Forward Air Corp (Delaware) (FWRD) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the Forward Air fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions)

歡迎參加 Forward Air 2024 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。（操作員指示）

I would now like to turn the call over to Tony Carreno, Senior Vice President of Treasury and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我想將電話轉給財務和投資者關係高級副總裁 Tony Carreno。請繼續。

Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Forward Air's fourth-quarter and year-end 2024 earnings conference call. With us this afternoon are Shawn Stewart, Chief Executive Officer; and Jamie Pearson, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝接線員，大家下午好。歡迎參加 Forward Air 2024 年第四季和年終收益電話會議。今天下午和我們一起的有首席執行官肖恩·斯圖爾特 (Shawn Stewart)；以及首席財務官 Jamie Pearson。

By now, you should have received the press release announcing Forward Air's fourth quarter 2024 results, which was also furnished to the SEC on Form 8-K. We have also filed a slide presentation outlining fourth quarter 2024 earnings highlights any business update. Both the press release and slide presentation for this call are accessible on the Investor Relations section of Forward Air's website at forwardair.com.

到目前為止，您應該已經收到了宣布 Forward Air 2024 年第四季度業績的新聞稿，該新聞稿也以 8-K 表格的形式提交給了美國證券交易委員會 (SEC)。我們還提交了一份幻燈片演示，概述了 2024 年第四季度的收益亮點和業務更新。本次電話會議的新聞稿和投影片簡報均可在 Forward Air 網站 forwardair.com 的投資者關係部分查閱。

Please be aware that certain statements in the company's earnings release announcement and on this conference call are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This include statements, which are based on expectations, intentions, and projections regarding the company's future performance, anticipated events or trends and other matters that are not historical facts, including statements regarding our fiscal year 2025.

請注意，公司收益發佈公告和本次電話會議中的某些聲明屬於《1995 年私人證券訴訟改革法案》所定義的前瞻性聲明。這些聲明包括基於對公司未來業績、預期事件或趨勢以及其他非歷史事實的預期、意圖和預測的聲明，包括有關我們 2025 財年的聲明。

These statements are not a guarantee of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For additional information concerning these risks and factors, please refer to our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the press release and slide presentation relating to this earnings call.

這些聲明並非對未來績效的保證，並且受已知和未知的風險、不確定性和其他因素的影響，這些因素可能導致實際結果與此類前瞻性聲明所表達或暗示的結果有重大差異。有關這些風險和因素的更多信息，請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件以及與本次收益電話會議相關的新聞稿和幻燈片演示。

Listeners are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this call. The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, unless required by law.

敬請聽眾不要過度依賴這些前瞻性陳述，這些陳述僅代表本次電話會議召開之日的觀點。除非法律要求，否則本公司不承擔更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務，無論由於新資訊、未來事件或其他原因。

During the call, there may also be a discussion of financial metrics that do not conform to US generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP. Management uses non-GAAP measures internally to understand, manage, and evaluate our business and make operating decisions. Definitions and reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in today's press release and slide presentation.

通話期間，也可能討論不符合美國公認會計原則或 GAAP 的財務指標。管理階層在內部使用非公認會計準則指標來了解、管理和評估我們的業務並做出營運決策。今天的新聞稿和幻燈片簡報中包含了這些非 GAAP 指標的定義以及與最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標的對照表。

I will now turn the call over to Shawn.

現在我將電話轉給肖恩。

Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining the call today. I appreciate your interest in Forward Air and the transformational journey we are on. As is always the case with turnarounds with this much size, scale, and complexity, there are usually bumps along the way, and this quarter was no exception, but we remain resolute and excited about our future.

大家下午好，感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。感謝您對 Forward Air 以及我們正在進行的轉型之旅的關注。正如這種規模、範圍和複雜性的轉變一樣，一路上總會遇到坎坷，本季度也不例外，但我們對未來仍然充滿堅定和興奮。

Today, there are three main topics that I want to cover. First, I will review some of the key achievements in 2024. Second, I will share some thoughts on our 2025 priorities, and I will close with an overview of the fourth-quarter performance.

今天，我想講三個主要話題。首先，我將回顧2024年的一些主要成就。其次，我將分享一些關於我們 2025 年優先事項的想法，最後我將概述第四季的表現。

For the full year 2024, we reported consolidated EBITDA of $308 million, which is near the top of our guidance range of $300 million to $310 million. We successfully closed out a very busy and noisy year that began with the closing of the Omni transaction last January, just 13 months ago. I joined the company three months after the transaction closed and quickly centered our efforts on stabilizing the company, integrating the networks, and I am pleased with the pace and rigor at which we moved.

就 2024 年全年而言，我們報告的綜合 EBITDA 為 3.08 億美元，接近我們 3 億至 3.1 億美元的預期範圍上限。我們成功地結束了非常忙碌和喧鬧的一年，這一年始於去年 1 月，也就是 13 個月前，Omni 交易的結束。交易結束三個月後，我加入了公司，並迅速將精力集中在穩定公司、整合網路方面，我對我們的行動速度和嚴謹性感到滿意。

Over the course of the year, we built out our leadership team that has both the experience and industry know-how to not only lead these two legacy companies into the future but also unite them to get the most out of their individual and combined value props. Above the team, most importantly, in our first year as a combined company we put the customer first and focused on providing best-in-class solutions, leveraging the known capabilities of both Forward Air and Omni's global footprint.

在這一年中，我們組建了一支擁有豐富經驗和行業知識的領導團隊，他們不僅可以帶領這兩家傳統公司走向未來，還可以團結他們，最大限度地發揮他們各自和綜合的價值主張。除了團隊之外，最重要的是，在合併後的第一年，我們將客戶放在第一位，並專注於提供一流的解決方案，利用 Forward Air 和 Omni 的全球影響力。

We are building on their individual strengths and leveraging the global freight forwarding capabilities of the legacy Omni entities while continuing our domestic expedited LTL truckload and intermodal offerings. We remain committed to providing our customers, including and especially customers with the same award-winning service they have relied on for years to grow their businesses.

我們正在利用各自優勢並利用傳統 Omni 實體的全球貨運代理能力，同時繼續提供國內加急 LTL 整車運輸和多式聯運服務。我們始終致力於為我們的客戶（包括特別是客戶提供多年來他們一直依賴的、用於發展業務的屢獲殊榮的服務）。

We view ourselves as moving more than just our customer shipments. With an undisputed dedication, we take ownership of their supply chain challenges solving them with unique solutions that deliver possibilities for growth, innovation, and most importantly, a peace of mind.

我們認為自己不僅僅運送客戶的貨物。我們以無可爭議的奉獻精神承擔起解決其供應鏈挑戰的責任，並透過獨特的解決方案解決這些挑戰，為成長、創新以及最重要的安心提供可能性。

We delivered on the targeted $75 million of integration synergies and cost savings that were circled out at the onset of the transaction. We are at pace to exceed the initial target and remain on schedule to be at a full run rate of savings and complete the network integration at the end of the first quarter of 2025. These initiatives reduce our operating expenses, our real estate footprint, and employee head count and serve as the springboard for the transformational phase we are entering.

我們實現了交易開始時確定的 7500 萬美元的整合協同效應和成本節約目標。我們正努力超越最初的目標，並按計畫全力節省成本，並在 2025 年第一季末完成網路整合。這些舉措減少了我們的營運費用、房地產足跡和員工數量，並成為我們正在進入的轉型階段的跳板。

In the second and fourth quarters of 2024 we took additional steps to reducing operating expenses by incremental approximately $40 million per annum, including reductions in our workforce, direct operating expenses, and the use of third-party vendors. To date, we have executed on more than $100 million in annualized savings from synergies and cost-out actions contributing to a more financially efficient company while maintaining our high level of customer satisfaction.

