當我說 LTL 時，我也包括他們的貨運代理和空運行業，我們為其提供運輸服務以及所有替代服務部分。

And how about AAT, David?

那麼 AAT 怎麼樣，大衛？

AAT, Daniel, it's they've had a good first quarter and are looking good going into the second quarter, so that that business has continued to perform nicely. We've done some things strategically to continue to expand equipment types that we offer in that space and so we get more at that.

AAT，丹尼爾，他們第一季的業績表現良好，第二季的業績看起來也不錯，因此他們的業務繼續表現良好。我們已經採取了一些策略措施來繼續擴大我們在該領域提供的設備類型，因此我們在該領域獲得更多。

And that's been a really good strategic move and we're going to continue to do that, have some more things in the hopper so we can continue to get more, the more at bats, the more times you're going to hit, and so continue to be really happy with that business and its performance.

這是一個非常好的策略舉措，我們將繼續這樣做，準備更多東西，這樣我們就可以繼續獲得更多，擊球次數越多，擊球次數就越多，因此我們會繼續對這項業務及其表現感到非常滿意。

And then maybe Tripp, David just talked about how many deals are out there in the M&A market, but how's your appetite for M&A in this environment, given the uncertainties? I think you did introduce a new $50 million repurchase program, so should we take that as an indication that you view the buyback as a higher risk adjusted return than M&A, or how should we think about your appetite for deploying capital?

然後也許 Tripp，David 剛才談到了併購市場上有多少交易，但考慮到不確定性，您對這種環境下的併購興趣如何？我認為您確實推出了一項新的 5000 萬美元回購計劃，那麼我們是否應該將此視為您認為回購比併購具有更高的風險調整回報的跡象，或者我們應該如何看待您對部署資本的興趣？

No, I think it's the same. Our playbook has basically remained unchanged. We think we've got a good deal now with the share repurchases and we continue to look at M&A deals as they come up, but I think the key that we always talk about is being disciplined on what we need and what we -- what fits our strategy, what fits our culture, what fits our segments, and what we can execute on well.

不，我認為是一樣的。我們的劇本基本上保持不變。我們認為，現在股票回購交易很划算，我們也在繼續關注即將出現的併購交易，但我認為，我們一直談論的關鍵是要嚴格遵守我們的需要和我們想要的東西——什麼符合我們的戰略，什麼符合我們的文化，什麼適合我們的細分市場，以及什麼我們能夠很好地執行。

So we're going to continue to look at M&A deals and I think where you'll see us deploy capital in that manner, but if the right one doesn't come along, we may not do one. So that's the biggest trap I think we could fall into is trying to do one, just to do one and not being right for the long term.

因此，我們將繼續關注併購交易，我想你會看到我們以這種方式部署資本，但如果沒有合適的交易，我們可能不會做。所以我認為我們可能陷入的最大陷阱就是試圖做一件事，只是做一件事，而從長遠來看並不正確。

Daniel, I'll add to what Tripp said. Having the share repurchase is not going to preclude us from doing the right deal if the right deal comes across. That said, we're not in love. We're just doing a deal just to do a deal. So I would say you could -- we're going to keep looking and keep doing the share repurchase and over time I think it'll work out.

丹尼爾，我要補充一下特里普所說的話。如果遇到適當的交易，股票回購並不會妨礙我們進行適當的交易。話雖如此，我們並沒有相愛。我們只是為了達成交易而達成交易。所以我想說你可以——我們將繼續尋找並繼續進行股票回購，隨著時間的推移，我認為它會奏效。

And I would just input and we noted this in the release that our CapEx this year is going to be much less than what it was last year and I think on a we probably have more EBITDA this year just with the growth -- year-over-year growth and some of the truckload business, the poultry business. And so I anticipate, we don't have a stated goal on leverage, but I'm not concerned about getting over 2 times.

