UNIVERSAL LOGISTICS HOLDINGS, INC. - Annual Report: 2012 (Form 10-K)

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

  For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012

OR

For the transition period from             to             .

Commission File Number: 0-51142

UNIVERSAL TRUCKLOAD SERVICES, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

12755 E. Nine Mile Road

Warren, Michigan 48089

(Address, including Zip Code of Principal Executive Offices)

(586) 920-0100

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to section 12(b) of the Act:

Common Stock, no par value

(TITLE OF CLASS)

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by checkmark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for a shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2).    Yes  ¨    No  x

As of June 30, 2012, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second quarter, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based upon the closing sale price of the common stock on June 29, 2012, as reported by The Nasdaq Stock Market, was approximately $82.6 million (assuming, but not admitting for any purpose, that all directors and executive officers of the registrant are affiliates).

The number of shares of common stock, no par value, outstanding as of March 4, 2013, was 30,053,912.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the following document, to the extent specified in this report, are incorporated by reference in Part III of this report:

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UNIVERSAL TRUCKLOAD SERVICES, INC.

2012 ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

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DISCLOSURE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some of the statements and assumptions in this Form 10-K are forward-looking statements. These statements identify prospective information. Important factors could cause actual results to differ, possibly materially, from those in the forward-looking statements. In some cases you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “plan,” “intend,” “may,” “should,” “will” and “would” or other similar words. You should read statements that contain these words carefully because they discuss our future expectations, contain projections of our future results of operations or of our financial position, or state other “forward-looking” information. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by which, such performance or results will be achieved. Forward-looking information is based on information available at the time and/or management’s good faith belief with respect to future events, and is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in the statements. The factors listed in the section captioned “Risk Factors” in Item 1A in this Form 10-K, as well as any other cautionary language contained in this Form 10-K, provide examples of risks, uncertainties and events that may cause our actual results to differ materially from the expectations we describe in our forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made. We assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information except to the extent required by applicable securities laws. If we do update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect thereto or with respect to other forward-looking statements.

Unless the context indicates otherwise, “we,” “our”, “us” and “Universal” refers to Universal Truckload Services, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

PART I

ITEM 1: BUSINESS

Overview

Universal is a leading asset-light provider of customized transportation and logistics solutions throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada. We provide our customers with supply chain solutions that can be scaled to meet their changing demands and volumes. We offer our customers a broad array of services across their entire supply chain, including transportation, value-added, and intermodal services. Our customized solutions and flexible business model are designed to provide us with a highly variable cost structure.

Our transportation services include dry van, flatbed, heavy haul, dedicated, refrigerated, shuttle and switching operations as well as full service domestic and international freight forwarding, customs brokerage, final mile and ground expedite. We offer our customers brokerage transportation for greater service options and additional capacity. Our value-added services, which are typically dedicated to individual customer requirements, include material handling, consolidation, sequencing, sub-assembly, cross-dock services, kitting, repacking, warehousing and returnable container management. Intermodal operations include rail-truck, steamship-truck and support services.

In October 2012, we acquired LINC Logistics Company (LINC) whereby each outstanding share of LINC common stock was converted into the right to receive consideration consisting of 0.700 of a share of common stock of Universal and cash in lieu of fractional shares. This resulted in the issuance of 14,527,332 shares of Universal’s common stock and borrowings of approximately $149.1 million to repay LINC’s outstanding indebtedness and dividends payable. Universal and LINC were under common control, and as such, the financial statements of Universal have been retrospectively revised to reflect the accounts of LINC as if they had been

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consolidated for all previous periods. The acquisition significantly enhanced the company’s position as a leading provider of third party transportation, value-added and intermodal services.

We provide a comprehensive suite of transportation and logistics solutions that allow our customers and clients to reduce costs and manage their global supply chains more efficiently. We market our services through a direct sales and marketing network focused on selling our portfolio of transportation logistic services to large customers in specific industry sectors, through a network of agents who solicit freight business directly from shippers, and through company-managed facilities and full service freight forwarding and customs house brokerage offices. At December 31, 2012, we had an agent network totaling approximately 524 agents, and we operated 51 company-managed terminal locations and provided services at 39 logistics locations throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada.

We were incorporated in Michigan on December 11, 2001. Our common stock began trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “UACL” on February 11, 2005, the date of our initial public offering. Our principal executive offices are located at 12755 E. Nine Mile Road, Warren, Michigan 48089. Our website address is www.goutsi.com. The information contained on, or accessible through, our website is not a part of this Form 10-K.

Industry

The transportation and logistics services industry involves the management and transportation of materials and inventory throughout the supply chain. The logistics industry is an integral part of the global economy. Global logistics costs in 2011 totaled $7.9 trillion, or 11.3% of global GDP, according to estimates by Armstrong & Associates.