在 2024 年第二季和第四季度，我們採取了額外措施，每年逐步減少約 4,000 萬美元的營運費用，包括裁員、減少直接營運費用和使用第三方供應商。迄今為止，我們透過綜效和成本削減行動實現了每年超過 1 億美元的節省，這有助於提高公司的財務效率，同時保持較高的客戶滿意度。

During the year, we made several key additions to our leadership team, including Jamie Pearson as Chief Financial Officer; Jessica Heron as Supply Chain Solutions and Customer Experience Officer; Doug Smith as Chief People Officer; and most recently, Eric Brandt, as Chief Commercial Officer. In addition, Tim Osborne assumed the responsibility for all North America ground operations.

在這一年中，我們對領導團隊進行了幾項重要補充，包括任命 Jamie Pearson 為財務長； Jessica Heron 擔任供應鏈解決方案和客戶體驗長； Doug Smith 擔任首席人力資源長；最近， Eric Brandt 被任命為首席商務長。此外，蒂姆·奧斯本還負責所有北美地面行動。

With our management team largely complete, I could not be more excited about the talent and industry experience they all bring. As we look ahead, the foundational changes and investments made in 2024 are expected to benefit 2025 and beyond. Our priorities include driving profitable long-term growth by expanding synergistic service offerings for our customers, which will in turn lead to a higher and more profitable revenue.

我們的管理團隊已基本完成，我對他們所帶來的才華和行業經驗感到非常興奮。展望未來，2024 年做出的基礎性變革和投資預計將使 2025 年及以後受益。我們的首要任務包括透過擴大為客戶提供的協同服務來推動長期獲利成長，從而帶來更高、更有利可圖的收入。

In parallel, operationally, we are officially turning our efforts from completing the integration to a much broader transformation strategy, focused on rationalizing our IT systems improving the quality of our data and decision-making. We are also standing up a global shared services organization to assist us in integrating and managing our back-office operations.

同時，在營運方面，我們正式將精力從完成整合轉向更廣泛的轉型策略，重點是合理化我們的 IT 系統，提高我們的數據和決策品質。我們也正在建立一個全球共享服務組織來幫助我們整合和管理後台營運。

With Eric joining the company in January in leading our worldwide sales team, we are excited to grow revenue across our newly aligned global business. He is a seasoned leader with a deep understanding of global logistics and supply chain management. Given his tenure and experience in the space, he has a first-hand knowledge and relationship with our existing customer base and has already set the path for our future growth.

隨著 Eric 於一月份加入公司並領導我們的全球銷售團隊，我們很高興能夠透過新調整的全球業務實現收入成長。他是一位經驗豐富的領導者，對全球物流和供應鏈管理有著深刻的理解。鑑於他在該領域的任職經歷和經驗，他與我們現有的客戶群有著第一手的了解和關係，並且已經為我們未來的發展奠定了基礎。

Regarding transformation, it is being led by our transformation management office and will impact legacy Forward Air plus the 12 companies that make up Omni that were previously not integrated. During 2025 and with some work continuing into 2026, we plan to move away from multiple TMS, ERP, and HRIS systems to a rationalized IT network that is more appropriate for a unified singular company. We expect these changes to reduce redundancies and enhance efficiencies across the organization.

至於轉型，則由我們的轉型管理辦公室牽頭，並將影響傳統的 Forward Air 以及之前未整合的 Omni 12 家公司。在 2025 年期間（部分工作將持續到 2026 年），我們計劃從多個 TMS、ERP 和 HRIS 系統轉向更適合統一單一公司的合理化 IT 網路。我們希望這些變化能夠減少冗餘並提高整個組織的效率。

Working with the 6,600 professionals that delivered on the targeted integration synergies gives me confidence that we will be just as successful in executing the transformation. I will wrap up with a few comments on the fourth quarter and then turn the call over to Jamie.

與實現目標整合協同效應的 6,600 名專業人士一起工作，讓我相信我們在執行轉型方面將取得同樣的成功。我將對第四季度發表一些評論，然後將電話轉給傑米。

Our results for the quarter were driven by consistent performance in the Intermodal segment and yet another solid quarter at the Omni Logistics segment achieving its best quarterly reported EBITDA result since the transaction. Those results were further enhanced with additional round of cost reduction actions previously announced that equate to approximately $20 million on an annualized basis.

本季的業績得益於多式聯運部門的穩定表現以及全方位物流部門又一個強勁的季度表現，實現了自交易以來最好的季度 EBITDA 業績。由於先前宣布的額外一輪成本削減措施，這些結果得到了進一步增強，按年率計算，這些措施相當於約 2000 萬美元。

The Expedited Freight segment, on the other hand, did not meet our expectations and income from operations declined compared to a year ago primarily due to the decrease in volumes in line with the market at large and a pricing strategy put in place prior to the transaction that focus more on growth than profitability.

另一方面，加急貨運部門沒有達到我們的預期，營業收入與一年前相比有所下降，這主要是由於貨運量隨整個市場下降，以及交易前製定的定價策略更注重增長而不是盈利能力。

As noted, the decrease in volume is generally in line with the LTL market, which continues to be impacted by the prolonged slowdown in the freight environment. The Expedited Freight segment fundamentals remain intact. We continue to be one of the best providers in the expedited service in all of North America in both on-time service and claims ratio performance. We believe the service we provide will be the ultimate driver of customer retention and growth going forward.

如上所述，貨運量的下降總體上與零擔貨運市場一致，該市場繼續受到貨運環境長期放緩的影響。加急貨運部門的基本面維持不變。我們在準時服務和索賠率表現方面繼續成為整個北美最好的加急服務提供者之一。我們相信，我們提供的服務將成為未來客戶保留和成長的最終驅動力。

The single largest issue was the pricing strategy that we discussed last quarter. What may not be as understood is the change in the mix of freight and how long it takes to remedy historical pricing actions. The change in mix was a shift from our most profitable dense freight and then subsequent growth in our class-based customers. As you know, class-rated tariffs are less profitable than our traditional density rated tariffs, and as everyone knows, it takes months to rectify a single poor pricing decision.

最大的問題是我們上個季度討論的定價策略。人們可能不太理解的是貨運組合的變化以及糾正歷史定價行為需要多長時間。產品組合的變化是從我們最賺錢的密集貨運轉向隨後基於等級的客戶的成長。眾所周知，分級定價關稅的利潤低於我們傳統的密度定價關稅，眾所周知，糾正一個錯誤的定價決策需要數月時間。

As covered on our previously earnings calls, the good news is we started implementing corrective pricing actions during the fourth quarter and are seeing improvement that aligns with our expectations. We expect to see the full impact of the corrective actions by the end of February and expect to shed some poorly priced freight from our system as a result. All else being equal, we also expect to see a commensurate yield improvement in the second quarter and beyond.

正如我們先前的收益電話會議所述，好消息是我們在第四季度開始實施糾正定價措施，並且看到了符合我們預期的改善。我們預計到二月底就能看到糾正措施的全部效果，並預計由此將從我們的系統中剔除一些價格低廉的貨物。在其他條件相同的情況下，我們也預期第二季及以後的收益率將隨之提高。

Our pricing strategy, whether class-based or density-based will reflect the quality of our service we provide. I want to reiterate and ensure you the value and integrity of our network remains intact. Going forward, we expect to closely monitor how our volume is impacted and take appropriate cost actions to mirror the change to profitably run our network.