我只是想輸入一下，我們在新聞稿中指出，我們今年的資本支出將比去年少得多，而且我認為，由於同比增長以及部分卡車業務和家禽業務的增長，我們今年的 EBITDA 可能會更高。因此我預計，我們沒有明確的槓桿目標，但我並不擔心超過 2 倍。

I think somewhere between 1 and 2 times is where we want to operate the EBITDA leverage. And with the reduced CapEx this year, it kind of affords us the opportunity to do these things without getting too extended in a situation like this.

我認為我們希望 EBITDA 槓桿率在 1 到 2 倍之間。由於今年資本支出減少，我們有機會做這些事情，而不必在這種情況下花費太多時間。

And then maybe let's clarify there on the CapEx outlook is what part of the CapEx budget are you reducing is just fewer trucks rolling stock?

然後也許我們可以澄清一下資本支出前景，您減少的資本支出預算的哪一部分只是更少的卡車車輛？

It's not what I would say is last year from a CapEx perspective we had a ton of growth in poultry, very CapEx intensive business, and essentially doubled the size of that business. And so we had a lot of growth CapEx in our 2024 number and 2025 is while there is some growth and we do anticipate some growth in our asset-based businesses, it won't be nearly as much as we saw last year. And so I'm thinking that this year is a more normalized CapEx -- like a maintenance CapEx year.

我想說的是，從資本支出的角度來看，去年我們的家禽業務實現了大幅成長，這是資本支出非常密集的業務，業務規模基本上翻了一番。因此，我們在 2024 年和 2025 年的數據中都有很大成長資本支出，雖然也會有一些成長，而且我們確實預期資產型業務也會有一些成長，但不會像去年那麼多。所以我認為今年的資本支出將更加正常——就像維護資本支出年一樣。

So just think about it and then $75 million to $80 million total, of which we did almost [20] of net CapEx in the first quarter. So we're on pace and I think we'll generate a good sufficient, a lot more free cash this year than we did last year.

所以想想看，總共 7500 萬到 8000 萬美元，其中我們在第一季完成了近 [20] 的淨資本支出。所以我們的進度很好，我認為今年我們將產生足夠的自由現金，比去年多得多。

Great. Appreciate all the color. Best of luck.

偉大的。欣賞所有的色彩。祝你好運。

And then one other thing about LTL, one of the statements that our LTL guys were making in the last week is that they just haven't seen the seasonal trend that's normal. They haven't seen it pick up, so that's another side note.

關於 LTL 的另一件事，我們的 LTL 人員上週發表的聲明之一是，他們還沒有看到正常的季節性趨勢。他們還沒有看到它回升，所以這是另一個側注。

Jeff Kauffman, Vertical Research Partners.

傑夫·考夫曼（Jeff Kauffman），Vertical Research Partners 的合夥人。

I was just kind of curious, could you dive a little deeper into this, protein business and how avian flu impacted? I know it happens every year, but you've only had this for about two years, so it's still kind of new to us when this happens, I guess fleets get slaughtered and then they get repopulated and then we eventually grow back. And where are we in that process and when should we see this? I know you mentioned little chickens eat less than big chickens, but when should we see this start to normalize?

我只是有點好奇，您能否更深入地探討一下蛋白質業務以及禽流感的影響？我知道這種事每年都會發生，但這種情況才持續了大約兩年，所以當這種情況發生時，對我們來說還是有點新鮮，我想艦隊會被屠殺，然後它們會重新填充，然後我們最終會重新發展。我們處於這個過程的哪個階段？什麼時候我們能夠看到它？我知道您提到小雞比大雞吃得少，但是我們什麼時候才能看到這種情況開始正常化呢？

Here's what I tell you, Jeff, is that the, let's go back to the beginning which you're right, there's some amount of bird flu every year. I would say just in talking to the in some industry folks, this year is probably as bad as any year it has been.

傑夫，我要告訴你的是，讓我們回到最初，你是對的，每年都會有一定數量的禽流感。我想說，在與一些業內人士交談時，今年的情況可能與以往任何一年一樣糟糕。

Let's say in the in the top two in the last 15 years, the timing of it is generally the same kind of flu season that, us as humans have kind of early to mid-fall to midwinter, so kind of an October to February kind of thing. And it has to do with the migratory birds. That's what carries the bird flu, and actually, that that's how the poultry fleets or flocks get it is from migratory birds that are migrating from, up in Canada to either the southern US or Central America. And so they get it, they're not migratory patterns.