According to the American Trucking Associations, or ATA, revenue in the trucking industry in 2011 was estimated at approximately $603.9 billion and accounted for more than 80% of domestic spending on freight transportation. The trucking industry is highly competitive on the basis of service and price and is integral to many industries operating in the United States. Customers generally choose truck transportation over other surface transportation modes due to the industry’s higher levels of reliability, shipment integrity and speed.

As supply chains have become more complex, many companies have outsourced logistics functions to third-party logistics (3PL) providers. U.S. 3PL revenues in 2011 totaled $133.8 billion, according to Armstrong & Associates. Through outsourcing, companies can realize the following benefits: reduced supply chain costs, minimization of investment in non-core assets, increased operational flexibility, access to greater visibility in the supply chain and improved customer service. We believe that increased globalization of trade, security and regulatory concerns, demand for greater supply chain integration and visibility, and ongoing competitive pressures to reduce costs and improve customer service will continue to drive outsourcing decisions.

3PL providers deliver a number of services such as transportation, warehousing, supply chain management, inbound and outbound freight management, customs brokerage and distribution. In addition, 3PLs can provide other value-added services, ranging from packing and labeling to sequencing and sub-assembly, freight tracking and delivery, and ultimately, to fully embedded systems linked to customer enterprise resource planning suites that facilitate supply chain management. These services are aimed at improving supply chain efficiency and visibility, and differentiate 3PLs from transportation companies and basic warehousing operations.

We believe outsourcing of transportation and logistics services will continue to grow, including common outsourced logistics activities such as transportation, customs clearance, warehousing, shipment consolidation and freight forwarding. We also believe that companies will increasingly seek outsourced solutions for additional value-added logistics activities such as sub-assembly, sequencing, packaging, consolidation and deconsolidation and line-side inventory functions, creating attractive growth opportunities. As a result, we believe that larger, better-capitalized companies will have greater opportunities to gain market share and increase profit margins.

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Our Operations

We broadly group our services into the following three service categories: transportation, value-added and intermodal support.

Our agreements with customers typically follow one of two patterns: transactional or contractual. Transactional agreements are associated with individual freight shipments coordinated by our agents, company-managed terminals and specialized services operations. For the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, transactional arrangements generated 72.0% and 72.9%, respectively, of total revenues. Contractual agreements comprise the balance of our revenues and are for the delivery of value-added services or transportation services that are on an exclusive basis. The pricing structure of value-added services contracts, which often are three to five years in duration, compensate for the physical resources and labor that support material handling, sequencing, sub-assembly and various other value-added processes, including both variable-cost and fixed-price components. Contract-based transportation services relate to dedicated truckload services and typically have a contract term of one year. Contracts are priced as if we are paid on a round-trip basis, eliminating the need for us to acquire customers with freight moving in opposing lanes in order to maintain utilization of our equipment. Transportation and intermodal services revenue is primarily derived from fees charged based on miles, but also includes billing for fuel surcharges, loading and unloading activities, container management and other related services. Fuel surcharges, where separately identifiable, comprise $115.2 million and $110.6 million of our total operating revenues in 2012 and 2011, respectively. Fees charged to customers by our full service international freight forwarding and customs house brokerage are based on the specific means of forwarding or delivering freight on a shipment-by-shipment basis.

Asset Light Strategy

We employ an asset-light business model that lowers our capital expenditure requirements and which we believe improves investment returns and cash flow generation. In general, our facilities used in our value-added services are leased on terms that are either substantially matched to our customers’ contracts or are month-to-month or are provided to us by our customers. We also utilize owner-operators and third-party carriers to provide a significant

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portion of our transportation and specialized services. Approximately 82% of the tractors and 50% of the trailers used in our business are provided by our owner-operators. In addition, our use of agents reduces our need for sizable terminals. The primary physical assets we provide include a portion of our trailer fleet, our intermodal depot facilities, subassembly and warehousing equipment, our headquarters facility and our management information systems.

We believe our asset-light business model is highly scalable and will continue to support our growth with comparatively modest capital expenditure requirements. Our asset-light model, combined with a disciplined approach to contract structuring and pricing, creates a highly flexible cost structure that allows us to expand and contract quickly in response to changes in demand from our customers. We believe that our business model offers the following advantages compared with primarily asset-based companies that own significant facilities and tractor fleets and use fixed employee sales and work forces:

Although we believe our asset-light business model can generate above-average financial performance, there are certain disadvantages. Our significant use of owner-operators limits the pool of potential drivers and could constrain our growth. In addition, our variable cost structure does not allow us to take advantage of freight cycles to the extent possible with fixed investments in capacity. Thus, in times of high economic activity and increasing freight rates, our profitability may not expand as much as that of an asset-based carrier. Overall, however, we believe our long experience with this business model and our growth, profitability, and financial returns demonstrate that we have adequately managed these risks.