我們的定價策略，無論是基於等級還是基於密度，都將反映我們所提供服務的品質。我想重申並向你們保證，我們網路的價值和完整性仍然完好無損。展望未來，我們希望密切監控我們的數量受到的影響，並採取適當的成本措施來反映變化，以實現網路獲利運作。

With that, I will now turn the call over to Jamie to go through the results from the quarter.

說完這些，我現在將電話轉給傑米，讓他講解本季的業績。

Thanks, Shawn, and good afternoon, everyone. Getting right to it and beginning with the fourth quarter results. Revenue for the quarter was $633 million; and on a required GAAP reporting basis, it was an 87% or $294 million increase as compared to the fourth quarter of the prior year. The increase over the prior year was largely driven by the Omni transaction.

謝謝，肖恩，大家下午好。馬上開始，先看看第四季的業績。本季營收為 6.33 億美元；根據 GAAP 報告準則，與去年同期相比，成長了 87%，即 2.94 億美元。與去年相比的成長主要得益於 Omni 交易。

Since we did not own Omni in the fourth quarter of 2023, it is difficult to make a meaningful year-over-year comparison, so we'll focus our comparisons for the Omni segment on a sequential basis. To that point, on a sequential and more comparative basis, consolidated revenue remained relatively flat, decreasing 3.5% or $23 million from $656 million last quarter to $633 million this quarter.

由於我們在 2023 年第四季並不擁有 Omni，因此很難進行有意義的同比比較，因此我們將重點按順序對 Omni 部門進行比較。至此，以連續和比較的基礎來看，合併收入保持相對平穩，從上一季的 6.56 億美元下降 3.5% 或 2,300 萬美元至本季的 6.33 億美元。

Looking at our three reporting segments, Expedited Freight, Intermodal, and Omni Logistics revenue at Expedited Freight decreased $13 million or 4.7% to $266 million from the previous year's comparable quarter of $279 million. The decrease was primarily driven by a 5.8% decline in revenue per hundredweight, including fuel surcharge and a 4.3% decrease in tonnage per day.

縱觀我們的三個報告部門，加急貨運、聯運和全程物流的收入從去年同期的 2.79 億美元減少了 1,300 萬美元（即 4.7%），至 2.66 億美元。下降的主要原因是每英擔收入下降 5.8%（包括燃油附加費）以及每日噸位下降 4.3%。

At the Intermodal segment, revenue of $60 million was flat compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, an increase in revenue per shipment of 3.2% and was offset by a decrease in the number of trade shipments of 2.8%. The revenue increase from Omni Logistics which was not included in the previous year's comparable quarter was the full $326 million. On a sequential basis, fourth-quarter revenue at the Omni segment decreased $9 million or 2.7% and compared to the $335 million reported in the third quarter of 2024.

在多式聯運部門，收入為 6,000 萬美元，與 2023 年第四季持平，每批貨物的收入增長 3.2%，但被貿易貨物數量減少 2.8% 所抵消。Omni Logistics 的營收成長（未計入去年同期）高達 3.26 億美元。與上一季相比，Omni 部門第四季營收下降 900 萬美元，降幅為 2.7%，而 2024 年第三季為 3.35 億美元。

For the fourth quarter, we reported consolidated income from continuing operations of $76 million. This includes a goodwill impairment adjustment of $79 million related to the Omni Logistics segment that favorably impacted the quarter. Accounting rules require goodwill impairments to be retrospectively adjusted as purchase accounting adjustments made in the one-year period following an acquisition. We do not expect to record any further adjustments in 2025 as our one-year window is now closed.

第四季度，我們報告的持續經營綜合收入為 7,600 萬美元。其中包括與 Omni Logistics 部門相關的 7,900 萬美元商譽減損調整，這對本季產生了積極影響。會計規則要求商譽減損進行追溯調整，作為收購後一年內進行的購買會計調整。由於我們的一年窗口現已關閉，我們預計 2025 年不會記錄任何進一步的調整。

Consolidated EBITDA, as defined in our credit agreement was $69 million for the fourth quarter or an 11% margin. As you heard from Shawn, for the full year 2024, we reported $308 million, near the top end of our guidance range. The margin for the full year was approximately 12%.

根據我們的信貸協議定義，第四季的合併 EBITDA 為 6,900 萬美元，利潤率為 11%。正如肖恩所說，我們報告的 2024 年全年收入為 3.08 億美元，接近我們指導範圍的最高端。全年利潤率約12%。

Regarding consolidated EBITDA for the prior three quarters, we've adjusted the previous reported amounts by the actions we took in December to improve our cost structure. The credit agreement allows for the inclusion of the unrealized and pro forma savings from these actions to be included in a historical consolidated EBITDA and requires that they be spread back in time to the period in which the expense would have occurred. As such, we adjusted prior quarters to reflect the amounts of the cost savings.

關於前三個季度的合併 EBITDA，我們根據 12 月為改善成本結構所採取的措施對先前報告的金額進行了調整。信貸協議允許將這些行動產生的未實現和形式上的節省納入歷史合併 EBITDA，並要求將其分攤到發生費用的期間。因此，我們調整了前幾季的數據以反映成本節省的金額。

If you would, please reference page 5 of the slide presentation issued today, and you will be able to see what we reported in the past and updated for the most recent cost out and pro forma actions.

如果可以的話，請參考今天發布的幻燈片簡報的第 5 頁，您將能夠看到我們過去的報告以及最新的成本和形式行動的更新。

Given the transaction expenses incurred in the first quarter of 2024 and the ensuing noise in the second to the fourth quarters, we anticipate that the quality of earnings to demonstrably improve in 2025. On a year-over-year basis, the first quarter of '25 will be much cleaner than the first quarter of 2024 and so on. Again, in transparency, we have detailed the information used to build up the consolidated EBITDA results on page 16 of the presentation.

考慮到 2024 年第一季發生的交易費用以及第二季至第四季隨之而來的噪音，我們預計 2025 年的獲利品質將顯著改善。與去年同期相比，2025 年第一季將比 2024 年第一季乾淨得多，依此類推。再次，為了透明起見，我們在簡報的第 16 頁詳細說明了用於建立合併 EBITDA 結果的資訊。

Turning to cash and liquidity, cash used from operations in the fourth quarter was $31 million. As covered in the second quarter earnings call, we discussed inflecting to cash flow positive in the back half of 2024. And to that point, in the third quarter, we reported cash provided by operations of $51 million. Combined with the fourth quarter, net cash provided by operating activities was $20 million compared to the $97 million of cash used in operations in the first half of the year. Definitionally, that is absolutely inflecting positive.

談到現金和流動性，第四季營運所用現金為 3,100 萬美元。如第二季財報電話會議所述，我們討論了在 2024 年下半年實現現金流轉為正值。到目前為止，在第三季度，我們報告的營運活動現金流為 5,100 萬美元。結合第四季度，經營活動提供的淨現金為 2,000 萬美元，而上半年營運活動所用的現金為 9,700 萬美元。從定義上來說，這絕對是正面的改變。

As for liquidity, we ended the fourth quarter with $382 million, $105 million in cash and $277 million in availability under the revolver for a total of $382 million. The $78 million sequential decrease in the third quarter was a result of a $40 million reduction to the credit facility size in conjunction with the amendment, and a $38 million use of cash, which was predominantly impacted by $60 million in interest expense payments made during the fourth quarter.