假設在過去 15 年中排名前兩位的流感季節，其發生時間通常與我們人類的流感季節相同，即從初秋到仲秋再到仲冬，也就是從 10 月到 2 月。這與候鳥有關。這就是攜帶禽流感病毒的病毒，實際上，家禽群或家禽群就是透過從加拿大遷移到美國南部或中美洲的候鳥來感染病毒的。所以他們明白了，這不是遷徙模式。

And so you said it exactly right. I mean, when these flocks get infested with this, the regulations, the Department of Ag regulations in those states, they go in and they'll terminate those flocks. So what that does, it kind of hurts you on two sides. It hurts you from on the live haul side where there's no birds to take to the processing plant.

所以你說得完全正確。我的意思是，當這些羊群受到這種疾病的侵擾時，這些州的農業部法規就會出台，並消滅這些羊群。所以，這樣做會為你帶來兩方面的傷害。從活禽運輸的角度來說，這會對您造成傷害，因為沒有禽鳥可以運送到加工廠。

And then the other part is, as you quoted me, they repopulate it with the little birds and the little birds eat less than the big birds, so your feed volumes are down. And so it just takes some time to get the pump kind of primed back up when all that happens and I would say.

另一部分是，正如你引用的，他們用小鳥重新填充它，而小鳥吃的比大鳥少，所以你的飼料量下降了。所以當所有這一切發生時，只需要一些時間來讓幫浦重新啟動，我想說。

We are, we felt it, in the fourth quarter. I'd say we felt it January, February, March, we're filling out a little bit in April. I would say by June we should be back at 100%. We're probably at 85% today. We'll be at, 90% in May and back at 100% in June. As far as capacity and so there should be some, again, improvements in the results, once we get that back on plane.

我們在第四季感受到了這一點。我想說我們在一月、二月、三月感受到了這一點，四月我們感受到了一點。我想說，到六月，我們的恢復率應該會達到 100%。今天我們大概已經完成 85%了。五月我們的產能將達到 90%，六月將恢復至 100%。就容量而言，一旦我們恢復正常，結果應該會再次有所改善。

When you came into this business, you ever thought you'd be talking about migratory bird patterns?

當您進入這個行業時，您是否曾想過要談論候鳥圖案？

(multiple speakers) It's winter, I tell you that.

（多位發言者）我告訴你們，現在是冬天。

So I think I kind of understand what's happening in dedicated and expedited. Can you give me -- then with the tuck-in acquisition you didn't dedicate. Could you talk a little bit about that and then could you also give me an idea of what's hitting revenue in warehouse and managed transportation and how we should think of that moving forward?

所以我想我大概了解了專用和加急方面發生的事情。你能給我──然後是你們沒有奉獻的收購嗎？您能否稍微談談這個問題，然後您能否告訴我哪些因素影響了倉庫和管理運輸的收入，以及我們應該如何看待未來的發展？

Yeah, I mean, yeah, the whole tuck-in acquisition, it was, a caller earlier asked about M&A, and so we had the opportunity to do a tuck-in on kind of a specialty dedicated fleet, and when we talk about specialty trucks, specialty drivers, specialty trailer, that business met one of those criteria. It's a business that David and I had a little bit of history with the owner.

是的，我的意思是，是的，整個收購是這樣的，之前有一位來電者詢問過併購事宜，所以我們有機會對一種專業專用車隊進行收購，當我們談論專業卡車、專業司機、專業拖車時，這項業務符合其中一個標準。我和戴維與這家公司的老闆有過一些交情。

It was a good business and it was on the smaller side, but the owner was in a place he wanted to exit and it was a business we thought we could fold in, and then actually grow. And so I mean it was a 60, 70 truck kind of deal and we think long term we can turn into a 125, 130 truck kind of deal at solid revenue per truck per week, solid margins.