Growth Strategy

We believe that our flexible business model offers substantial opportunities to grow. By continuing to implement our strategy, we believe that we can continue to increase our revenues and profitability, while generating a higher return on assets than many of our asset-based competitors. The key elements of our strategy are as follows:

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Customers

We provide a comprehensive suite of transportation and logistics services to a wide variety of customers throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada, including a number of Fortune 500 and multi-national companies across a wide range of industries. Our customers are largely concentrated in the automotive, steel, oil and gas, alternative energy, and manufacturing industries geographically located throughout the United States. A significant portion of our revenue also results from our providing capacity to other transportation companies who aggregate loads from a variety of shippers in these and other industries. Many of our customers are large or middle-market corporations engaged in the design, manufacture and sale of higher value-added products that involve long or complex in-bound supply chains or aftermarket distribution networks. We develop and deliver customized, customer-centric supply chain solutions from a broad portfolio of services, creating additional value for customers seeking a single point of contact for logistics solutions. A significant portion of our revenues are derived from the domestic auto industry. During the fiscal years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010,

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aggregate sales in the automotive industry totaled 30.7%, 32.5% and 33.2% of revenue, respectively. During 2012, no single customer accounted for more than 10% of our total operating revenues and sales to our top 10 customers totaled 37.6%.

Contract Management

We use a standard, company-wide contract approval process to evaluate, develop and price contracts for new logistics opportunities. This mandatory process includes an evaluation of pricing, financial return and risk assessment before sign off, and is led by our senior management team. Each new major contract opportunity can go through six distinct steps before a customer contract is executed and a new project launched: (1) inquiry, (2) entry into an automated project tracking system, (3) initial project review, (4) executive summary, (5) bid phase, and (6) negotiation and agreement. In our value-added services and transportation businesses, formal management sign-off must be obtained before negotiations are finalized, regardless of contract size.

Our largest customers typically award business at the conclusion of a competitive bidding process. During the bid phase of a prospective new business award, we assess the financial returns and potential risks inherent in a new project, as well as anticipated capital expenditure requirements and fit with our strategic goals. In our transportation services and a portion of our value-added services business, we price services and invoice customers based on levels of activity, which results in variable revenues based on actual demand. In our intermodal business, contracts are transactional in nature, and the resulting revenues are variable based on the level of overall freight hauling activity.

A significant number of our value-added services contracts include a fixed price component that produces a stable revenue stream regardless of the volume of a customer’s supply chain activity. This pricing structure helps maintain the profitability of an operation and mitigates exposure to fixed facility and management costs, even when customer demand is volatile. Consideration is also given to the management of potential exposure to the early termination of a multi-year agreement, where our negotiating objective is to establish some recourse to mitigate exposure to uncompensated costs. In contrast, transportation services contracts primarily stipulate charges based on the number of miles driven to complete freight delivery, but may also include billing for fuel surcharges, loading and unloading activities and related services. Fees charged to customers by our intermodal operations are dictated by the specific mode of transportation chosen to forward or deliver freight on a shipment-by-shipment basis.

Through the life of a contract, we monitor our customers’ operating requirements and demand levels, and we review our revenue generation and operating profitability by operation to ensure that financial results meet the volume and margin targets established over the life of a new program at launch.

Independent Contractor Network

We utilize a network of agents and owner-operators located throughout the United States and in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. These agents and owner-operators are independent contractors who earn a fixed commission calculated as a percentage of the revenue they generate.

Agents

A significant portion of the interaction with our shippers is provided by our agents. Approximately 60% of the freight we hauled in 2012 was solicited and controlled by our agents, with the balance generated by company-managed terminals and full service freight forwarding and customs house brokerage offices. Agents accounted for approximately 49% of our total operating revenues, and our top 100 agents in 2012 generated approximately 35% of our annual operating revenues. Our agents typically focus on three or four shippers within a particular market and solicit most of their freight business from this core group. By focusing on a relatively small number of shippers, each agent is attuned to the specific transportation needs of that core group of shippers, while remaining alert to growth opportunities.

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While the agents’ most important function is to generate freight shipments, they also provide valuable terminal and dispatch services for our owner-operators and they can be a source for recruitment of new owner-operators. Our agents use a company-provided software program to list available freight procured by the agents, dispatch owner-operators to haul the freight and provide all administrative information necessary for us to establish the credit arrangements for each shipper. Our agents do not have the authority to execute or fulfill shipping contracts on their own, as all shipping contracts are between one of our operating subsidiaries and the shipper directly, and we generally assume the liability for freight loss or damages.

We believe that our commission schedule, prompt payment practices, industry reputation, financial stability, back-office support and national freight network are attractive to agents. We generally pay our full-service agents a commission of approximately 8% of revenue generated, excluding fuel surcharges. While we have signed agreements with most of our newer agents, we rely on verbal agreements with most of our long-term agents. The loss of any large-volume agent or a significant decrease in volume from one of these agents could have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations.