至於流動性，截至第四季末，我們的資產為 3.82 億美元，其中現金 1.05 億美元，循環信貸額度為 2.77 億美元，總計 3.82 億美元。第三季季減 7,800 萬美元，是由於修​​訂導致信貸額度減少 4,000 萬美元，以及現金使用 3,800 萬美元，主要受到第四季度支付的 6,000 萬美元利息費用的影響。

And as usual, and commensurate with my past practice, I would like to leave you with a few points of life for the quarter, the first of which is the amendment. While it may feel like a long time ago, it was literally less than two months ago that we amended our credit facility. The great news is the two months of preparation and negotiations should benefit us for years to come.

像往常一樣，也按照我過去的做法，我想給你們留下本季生活的幾點要點，其中第一點就是修正案。雖然感覺像是很久以前的事情，但實際上我們修改信貸安排還不到兩個月前。好消息是，這兩個月的準備和談判將使我們在未來幾年受益。

As a refresher, we treated a onetime $40 million reduction in the facility size for four years of additional financial flexibility with significant covenant headroom. Most of you who know me know I do not take a reduction in liquidity lightly. But all things considered, this was a very good trade for us as it should alleviate covenant concerns over the immediate future as we ended the year with $59 million in cushion which, in turn, will allow us to focus on executing our transformation. We are incredibly fortunate to have the support of our lenders for which I owe a debt of gratitude and appreciation to all of those involved.

回顧一下，我們將一次性 4000 萬美元的設施規模削減換取了四年的額外財務靈活性和相當大的契約空間。大多數認識我的人都知道，我不會輕易減少流動性。但從各方面考慮，這對我們來說是一筆非常好的交易，因為它應該可以減輕我們對近期契約的擔憂，因為我們在年底擁有 5900 萬美元的緩衝資金，這反過來又使我們能夠專注於實現轉型。我們非常幸運能夠得到貸款方的支持，對此我對所有參與的人表示感謝和讚賞。

Point two is our continued focus on cash conversion, liquidity and more importantly, the results we are seeing. In the first half of '24, much of our cash was consumed by transaction costs, integration expenses, debt principal paydown, and other legacy calls on cash, none of which benefited the company. In the second half of the year, we saw a significant reduction in these items, which contributed to an increase in our cash and cash equivalents balance by $20 million. And again, we ended the year with a little less than $400 million in liquidity.

第二點是我們持續關注現金轉換、流動性，更重要的是，我們看到的結果。在 2024 年上半年，我們的大部分現金都被交易成本、整合費用、債務本金償還和其他遺留的現金需求所消耗，這些都沒有為公司帶來任何好處。在下半年，我們看到這些項目大幅減少，這導致我們的現金和現金等價物餘額增加了 2000 萬美元。到今年年底，我們的流動資金總額略低於 4 億美元。

But ultimately, as Shawn noted, turnarounds of this size, magnitude and complexity are not linear. Some quarters are better than others, and that was certainly the case for us in the fourth quarter. While we could have performed better financially in the fourth quarter, we absolutely killed it in the transformational changes we made to the business that should service the foundation of stability in 2025 and growth in '25 and beyond.

但最終，正如肖恩所指出的，這種規模、程度和複雜性的轉變並不是線性的。有些季度比其他季度要好，第四季的情況確實如此。雖然我們第四季的財務表現本來可以更好，但我們對業務進行的轉型變革絕對成功了，這些變革將為 2025 年的穩定以及 2025 年及以後的成長奠定基礎。

As everyone knows, there is always a lag from the time that cultural changes are injected into a company's DNA and the time that they bear fruit, and '24 was that pivotal period of time. And I'm very much looking forward to what we can deliver as a combined company.

眾所周知，從文化變革注入公司 DNA 到產生成果總是存在著一個滯後，而《24》就是這個關鍵時期。我非常期待我們合併後的公司能有怎樣的成果。

Finally, regarding the strategic alternatives review that we announced last month, as we indicated in that press release, we do not intend to disclose developments related to this process until the Board determines that further disclosure is both appropriate and where necessary, other than to say that it is progressing as expected. As such, we respectfully ask you to keep your questions focused on our earnings as we will not be sharing any information about the process.

最後，關於我們上個月宣布的戰略替代方案審查，正如我們在新聞稿中所指出的，我們不打算披露與這一進程相關的進展，直到董事會確定進一步披露是適當的和必要的，除了說它正在按預期進展。因此，我們恭敬地請求您將問題集中在我們的收入上，因為我們不會分享有關該過程的任何資訊。

I will now pass the mic back over to Shawn for closing comments before Q&A.

現在，我將把麥克風交還給 Shawn，讓他在問答之前發表結束語。

Thank you, Jamie. I am proud of what our team accomplished in 2024. We know we have more work to do to achieve the results we know we are capable of delivering. We started 2024 playing a lot of defense and transitioned to play in more offense by the end of the year, serving as a springboard for 2025 and beyond.

謝謝你，傑米。我為我們團隊在 2024 年所取得的成就感到自豪。我們知道，為了實現我們有能力實現的成果，我們還有很多工作要做。我們從 2024 年開始大力防守，到年底轉向加強進攻，為 2025 年及以後的發展奠定了跳板。

Our associates around the world came together as one, and I am confident in our ability to execute our strategy, grow the company, and enhance shareholder value. We will remain focused on meeting our customers' needs and are making the necessary investments that will allow us to benefit from any rebound in the freight environment when it occurs.

我們在世界各地的同事團結一致，我對我們執行策略、發展公司和提高股東價值的能力充滿信心。我們將繼續專注於滿足客戶的需求，並進行必要的投資，以便在貨運環境反彈時受益。

I will now turn the call over to the operator to take questions. Operator?

我現在將把電話轉給接線員來回答問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Bruce Chan, Stifel.

（操作員指示） Bruce Chan，Stifel。

Shawn and Jamie, this is Andrew Cox on for Bruce. Just wanted to touch on the tariff and trade disruptions potentially at Omni. I mean being cognizant that it's kind of hard to keep up with the tariff trade news these days. But would like to just get your perspective on the changes and how you are preparing for the changes that you may be anticipating? Any color on customer discussions or planning here would be helpful.

肖恩和傑米，這是安德魯·考克斯，代替布魯斯。只是想談談 Omni 可能面臨的關稅和貿易中斷問題。我的意思是，要意識到現在很難跟上關稅貿易新聞。但您是否想了解您對這些變化的看法以及您如何為可能預料到的變化做準備？任何有關客戶討論或計劃的細節都會有所幫助。

Andrew, it's Shawn. Thanks for the question. As you said, it's really difficult to project how freight volumes and the revenue might be impacted from these tariffs. I think I've said it in the previous quarters, we are pretty vast in many of the Asian countries, not just China.

安德魯，我是肖恩。謝謝你的提問。正如您所說，很難預測這些關稅將如何影響貨運量和收入。我想我在前幾個季度已經說過了，我們的業務範圍非常廣泛，不僅限於中國。

So we're a lower single digit today ex China into the US. So that trade may continue, and the tariffs will have to be absorbed, or those customers reposition out of other countries. So we don't see a major impact there, probably closer to home, though, regarding Mexico and Canada.