這是一家不錯的公司，雖然規模較小，但所有者想要退出，而我們認為我們可以將其收編，然後真正成長。所以我的意思是，這原本是一筆 60 或 70 輛卡車的交易，我們認為從長遠來看，我們可以將其轉變為 125 或 130 輛卡車的交易，每輛卡車每週都能獲得穩定的收入和穩定的利潤。

And it's in a pretty defensible space that not everybody's in because of some of the specialty nature. So again, just another example of how some deals are big, some deals are little, it was a little deal. We've seen basically none of the earnings from it. We'll start seeing a little bit of that in the second quarter.

這是一個相當具有防禦性的領域，由於其特殊性，並不是每個人都能進入。所以，再說一次，這只是另一個例子，說明有些交易很大，有些交易很小，這是一筆小交易。我們基本上沒有看到它帶來的任何利益。我們將在第二季開始看到一些這樣的情況。

As it relates to warehousing and managed freight, the warehousing business, I would say, revenue is relatively consistent. The margins were down a little bit in Q1, but I think, some of that was, I mean, again, the weather affected them with storms and ice and warehouses shut down. You can't build for the services if none of the employees can show up. And so I think you'll see warehouse still a little better in Q2 and continue to get better throughout the year.

就倉儲和管理貨運而言，我想說倉儲業務的收入相對穩定。第一季的利潤率略有下降，但我認為，部分原因是，天氣再次影響了利潤率，風暴、冰雪以及倉庫關閉。如果沒有員工到場，您就無法提供服務。因此我認為你會看到倉庫在第二季會稍微好一些，並且全年都會繼續好轉。

We had a startup, a good startup in Q1 on the warehousing side that we hadn't seen the full benefit of and have got another pretty large startup coming later in the year, and so a small startup in Q2. So again, I would say that business is kind of steady as she goes. The pipeline looks good, the team looks good, the margins look good, the return on invested capital is great, and so we'll just keep going down the path on that business.

我們在第一季在倉儲方面有一家新創公司，這是一家不錯的新創公司，但我們還沒有看到它的全部好處，今年晚些時候還會有另一家相當大的新創公司，所以在第二季度會有一家小型新創公司。所以我想說，隨著她的發展，業務會比較穩定。通路看起來不錯，團隊看起來不錯，利潤看起來不錯，投資報酬率很高，所以我們會繼續沿著這條業務道路前進。

Managed freight, I would say, we're doing some things differently, we hired about a year ago, you guys know we hired Dustin Koehl, our new Chief Operating Officer, and so he's brought some new wrinkles to the game plan, and I think we're starting to see better overflow freight between some of our asset businesses and our non-asset businesses.

我想說，在管理貨運方面，我們正在做一些不同的事情，大約一年前我們聘請了新任首席營運官達斯汀·科爾 (Dustin Koehl)，他為我們的計劃帶來了一些新變化，我認為我們開始看到我們的一些資產業務和非資產業務之間更好的溢流貨運。

And then we've had some customer growth in managed freight as well, and I think you'll see revenue in that business up in Q2 and Q3, and margins compared to what you saw last year. So really happy with managed freight and warehousing and not only where they're at, but where they're going.

然後，我們在託管貨運方面也取得了一些客戶成長，我認為你會看到該業務的收入在第二季和第三季有所上升，利潤率與去年相比也有所上升。因此，我對管理的貨運和倉儲感到非常滿意，不僅知道他們目前所在的位置，還知道他們要去的地方。

All right, thank you very much.

好的，非常感謝。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Gentlemen, at this time there appears to be no further questions.

先生們，目前似乎沒有其他問題了。

All right, everyone, thank you for joining our first quarter earnings call. Appreciate everybody attending and we look forward to speaking with you next quarter. Thank you.

好的，大家，感謝你們參加我們的第一季財報電話會議。感謝大家的參加，我們期待下個季度與您交談。謝謝。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for attending.

今天的電話會議到此結束。謝謝您的出席。