Owner-Operators

Owner-operators are individuals who own, operate and maintain one or more tractors for which they either provide drivers, or drive themselves. Our owner-operators provide us with approximately 3,370 tractors, which represent 82% of the tractors used in our transportation services business. Owner-operators also may own trailers that they provide to us in addition to their tractor and driving services. Our owner-operators provide approximately 3,100 trailers, which represent approximately 50% of the trailers we use in our business. Owner-operators are responsible for all expenses of owning and operating their equipment, including the wages and benefits paid to any drivers, fuel, physical damage insurance, maintenance, fuel taxes, highway use taxes and debt service.

We believe that our commission schedule, prompt payment practices, financial stability, back-office support and national freight network are attractive to owner-operators. We generally pay our owner-operators 75% of the revenue generated from the freight they haul, if both a tractor and trailer are provided, and pass on 100% of any fuel surcharges we receive and a portion of other accessorial charges to our owner-operators. All owner-operators enter into standard written contracts with one of our operating subsidiaries that can be terminated by either party on short notice.

Pursuant to our arrangements with the owner-operators, we maintain the federal and state licensing required for them to operate a motor coach carrier. We also coordinate insurance coverage for the owner-operators and are primarily liable to the shipper for damaged or lost freight and to third parties for personal injury claims arising out of accidents involving the owner-operators. We also administer the owner-operators’ compliance with safety, vehicle licensing and fuel-tax reporting rules. Each owner-operator must meet our guidelines with respect to matters such as motor vehicle records, or MVR’s, insurance, driving experience and past work history and must pass a federally mandated physical exam. Additionally, our owner-operators and their employees are subject to pre-lease drug and alcohol screening and to subsequent random testing.

Revenue Equipment

We offer our customers a wide range of transportation services by utilizing a diverse fleet of tractors and trailing equipment including company-owned equipment, equipment provided by owner-operators, and leased equipment.

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The following table represents our Company-operated fleet and owner-operator pool used to provide transportation services as of December 31, 2012:

Employees

As of December 31, 2012, we employed 2,519 people in the United States, Mexico and Canada. During the year ended December 31, 2012, we also engaged, on average, the full-time equivalency of 2,182 people on a contract basis.

As of December 31, 2012, approximately 714 of our employees were members of unions and subject to collective bargaining agreements of which approximately 10% are subject to contracts that expire in 2013. Certain of our customers require that our employees are union members at specific locations. Currently, we have 10 collective bargaining agreements with three unions, including the United Auto Workers, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and the Canadian Auto Workers. Substantially all of our unionized facilities in the United States have a separate agreement with the union that represents workers at such facilities, with each such agreement having an expiration date that is independent of other collective bargaining agreements. In general, we have not experienced a material work stoppage, slow-down or strike, and we believe our relationship with our employees is good. We provide 401(k) retirement savings programs for our workers. Other than a program for 11 Canadian employees, we do not offer any defined benefit pension programs.

Facilities

Our corporate headquarters and administrative offices are located in Warren, Michigan. We own our corporate administrative offices, as well as terminal yards in the following locations: Dearborn, Michigan; Columbus, Ohio; Reading, Ohio; Latty, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; Gary, Indiana; Dallas, Texas; South Kearny, New Jersey; Garden City, Georgia; Millwood, West Virginia and Memphis, Tennessee; offices in Tampa, Florida; Houston, Texas and a condominium in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. As of December 31, 2012, we leased 76 operating, terminal and yard, and administrative facilities in various U.S. cities located in 26 states, in Milton, Ontario, and in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. This includes 15 facilities approximately 100,000 square feet or larger at which we deliver value-added services, or which serve as destinations for selected transportation services. We also deliver services inside or linked to 19 facilities provided by customers. To support our asset-light business model, we generally try to coordinate the length of real estate leases associated with our value-added services with the end date of the related customer contract associated with such facility, or use month-to-month leases, in order to mitigate exposure to unrecovered lease costs.

Certain of our leased facilities are leased from affiliates controlled by our majority shareholders. These facilities are leased on either a month-to-month basis or extended terms. For more information on these arrangements, see Part II, Item 8: Note 8 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. We believe that the properties we lease from these affiliates are, in the aggregate, leased at market rates and are suitable for their purposes and adequate to meet our needs.

Insurance

We provide group medical and dental insurance benefits to a substantial portion of our employees and we purchase insurance to cover the entire portion of such risks and maintain no deductible under the purchased

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insurance policies. In view of historical inflation that has affected the cost of group health insurance in the United States, we generally expect such costs to continue to increase in the future, despite recently enacted federal legislation, and we expect to attempt to offset such cost increases through a combination of price increases to our customers and additional cost-sharing with our employees.

We purchase insurance for workers’ compensation claims up to the statutory limits required by the respective states in which we operate, and as required by employment laws in Mexico and Canada. We believe our insurance coverage for such risks is comparable in terms of coverage and amount to other companies in our industry, and the absence of deductibles on our automobile and workers’ compensation insurance policies improves predictability in our costs.