因此，今天除中國外，美國的成長速度都是個位數較低。為了使貿易能夠繼續下去，關稅必須被吸收，或者那些客戶必須轉移到其他國家。因此，我們不會在那裡看到重大影響，但可能更接近國內，例如墨西哥和加拿大。

We've got that 30-day kind of time out period, if you will. But at the same time, the commodities that were mentioned, such as fuel, energy, alcohol, food is not the commodities in our business network. So we don't see a major impact there as well. So we feel pretty good, always subject to change.

如果你願意的話，我們有 30 天的暫停期。但同時，所提到的商品，例如燃料、能源、酒精、食品等，都不是我們業務網路中的商品。所以我們也沒有看到重大影響。所以我們感覺很好，總是會改變。

We're staying as close as everybody else as to the potential of other commodities. But as we see it right now, it's not a major risk to our business.

我們與其他人一樣密切關注其他商品的潛力。但就我們目前所見，這對我們的業務來說並不是什麼重大風險。

Okay. Shawn, that's helpful. And as a follow-up, we've heard some -- whether it be rumors or rumblings of peers standing up potential A to A networks and competition with you all. So we kind of just want to get your perspective on whether you see this happening, whether it's impacting the market to date, and how could you be planning or changing processes to compete in a market that's potentially becoming more competitive over time?

好的。肖恩，這很有幫助。作為後續報導，我們聽到了一些消息——無論是謠言還是同行們的抱怨，他們都在反對潛在的 A 到 A 網路並與你們競爭。因此，我們只是想了解您的看法，您是否認為這種情況會發生，這是否對目前的市場產生了影響，以及您如何規劃或改變流程以在可能隨著時間的推移而變得更加具有競爭力的市場中競爭？

Yes, sure. I love this question. So we like competitors. It's what keeps you sharp in life. And I would also say, at the same time, people that are trying to stand up a real network, I wish them the best.

是的，當然。我喜歡這個問題。所以我們喜歡競爭對手。它能讓你的生活保持敏銳。同時，我還要說，對於那些試圖建立真正網絡的人們，我祝他們一切順利。

There's a difference in people playing in consolidation and heavy haul lanes and it's truly setting up a true network. But our strategy here is while there are competitors, many of whom we've worked with for years and respect a lot, we got to stay focused on ourselves and differentiate ourselves through the technology, the service that we offer is unmatched, especially with our visibility tool.

人們在整合和重載航線上的表現是有區別的，這確實是一個真正的網路的建立。但我們的策略是，雖然有競爭對手，其中許多我們已經合作多年並且非常尊重，但我們必須專注於自己，並透過科技使自己與眾不同，我們提供的服務是無與倫比的，特別是我們的視覺化工具。

So our value isn't just offering low rate and doing what tactics they're putting in place because that only lasts so long. But truly more meaningful is what we do, what we offer, what we service and best-in-class people in the industry, and we're going to stay steadfast continuing to improve day-on-day and offer best-in-class for what we truly are.

因此，我們的價值不僅僅在於提供低利率並採取他們正在實施的策略，因為這種策略只能持續一段時間。但真正更有意義的是我們所做的事情、我們提供的東西、我們提供的服務以及業內一流的人才，我們將堅定不移地繼續日復一日地進步，並提供我們真正一流的服務。

Okay. I'll pass it back to the competitors to keep us sharp.

好的。我會將其傳回給競爭對手，以讓我們保持敏銳。

Bascome Majors, Susquehanna.

巴斯科姆梅傑斯，薩斯奎漢納。

Jamie, you went to talk on the balance sheet a little bit in cash flow. Do you think the business can be cash flow positive this quarter without the bond payment? And any other thoughts on kind of cash flow seasonality tops down as we look forward in the next three, six months?

傑米，你剛才在資產負債表的現金流部分談了一點。您認為本季即使不支付債券，企業現金流能為正嗎？展望未來三至六個月，您對現金流季節性還有其他看法嗎？

Yes. Bascome, I love the way you guys always like to get me into trying to give guidance, of which I will politely and respectfully pass, other than to say we have about $170 million a year in interest payments between the term loan and the senior secured notes and whatever the undrawn portion of the RCF.

是的。巴斯科姆，我喜歡你們總是讓我嘗試給出指導的方式，對此我會禮貌而恭敬地傳達，但要說的是，我們每年在定期貸款和優先擔保票據以及 RCF 的未提取部分之間支付的利息約為 1.7 億美元。

So it really doesn't take a lot once we get through all the transaction expenses from the Omni deal plus all the legacy earnouts, plus working capital true ups, plus all the consultants that we had to pay. If we can just get back to running the basics of our business, it doesn't take a lot to be free cash flow positive. We actually demonstrated that in the third quarter of this year.

因此，一旦我們支付了 Omni 交易的所有交易費用、所有遺留收益、營運資本調整以及我們必須支付的所有顧問費用，實際上並不需要花費太多。如果我們能夠重新回歸業務的基本運營，那麼就不需要花費太多精力就能實現自由現金流為正。我們實際上在今年第三季就證明了這一點。

And if you think about -- I think it was in the second or third quarter, most of the last call that I said we'll be inflecting cash flow positive in the second half of this year, combining the third and fourth quarters, it's exactly what we did. So we just need to keep executing is what it amounts to be. Since it's an asset-light business model, CapEx isn't that much. The biggest fixed cost we have is interest. And again, it's only about $170 million a year.

如果你仔細想想——我想是在第二季度或第三季度，上次我說過，我們將在今年下半年實現現金流為正，結合第三季度和第四季度，這正是我們所做的。因此，我們只需要繼續執行。由於它是一種輕資產商業模式，因此資本支出並不多。我們最大的固定成本是利息。而且，每年也只有大約 1.7 億美元。

And as we think about the business and what it could be worth on a sum-of-the-parts basis, is there anything particularly different in the unlevered cash generating potential of your different segments relative to their EBITDA? I just want to think through the free cash flow and if EBITDA is representative across the segments?

當我們考慮業務及其在各部分總和基礎上的價值時，不同部門的無槓桿現金產生潛力相對於其 EBITDA 是否存在特別不同？我只是想思考一下自由現金流以及 EBITDA 是否具有代表性？

I'm so sorry, Bascome. I heard every word you said. Can you say that again?

我很抱歉，巴斯科姆。你說的每一個字我都聽到了。你能再說一次嗎？

Yes. Understood. So from a sum-of-the-parts basis, if we're looking at your segments and their cash flow generating potential, is the EBITDA of those businesses representative of their free cash flow generating potential on an unlevered basis? I just want to understand if there's anything unique as we think about where the business generates the cash to support the debt payment.

是的。明白了。因此，從分部總和的角度來看，如果我們查看您的各個部門及其現金流產生潛力，這些業務的 EBITDA 是否代表了它們在無槓桿基礎上的自由現金流產生潛力？我只是想了解，當我們考慮企業從哪裡產生現金來支持債務償還時，是否有任何獨特之處。

Yes, got you. Yes. So a little bit different between the forwarding aspect in the warehouse and VAS piece of our business relative to the LTL expedited and pickup and delivery and even intermodal for that matter. I'd say the good news is it's not that different. On the former of what I said, EBITDA is almost tandem out to unlevered free cash flow.

是的，明白了。是的。因此，我們的倉庫中的貨運方面和 VAS 業務部分與 LTL 加急、提貨和送貨甚至聯運略有不同。我想說的好消息是，情況並沒有太大不同。就我所說的前者而言，EBITDA 幾乎與無槓桿自由現金流同步。

On the latter, given the fact that we are asset-light and given the fact that we are very independent contractor centric, we don't even have that much on CapEx. In any given year, on the $1 billion plus in revenue that we have from the Expedited segment, we spent around $30 million a year. The only CapEx we do really have on the forwarding side would be more along the lines of technology.

對於後者，考慮到我們的資產規模輕，並且我們非常注重獨立承包商，我們的資本支出甚至沒有那麼多。在任何一年中，我們從 Expedited 部門獲得的 10 多億美元收入中，我們每年的支出約為 3,000 萬美元。我們在貨運方面唯一真正的資本支出將更集中在技術方面。

So good news is not that different between the two, a little bit lower on the expedited piece given the tractors or trailers, the forklifts and then what we do for the terminals, but pretty solid cash conversion, which we're going to start focusing in on that, Bascome, next quarter and beyond. Pretty strong cash flow conversion when stood up and operated appropriately.

因此，好消息是，兩者之間並沒有太大區別，考慮到拖拉機或拖車、堆高機以及我們為終端所做的工作，加急部分的費用會稍微低一些，但現金轉換相當穩定，我們將在下個季度及以後開始關注巴斯科姆。只要站起來並適當操作，現金流轉換就會相當強勁。

(Operator Instructions) Stephanie Moore, Jefferies.

（操作員指示）史蒂芬妮·摩爾，傑富瑞。

This is Joe Hafling at Jefferies on for Stephanie Moore. Maybe wanted to drill in on the expedited freight shipments per day. You mentioned fairly consistent with what we've seen in the broader space on LTL, both, I guess, sequentially and year over year on a volume perspective.

我是 Jefferies 的 Joe Hafling，代表 Stephanie Moore 發言。也許想深入了解每天的加急貨運量。您提到的情況與我們在 LTL 領域更廣泛的領域看到的情況相當一致，我想，從數量角度來看，無論是按順序還是按年份來看都是如此。

Shawn, when you started, you had talked to a lot of your customers and quite a lot of fears about customers leaving forward with the transaction. I wanted to maybe come back to that thought. I don't know if you've had any conversations with customers lately, what have they been telling you?

肖恩，當你開始工作時，你已經與很多客戶進行了交談，並且了解到很多關於客戶在交易過程中離開的擔憂。我也許想回到那個想法。我不知道您最近是否與客戶進行過交談，他們告訴了您什麼？

And if we can maybe just unpack that down 9% shipments per day, how much of that is all just macro? Is there any movement with the changes in yield? Was there any movement in customers? I just really want to unpack that.

如果我們可以將每天的出貨量減少到 9%，那麼其中有多少只是宏觀的呢？收益率有什麼變化嗎？顧客有動靜嗎？我只是真的想解開這個謎。

Sure, Joe. So yes, obviously, I talk to them daily. And not much has changed. Our legacy freight forward to customers, obviously, where they're entrepreneurs and where they need and have the ability to build density lanes, they're going to continue to do that.

當然，喬。是的，顯然我每天都和他們交談。並且沒有太大的變化。我們的傳統貨運業務顯然是面向客戶，如果他們是企業家並且有需要並且有能力建造密度車道，他們將繼續這樣做。

And on the onset, of me coming to forward, I said, you got to run your business. I want to be that continual trusted player for you in your Expedited Freight segment on what you can't build out on your own. And so we still see that.

一開始，我便對你說，你必須經營好自己的生意。我希望在您無法獨自完成的加急貨運業務中，成為您始終值得信賴的合作夥伴。所以我們仍然看到這種情況。

In our conversations with them, they pretty much tell us our business is down just like everyone else in the market. So it's not like we're losing confidence with them. Maybe some of them, they haven't told me that to my face. But ultimately, across the board, I think we're in a very good place with those legacy customers, and we continue to service them extremely well. And just overall, where the volume is down is because everyone's volume is down.

在與他們的交談中，他們告訴我們，我們的業務和市場上的其他人一樣陷入低迷。所以這並不意味著我們對他們失去了信心。也許他們中的一些人並沒有當面告訴我這一點。但最終，總體而言，我認為我們與這些傳統客戶的關係非常好，而且我們將繼續為他們提供優質的服務。總體而言，音量下降是因為每個人的音量都下降了。

Got it. And then from a 3Q to 4Q, I guess, Expedited Freight operating margin perspective, it deteriorated a lot because we guess maybe talk about with the focus on cost control and the focus on pricing, what drove was essentially 400 basis points of kind of sequential margin degradation?

知道了。然後從第三季到第四季來看，我想，加急貨運的營業利潤率下降了很多，因為我們猜測可能是因為關注成本控制和定價，導致利潤率連續下降了 400 個基點？

Yes. So Joe, in that aspect, we talked a little bit, I think, in Q3, started in Q2 but the mix -- and when I say the mix, the difference between class-based tariff and density-based tariff really started to shift in mid-2024. And that's when we called out the actions in the pricing.

是的。所以喬，在這方面，我想我們在第三季度、從第二季度開始談了一些，但組合——當我說組合時，基於等級的關稅和基於密度的關稅之間的差異在 2024 年中期才真正開始轉變。那時我們就呼籲採取定價行動。

So what was happening is the class-based tariff customers, mainly our 3PLs. And let me be clear, 3PLs are extremely important to us. It was something that we did wrong, nothing that they did wrong. We had reduced our class-based tariffs astronomically and it's not what we should have done in this type of network.

所以發生的情況是基於類別的關稅客戶，主要是我們的 3PL。我要明確一點，第三方物流對我們來說極為重要。這是我們做錯的事，而不是他們做錯的事。我們已經大幅降低了基於等級的資費，但這並不是我們在這種類型的網路中應該做的。

So what was happening is that's a true door-to-door service. So when you look at door-to-door with our 97% open ZIP codes in the United States, it was not a good situation. So that's what we had to enact and put the first, I'll say, roughly 50% of the tariffs got adjusted at the end of November with not a lot of trade to impact December. And then the remaining majority of them went into effect early February of 2025.

所以，這就是真正的送貨上門服務。因此，當你查看美國 97% 開放的郵遞區號的挨家挨戶情況時，你會發現情況並不好。所以這就是我們必須實施的，首先，我想說，大約 50% 的關稅在 11 月底進行了調整，但對 12 月的影響並不大。其餘大部分將於 2025 年 2 月初生效。

So as we stated, we will start to see some impact in Q1 and a full impact in Q2. We feel extremely strong in the actions that we've taken to keep as much of that volume in our network with those traditional 3PLs on a class-based tariff. But at the same time, we can't continue to, as I like to say, do business with practice -- for practice. We have to make our margins. And so that's really it. We have not seen a degradation from our traditional density-based freight forwarder customers at all.

正如我們所說，我們將在第一季開始看到一些影響，並在第二季度看到全面影響。我們非常堅定地採取了行動，透過基於類別的關稅，將盡可能多的貨物保留在我們的網路中，並與傳統的第三方物流公司合作。但同時，正如我喜歡說的，我們不能繼續用實踐來做生意——為了實踐。我們必須賺取利潤。事實就是這樣。我們根本沒有看到傳統基於密度的貨運代理客戶出現任何退化。

All right. Understood. That's really helpful. And sorry, I want to squeeze in one more question. Maybe with this change, is there any change in thinking on what that margin can kind of look like for that segment in the past and under prior leadership, is kind of a double kind of 10% type bogey.