Our customers and federal regulations generally require that we provide insurance for auto liability and general liability claims up to $1.0 million per occurrence. Accordingly, in the United States, we purchase such insurance from a licensed casualty insurance carrier providing a minimum $1.0 million of coverage for individual auto liability and general liability claims. The carrier is a related party. We are self-insured for auto and general liability claims above $1.0 million. A liability is recognized for the estimated cost of all self-insured claims and for claims expected to exceed our policy limit, based on our knowledge of the facts and, in certain cases, opinions of outside counsel, including estimates of incurred but not reported claims based on historical experience. These financial reserves are periodically evaluated and adjusted to reflect estimated exposures related to our open auto liability and general liability claims. In Mexico, our operations and investment in equipment are insured through an internationally recognized third-party insurance underwriter.

Unless required by specific customer contracts, we typically self-insure for the risk of motor cargo liability claims associated with transportation service and for material handling claims resulting from our warehouse-based, value-added services operations. Accordingly, we establish financial reserves for anticipated losses and expenses related to motor cargo liability and material handling claims, and such reserves are periodically evaluated and adjusted to reflect our experience.

To reduce our exposure to non-trucking use liability claims (claims incurred while the vehicle is being operated without a trailer attached or is being operated with an attached trailer which does not contain or carry any cargo), we require our owner-operators to maintain non-trucking use liability coverage, which we refer to as deadhead bobtail coverage, of $2.0 million per occurrence.

In brokerage arrangements, our exposure to liability associated with accidents incurred by other third-party carriers, who haul freight on our behalf, is reduced by various factors, including the extent to which the third party providers maintain their own insurance coverage.

Insurance carriers have been raising premiums in recent years, including to transportation and logistics services companies. As a result, our future insurance costs could increase as a result of higher premiums, which could necessitate that we reduce our insurance coverage by assuming additional levels of risk with assumption of policy deductibles when our policies are renewed. We believe the ability of our labor relations group, together with our safety and loss prevention programs, will continue to help us manage our group benefit, casualty insurance, and motor cargo liability and material handling claims costs.

Corporate Services

We oversee most administrative functions related to our operations at our corporate headquarters in Warren, Michigan. The administrative functions undertaken at our corporate headquarters are primarily focused on providing support to our agents and operating subsidiaries, such as creating work instructions for various operations at each facility, supervising strategic planning, accounting, billing and collections functions, contractor settlements, purchasing, coordinating the management information systems used by our various

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facilities, and performing compliance, licensing, safety and risk management functions. We also provide support to various operating subsidiaries using sophisticated, site-specific material management systems and vehicle tracking systems.

Information Technology

The advanced functionality of our proprietary and third-party information technology platform is a critical component of our broad service offering and exceptional customer service, including our ability to provide real-time responses to quality issues. Our multifaceted software tools and hardware platforms support seamless integration with the IT networks of our customers and vendors via electronic data exchange systems, thereby enhancing our relationships and our ability to effectively communicate with our customers and vendors. Our tools and platforms provide real-time, web-based visibility into the supply chain of our customers.

Our, proprietary Warehouse Management System (WMS) is customized to meet the needs of individual customers. It provides the ability to send our customers an advance shipping notice through a simple, web-based interface that can be used by a broad variety of vendors. Once a product is received at our warehouse, labels are scanned, validated against the original data the vendor entered into the web-based interface, and placed into inventory. An electronic material release instruction from the customer draws the product from the inventory and creates a bill of lading, and a wireless scan of the product into a specific trailer automatically decreases stock level. This enables the company to clearly identify and communicate to the customer any vendor-related problems that may cause delays to the production line.

Our cross-dock and container return management applications automate the cycle of material receipt and empty container return. Vendor material is received at our dock via established transportation “milk runs,” wirelessly scanned at each step of the cross-dock process, and delivered into the customer facility for a “just-in-time” installation. At this point in the workflow, a previously delivered batch of containers (now empty) are recovered, processed and returned to the cross-dock for ultimate return to the original vendor.

Our proprietary and third-party transportation management system allows full operational control and visibility from dispatch to delivery, and from invoicing to receivables collections. For our employee drivers’ the system provides automated dispatch to hand-held devices, satellite tracking for quality control and electronic status broadcasts to customers when requested. Our international and domestic air freight and ocean forwarding services use similar systems with added functionalities for managing air and ocean freight transportation requirements. Regulatory requirements for national security compliance are built into our system. All of the above systems have customer-oriented web interfaces that allow for full shipment tracking and visibility, as well as for customer shipment input. We also provide systems that allow agents to list pending freight shipments and owner-operators with available capacity, and track particular shipments at various points in the shipping route.

The network supporting these tools is built upon multiple layers of redundancy to ensure continuous, uninterrupted freight movement and handling operations. All time-sensitive operations have redundant data circuits, dual servers with data backup, battery backup devices to support all network equipment, and generators to support long-term outages. We believe that these tools improve our services and quality controls, strengthen our relationships with our customers, and enhance our value proposition. We rely on the proper operation of our management information systems. Any significant disruption or failure of these systems could have a materially adverse effect on our operations and financial results.