好的。明白了。這真的很有幫助。抱歉，我還想再問一個問題。也許隨著這種變化，人們對這一細分市場的利潤率的看法是否會發生變化，在過去和前任領導下，這一利潤率有點像 10% 的雙倍增長。

With this change in how you guys are looking at the business, does that kind of fundamentally change maybe what margin you guys are looking to achieve in this segment? Or is there any way of how you guys are thinking about that?

隨著你們看待業務的方式發生這種變化，這是否會從根本上改變你們希望在這一領域實現的利潤率？或者你們對此有何看法？

Yes, Joe. Again, we love the breadcrumbs to potentially trying to give guidance. What I would say is if you just go back and look, the last three quarters it was basically almost double what it is now. You go back in 2023, mid-teens. I'm going to give you a very salient data point relative to where we ended on page 17 of the presentation.

是的，喬。再次強調，我們喜歡麵包屑，因為它可能會提供指導。我想說的是，如果你回顧一下，你會發現過去三個季度它的數量基本上是現在的兩倍。回到 2023 年，那時你正值青春期。我將為您提供與簡報第 17 頁結束位置相關的非常突出的數據點。

You'll see we ended the fourth quarter at 6.6%. And then if you just kind of go down where our peers ended the quarter, you're in the mid-teens to almost 20% EBITDA margin. And I mean this with as much respect as I can muster having spent a long time at a lower service provided LTL carrier, our network is better than those peers that I just spoke to.

您會看到，我們第四季的成長率為 6.6%。然後，如果你按照我們同業在本季結束時的水平來算，你的 EBITDA 利潤率就在十幾歲到近 20% 之間。我非常尊重地說，因為我在一家服務水平較低的零擔貨運承運商工作了很長時間，所以我們的網絡比我剛才交談過的那些同行要好。

And our level of service is better than those peers. And our claims ratio is better than those peers. So in terms of where -- I think you said what should it look like, I'm not going to tell you what I think it should look like. I'll tell you what it was and where our peers are, and I think we're better.

而且我們的服務水準比同行更好。我們的索賠率比同行好。所以就位置而言——我想你說了它應該是什麼樣子，我不會告訴你我認為它應該是什麼樣子。我會告訴你那是什麼以及我們的同行在哪裡，我認為我們做得更好。

Christopher Kuhn, The Benchmark Company.

克里斯多福‧庫恩（Christopher Kuhn），基準公司。

Can you maybe talk about some of the drivers of the Omni business in the quarter? Did it benefit at all from the surge in import volumes that we saw? And how should we think about it for next year?

您能否談談本季 Omni 業務的一些驅動因素？我們看到的進口量激增是否為它帶來了好處？我們該如何考慮明年的事情？

Yes. I'll jump in there, Chris, and then let Shawn clean up. So I'd say three things. One, I did see an increase in air volume, did see an increase in ocean volume, offset by candidly, a pretty soft pricing environment in both those verticals. But you add to that, what's also in Omni is a very strong warehouse and VAS operation that has a pretty good exposure to some tech clients and customers that are just literally knocking the cover off of the ball.

是的。克里斯，我先去那裡，然後讓肖恩清理。所以我想說三件事。首先，我確實看到空中運輸量增加，也看到海洋運輸量增加，但坦白說，這兩個垂直領域的定價環境都相當疲軟。但除此之外，Omni 還擁有非常強大的倉庫和加值服務業務，它對一些技術客戶和消費者有著相當好的曝光度，這些客戶和消費者確實在不斷完善自己。

It's a great portfolio investment, Chris, in terms of you want to invest in the transportation space. This is a pretty damn good one if you want exposure across the spectrum of different services. But I'd say it's a little bit of air, a little bit of ocean offset by net volume that is offset by a slightly softer rating environment, but also supported by strong warehouse and VAS operations.

克里斯，就你想投資交通運輸領域而言，這是一個很棒的投資組合。如果您希望在各種不同的服務範圍內獲得曝光，那麼這是一個非常好的選擇。但我想說，有一點空運、一點海運，但淨運輸量有所抵消，而淨運輸量又受到略微疲軟的評級環境的抵消，但也受到強大的倉庫和增值業務的支持。

Yes. And Chris, I would add, we continue to as we've integrated the networks, I would say our legacy Omni teammates know the forward capabilities much more than they did prior to. And what I mean by that is there's a lot of different ways of thinking of how best to use for both in truckload and in LTL.

是的。克里斯，我想補充一點，隨著我們不斷整合網絡，我想說，我們原有的 Omni 隊友比以前更加了解前向能力。我的意思是，對於如何最好地利用整車運輸和零擔運輸，有很多不同的思考方式。

So from a solutions and penetrating customers in regards to solution selling, there's some uptick there as well. But Jamie is right, very big contract logistics operations in the high-tech space that did extremely well on their omni segment. And we did see an uptick in both our air and ocean segments for sure.

因此，從解決方案和滲透客戶（就解決方案銷售而言）來看，也有一些上升趨勢。但傑米是對的，高科技領域的大型合約物流業務在其全方位領域表現非常出色。我們的空運和海運業務確實都出現了成長。

Yes. And Chris, I'd actually point you to slide 18 of the material and just kind of follow the progression of Omni's performance since the acquisition. It's improved by a couple of hundred basis points every single quarter. I think there's -- in my opinion, at least the market checks that I've heard and they're unsolicited by the way, there's a misperception in the market on Omni.

是的。克里斯，我實際上想請你看一下幻燈片 18，並了解一下自收購以來 Omni 的業績進展。每個季度都會提高幾百個基點。我認為——至少在我看來，根據我所聽到的市場調查，順便說一句，他們是主動提出的，市場對 Omni 有誤解。

If you look at this page, it is performing very well, within a couple of hundred basis points of some of the best competitors in the space. So operationally, it's performing very well. The only thing that we're really spending a fair amount of time on is just the integration of the backoffice operations. Operationally, it's finding its stride.

如果你看一下這個頁面，你會發現它的表現非常好，與該領域一些最好的競爭對手的差距只有幾百個基點。因此從營運角度來看，它的表現非常好。我們真正花費大量時間的唯一事情就是後台操作的整合。從營運角度來看，它正在穩步前進。

Okay. Great. And then I know you don't want to talk too much about guidance, but I mean, as we think about the Expedited Freight and the pricing strategy, should we think about limited buying growth and more pricing? And if that's the case, can you get margins in that business if the volumes are pretty weak?

好的。偉大的。然後我知道你不想談論太多關於指導的事情，但我的意思是，當我們考慮加急貨運和定價策略時，我們是否應該考慮有限的購買增長和更多的定價？如果情況確實如此，那麼如果業務量非常低，您能從該業務中獲得利潤嗎？

Well, you isolate it to expedited. Our expectations are that we will see pricing or yield improvement as we go throughout the year, especially on a comparative basis. What -- I think, Shawn, I don't think -- I know Shawn said in his prepared remarks, is that we are shedding some unprofitable volume. And man, I just have very protective of our network, and Shawn said it very well, we don't need to practice. We don't need to be carrying a negative margin freight on our expedited network.

好吧，你將其隔離以加快速度。我們的預期是，隨著全年的推進，我們將看到定價或收益率的改善，尤其是在比較的基礎上。我認為，肖恩，我不認為——我知道肖恩在他的準備好的演講中說過，我們正在削減一些無利可圖的交易量。夥計，我只是非常保護我們的網絡，肖恩說得很好，我們不需要練習。我們不需要在我們的加急網路上承載負利潤的貨物。

So in terms of what historically has happened when you pushed on pricing yield and push in those areas, yes, you can think that it would be reasonable to see some volume decline, but the opposite is also true. We're already seeing the benefit of the yield and granted by the way two, almost three weeks away from it being implemented in total. So it's too early to tell. We've got to focus on rightsizing the network in terms of the bottom line, but I would agree with you in terms of higher yield and softer volumes.

因此，就歷史上當你推動定價收益率並推動這些領域時發生的情況而言，是的，你可以認為看到一定程度的成交量下降是合理的，但反之亦然。我們已經看到了收益的好處，而且距離全面實施還有兩週到三週的時間。所以現在下結論還太早。我們必須從底線角度關注網路的合理規模，但我同意你關於更高收益和更疲軟的交易量的觀點。

But that doesn't mean, Chris, that we -- I don't have a high expectation of growth by our team. So whether it's keeping the volume or replacing the volume, that's what we're going to do in 2025. So we have the ability. I don't want to do it, but we have the ability.

但克里斯，這並不意味著我們——我對我們團隊的成長沒有很高的期望。因此，無論是保持產量還是替換產量，這都是我們在 2025 年要做的事情。所以我們有能力。我不想這麼做，但我們有能力。

If we don't have the volumes, we can take cost out of the network, for sure. But that's not what I want to have to be forced to do. We got to grow, and that's our focus.

如果我們沒有足夠的數量，我們絕對可以從網路中扣除成本。但這不是我想要被迫做的事。我們必須成長，這就是我們的重點。

Bascome Majors, Susquehanna.

巴斯科姆梅傑斯，薩斯奎漢納。

Just to your earlier comments on some of the different businesses within Omni, now that we're almost a year into ownership, can you talk really high level about some of the exposures and how it generates profits between transactional air, transactional ocean, and some of the warehousing value-added services and customs brokerage?

就您之前對 Omni 內部一些不同業務的評論而言，現在我們已經擁有該公司將近一年的時間了，您能否從高層次上談談一些風險敞口以及它如何在交易空運、交易海運以及一些倉儲增值服務和報關業務之間產生利潤？

Yes. I'll jump in there and then again, let Shawn correct me where I'm wrong. As we've said, and we're going to stop saying this pretty soon, Bascome, is it is a collection of 12 companies that have very strong positions in their individual verticals. In terms of generating profits, you've got the air forwarding, you've got the ocean forwarding, you've got warehouse, you've got customs brokerage and value-added services. So it is -- like I said earlier, it's a great portfolio of exposure to the space.

是的。我會跳進去，然後再次讓肖恩糾正我的錯誤。正如我們所說的那樣，而且我們很快就會停止這麼說，Bascome 是由 12 家公司組成的集合，這些公司在各自的垂直領域都擁有非常強勢的地位。就盈利而言，你有空運代理、海運代理、倉儲、報關和加值服務。所以，就像我之前說的，這是一個很好的空間展示組合。

I think the real value that's going to come out of this is once we integrated the networks in their first quarter of 2024, you saw how the performance stepped up I mean exponentially. It went from a negative 5% to positive literally in one quarter. Shawn is very astute in terms of correcting me when I said, hey, you would expect some softer volumes, I mean that in a very immediate future.

我認為這項技術的真正價值在於，一旦我們在 2024 年第一季整合了這些網絡，你就會看到效能如何呈指數級提升。在一個季度內，成長率就從-5% 上升到了正5%。當我說「嘿，你會期待一些更柔和的音量」時，肖恩非常敏銳地糾正了我，我的意思是在不久的將來。

On a longer-term basis, by the end of '25 as you go through '25. I would expect the volumes to start to actually recover and more to come. '24 was an investment year; '25, we have the foundation in place. We'll do that for the first six to nine months. And then at the end of second half of '25 going to '26, that's when I really expect the growth to start kicking in.

從長期來看，到 25 年底，隨著 25 年的到來。我預計交易量將開始真正恢復，並且還會有更多交易量。 '24 年是投資年； '25，我們已經打下了基礎。我們將在前六到九個月內這樣做。然後，在 2025 年下半年到 2026 年期間，我真的預計成長將開始啟動。

So Bascome, I'll say it this way, and Jamie did a good job. Those 12 companies have a multitude of those offerings in them. So we spent most of 2024 moving segments, closing entities, and rolling them into certain entities. So then in 2025, we can start coming to you guys at a later date.

所以巴斯科姆，我會這樣說，傑米做得很好。這 12 家公司都提供大量此類產品。因此，我們花了 2024 年的大部分時間來轉移部門、關閉實體並將它們合併到某些實體中。那麼到了 2025 年，我們就可以稍後再與你們聯繫。

I won't speak for Jamie and his team but at a later date because I really want to report out to you guys in that ground air ocean contract logistics and custom brokerage segments. So you guys really have an understanding on this side of what's doing well and what's maybe not doing so well and is that in line with the market, et cetera. So more to come, Bascome, on that.

我不會代表傑米和他的團隊發言，但以後我會這樣做，因為我真的想向你們報告地面空運海運合約物流和報關經紀領域的情況。所以你們真的了解這方面什麼做得好，什麼做得不好，這是否符合市場情況等等。巴斯康姆，關於這一點，我們還會繼續討論。

That's helpful, and we look forward to seeing that. And to your last point about integration driving volume, I don't know if Eric is on the call, your Chief Commercial Officer, I think he's been here 2.5 months, but would love to hear any early thoughts from him on what he see as opportunities to really move to offense, like you've said a few times today?

這很有幫助，我們期待看到這一點。關於您最後提到的關於整合推動銷量的問題，我不知道您的首席商務官埃里克是否在場，我想他來這裡已經 2.5 個月了，但我很想听聽他對真正轉向進攻的機會的初步看法，就像您今天說過幾次的那樣？

Well, Bascome, he is not in the room but surely happy to have him come on at a later date if that's warranted. But he's actually in the room here in our headquarters with his top leadership and the top sales reps from around North America doing a strategy session on the new go-to-market strategy. So that's exactly where all of us want them to be, and that's where they are. So yes, happy to share more as he gets really going here in this early stages.

嗯，巴斯科姆，他不在房間裡，但如果有必要的話，我們很樂意讓他稍後再來。但實際上，他正在我們總部的房間裡與他的高層領導和來自北美各地的頂級銷售代表一起就新的市場進入策略進行策略會議。這正是我們所有人希望他們所處的位置，而他們也確實處於這個位置。是的，我很高興能分享更多，因為他確實在早期階段取得了進步。

Bascome, we would never expose someone that new to you guys in this process. (laughter)

巴斯科姆，我們絕不會在這個過程中向你們介紹這麼陌生的人。（笑聲）

And there are no further questions on the line at this time. I'll turn the program back to Mr. Stewart for any final remarks.

目前我們還沒有其他問題。我將把節目交還給史都華先生，請他做最後的評論。

All right. Listen, I want to thank you guys so much, everyone, for joining today. Really look forward to 2025, and I look forward to connecting with each of you soon. If you have any follow-up questions, please reach out to Tony. Have a great one. Take care.

好的。聽著，我非常感謝大家今天的參加。真的很期待2025年，也期待很快能跟大家聯絡。如果您有任何後續問題，請聯絡 Tony。祝你一切順利。小心。

This does conclude today's Forward Air fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 earnings conference call. Please disconnect your line at this time, and have a wonderful day.

今天的 Forward Air 第四季和 2024 年全年財報電話會議就此結束。此時請斷開您的線路，祝您有美好的一天。