Competitive Environment

The transportation and logistics service industry is highly competitive and extremely fragmented. We compete based on quality and reliability of service, price, breadth of logistics solution, and IT capabilities. We believe that the companies best positioned to succeed in our industry must be able to provide their customers with integrated supply chain solutions that are international in scope and scale. We compete with asset and non-asset based

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truckload and less-than-truckload carriers, intermodal transportation, logistics providers and, in some aspects of our business, railroads. We also compete with other motor carriers for owner-operators and agents.

Our customers may choose not to outsource their logistics operations and, rather, to retain or restore such activities as their own, internal operations. In our largest vertical market, the automotive industry, we compete more frequently with a relatively small number of privately-owned firms or with subsidiaries of large public companies. These vendors have the scope and capabilities to provide the breadth of services required by the large and complex supply chains of automotive original equipment manufacturers.

We also encounter competition from regional and local third-party logistics providers, integrated transportation companies that operate their own aircraft, cargo sales agents and brokers, surface freight forwarders and carriers, airlines, associations of shippers organized to consolidate their members’ shipments to obtain lower freight rates, and internet-based freight exchanges. In addition, computer information and consulting firms, which traditionally operated outside of the supply chain management industry, have been expanding the scope of their services to include supply chain related activities. We believe it is becoming increasingly difficult for smaller or regional competitors or providers with a more limited service solutions or information technology offering to compete, which we expect to result in further industry consolidation.

Government Regulation

Our operations are regulated and licensed by various U.S. federal and state agencies, as well as comparable agencies in Mexico and Canada. Interstate motor carrier operations are subject to the broad regulatory powers and safety and insurance requirements prescribed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which is an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Such matters as weight and equipment dimensions also are subject to United States federal and state regulation. We operate in the United States throughout the regions we serve under operating authority granted by the DOT. We are also subject to regulations relating to testing and specifications of transportation equipment and product handling requirements. In addition, our drivers and owner-operators must have a commercial driver’s license and comply with safety and fitness regulations promulgated by the FMCSA, including those relating to drug and alcohol testing.

In December 2011, the FMCSA published new final hours-of-service (HOS) rules, which they believe comply with a court-imposed settlement agreement, allowing commercial motor carrier drivers to continue to drive up to 11 hours within a 14-hour workday and mandate at least 10 consecutive off-duty hours between workdays. The rules also allow drivers to continue to restart their calculations of weekly on-duty time limits after having at least 34 consecutive hours off-duty. The rules include changes to the definition of “on-duty” time in a parked vehicle and a second set of changes going into effect in July 2013 include (1) requiring a driver to take a 30 minute “off-duty” break within the first eight hours of driving and (2) limits a driver “restart” to once a week. Advocacy groups continue to challenge HOS regulations. The Company believes the FMCSA also still favors a 10-hour driving limit, which would yield a loss of 1-hour of service from current standards.

In December 2010, the FMCSA also initiated its Compliance Safety Accountability (CSA) initiative (formerly Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010). The CSA system fundamentally changes the safety evaluation process for all motor carriers and includes a scope of enforcement to the driver level to make driver safety performance history more transparent to law enforcement and motor carriers.

We are also preparing for an anticipated change in the manner in which commercial drivers will be required to document their HOS. In April 2010, the FMCSA published a regulation that would require interstate carriers, with documented patterns of HOS violations, to install electronic on-board recorders (EOBR) in their vehicles. EOBRs are devices attached to a vehicle that automatically record the number of hours a driver spends operating the vehicle. The current system is a manual log system. The ruling was challenged in Federal Court and was withdrawn by FMSCA, as the ruling did not protect drivers from possible harassment from the carrier. In January 2011, the FMCSA re-proposed this requirement expanding it to all motor carriers. Due to the complexity of the

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EOBR proposal, the FMCSA has begun a series of listening sessions to allow the collection of opinions, proposals and concerns on the program. This will delay the process for a rulemaking until 2013, with implementation now projected in 2014.

Our international operations, which include facilities in Mexico and Canada and transportation shipments managed by our specialized service operations, are impacted by a wide variety of U.S. government regulations and applicable international treaties. These include regulations of the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Department of Treasury. Regulations cover specific commodities, destinations and end-users. A certain portion of our specialized services operations is engaged in the arrangement of imported and exported freight. As such, we are subject to U.S. Customs regulations that include significant notice and registration requirements. In various Canadian provinces, we operate transportation services under authority granted by the Ministries of Transportation and Communications.

Transportation-related regulations are greatly affected by U.S. national security legislation and related regulations. We believe we are in substantial compliance with applicable material regulations and that the costs of regulatory compliance are an ordinary operating cost of our business.

Environmental

We are subject to various environmental laws and regulations applicable to the transportation industry and to operators of large facilities. Our operations can be subject to the risk of fuel spillage and any resultant environmental damage. If we are involved in a fuel spill or other accident involving hazardous substances or if we have been in violation of any such laws and regulations, we could be subject to substantial fines or penalties and to criminal and civil liability. We maintain applicable licenses required to transport and hold certain hazardous materials in the course of providing transportation services for our customers’ commodities.

Environmental laws and regulations, including those concerning the discharge of pollutants into the air and water, the handling, transport and disposal of, or exposure to, hazardous materials and wastes, the investigation and remediation of property contamination, and other aspects of environmental protection, are in effect wherever we operate and subject to frequent reinterpretation. As a low-level waste emitter, our current operations do not involve material costs to comply with such laws and regulations, and they have not given rise to, nor are they expected to give rise to, material liabilities under these laws and regulations for investigation or remediation of contamination.

Claims for environmental liabilities arising out of property contamination have been asserted against us and our predecessors from time to time. These claims have not resulted in a material liability to us. However, additional environmental claims, including those relating to any of our former operations, could arise and result in significant losses.

The transportation industry is one of the largest sources of “greenhouse gas” emissions. National and international laws and initiatives to reduce and mitigate the asserted effects of such emissions could significantly impact transportation modes and the economics of the transportation industry. Absent mitigating technologies or government policies, future environmental laws in this area could adversely affect our operating costs, business practices, and results of operations.

In August 2005, UTS Realty, LLC (Realty), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Universal, purchased a container storage facility in Cleveland, Ohio. In connection with the acquisition of the property, Realty received indemnity from the seller from any and all claims which Realty may incur as a direct consequence of any environmental condition of which the seller had actual knowledge as of the date of the acquisition of the property.

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Seasonality

Our results of operations are subject to seasonal trends common to the transportation industry. Our results of operations in the first fiscal quarter of each year are typically lower than the other quarters, principally because some shippers reduce their shipments and the productivity of our drivers and owner-operators generally decreases during the winter season because inclement weather impedes operations. Additionally, we will experience modest fluctuations in July and December when our North American automotive customers traditionally shut down vehicle production for one or more weeks and due to fewer workdays resulting from holidays.

Available Information

We make available free of charge on or through our website our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Our website address is www.goutsi.com. The SEC maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains the Company’s current and periodic reports, proxy and information statements and other information filed electronically with the SEC.

ITEM 1A: RISK FACTORS

We rely extensively on owner-operators to provide transportation services to our customers. Continued reliance on owner-operators, as well as reductions in our pool of available driver candidates, could limit our growth.

The transportation services that we provide are frequently carried out by owner-operators who are generally responsible for paying for their own equipment, fuel and other operating costs. In addition, our owner-operators provide a substantial portion of the tractors used in our business. Owner-operators make up a relatively small portion of the pool of all truck drivers. Thus, continued reliance primarily on owner-operators could limit our ability to grow. In addition, the following factors recently have combined to create a difficult operating environment for owner-operators:

In recent years, these factors have caused many owner-operators to join company-owned fleets or to exit the industry entirely. As a result of the smaller available pool of qualified owner-operators, the already strong competition among carriers for their services has intensified. Due to the difficult operating environment and intense competition, turnover among owner-operators in the trucking industry is high. Additionally, our agreements with our owner-operators are terminable by either party upon short notice and without penalty. Consequently, we regularly need to recruit qualified owner-operators to replace those who have left our fleet. If we are unable to retain our existing owner-operators or recruit new owner-operators, it could have a materially adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

In the event that the current operating environment for owner-operators worsens, we could adjust our owner-operator compensation package or, alternatively, acquire more of our own revenue equipment and seat it with employee drivers in order to maintain or increase the size of our fleet. The adoption of either of these measures could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. If we are required to increase the compensation of owner-operators, our results of operations would be adversely affected to the extent

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increased expenses are not offset by higher freight rates. If we elect to purchase more of our own tractors and hire additional employee drivers, our capital expenditures would increase, we would incur additional employee benefits costs, depreciation, interest, and/or equipment rental expenses. The financial return on our assets would decline and we would be exposed to the risks associated with implementing a different business model.

We rely heavily upon our agents to develop customer relationships and to locate freight, and the loss of any agent or agents responsible for a significant portion of our revenue could adversely affect our revenue and results of operations.

We rely heavily upon our agents to market our transportation services, to act as intermediaries with customers and to recruit owner-operators. Although we employ a small field management staff that maintains direct relationships with some of our larger, national customers and is responsible for supporting, coordinating and supervising our agent’s activities, the primary relationship with our customers generally is with our agents and not directly with us. We rely on verbal agreements with many of our agents and these verbal agreements do not obligate our agents to provide us with a specific amount of service or to refer freight exclusively to us. Our reliance on verbal agreements may increase the likelihood that we or our agents have a disagreement or a misunderstanding of our and their respective rights and obligations. In addition, in the event of a dispute with one of our agents not under contract, we may not be able to verify the terms of the agreement.

We compete with other trucking companies that utilize agent networks both to recruit quality agents and for the business that they generate, which typically involves both competition with respect to the freight rates that we charge shippers and the compensation paid to the agents. There can be no assurance that we will be able to retain our agents or that our agents will continue to refer to us the amount of business that they have in the past. If we were to lose the service of an agent or agents responsible for a significant portion of our operating revenues or if any such agent or agents were to significantly reduce the volume of business that they refer to us, it would have a materially adverse effect on our operating revenues and results of operations. Further, if we were required to increase the compensation we pay to agents in order to retain or maintain business volumes with them, our operating results would be adversely affected to the extent that we could not pass these increased costs on to our customers.

We rely on subcontractors or suppliers to perform their contractual obligations.

Some of our contracts involve subcontracts with other companies upon which we rely to perform a portion of the services we must provide to our customers. There is a risk that we may have disputes with our subcontractors, including disputes regarding the quality and timeliness of their work or to customer concerns about a subcontractor. Failure by our subcontractors to perform the agreed-upon services or to provide on a timely basis the agreed-upon supplies may materially and adversely impact our ability to perform our obligations. A delay in our ability to obtain components and equipment parts from our suppliers may affect our ability to meet our customers’ needs, which could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We self-insure for a significant portion of our potential liability for auto liability, workers’ compensation and general liability claims. One or more significant claims, our failure to adequately reserve for such claims, or the cost of maintaining our insurance, could have a materially adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

We maintain workers compensation and general liability insurance with licensed insurance carriers. We also maintain auto liability insurance up to a limit of $1,000,000 per occurrence. We are self-insured for all claims in excess of these limits and for all cargo, material handling and equipment damage claims.

The nature of our industry is that auto accidents occur and, when they do, they almost always result in equipment damage and they often result in injuries or death. If we experience claims that are not covered by our insurance or that exceed our reserves, or if we experience claims for which coverage is not provided, it could increase the volatility of our earnings and have a materially adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

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We expect our insurance and claims expense will continue to increase over historical levels, even if we do not experience an increase in the number of insurance claims. Insurance carriers have significantly raised premiums for many businesses, including trucking companies. If we decide to increase our insurance coverage in the future, our costs would be expected to further increase. A significant increase in insurance costs could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Our current or future levels of indebtedness and our debt service obligations could harm our ability to operate our business, remain in compliance with debt covenants and make payments on our debt.

On August 30, 2012, we entered into a new secured credit agreement in connection with the merger with LINC which allows borrowings totaling up to $220.0 million. As a result of the merger, we are leveraged and have significant debt service obligations. Our expected level of indebtedness increases the possibility that we may be unable to generate cash sufficient to pay when due the principal of, interest on or other amounts due in respect of such indebtedness. In addition, we may incur additional debt from time to time to finance strategic acquisitions, investments, joint ventures or for other purposes, subject to the restrictions contained in the documents that will be governing our indebtedness. If we incur additional debt, the risks associated with our leverage, including our ability to service our debt, would increase.

Our debt could have other important consequences, which include, but are not limited to, the following:

We cannot be certain that our earnings will be sufficient to allow us to pay principal and interest on our debt and meet our other obligations. If we do not have sufficient earnings, we may be required to seek to refinance all or part of our then existing debt, sell assets, borrow more money or sell more securities, none of which we can guarantee that we will be able to do and which, if accomplished, may adversely affect us.

Our business is subject to general economic and business factors that are largely out of our control, any of which could have a materially adverse effect on our operating results.

Our business is dependent upon a number of general economic and business factors that may have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations. Many of these are beyond our control, including new equipment prices and used equipment values, interest rates, fuel taxes, tolls, and license and registration fees, all of which could increase the costs borne by our owner-operators, and capacity levels in the trucking industry, particularly in the industry segments and geographic regions in which we operate.

We also are affected by recessionary economic cycles, changes in inventory levels, and downturns in customers’ business cycles, particularly in market segments and industries where we have a significant concentration of

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customers, such as automotive, steel and other metals, building materials and machinery. Economic conditions may adversely affect our customers, their need for our services, or their ability to pay for our services. Adverse changes in any of these factors could have a materially adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We operate in the highly competitive and fragmented transportation and logistics industry, and our business may suffer if we are unable to adequately address factors that may adversely affect our revenue and costs relative to our competitors.

Numerous competitive factors could impair our ability to maintain our current profitability. These factors include the following:

Any decrease in demand for outsourced services in the industries we serve could reduce our revenue and seriously harm our business.

Our growth strategy is partially based on the assumption that the trend towards outsourcing logistics services will continue despite potentially adverse economic trends affecting our customers. Declines in sales volumes in the industries we serve may lead to a declining demand for logistics services.

Production volumes of our customers are sensitive to consumer demand as well as employee and labor relations. Declines in sales volumes, or the expectation of declines, could result in production cutbacks and unplanned

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plant shutdowns. Likewise, potential customers may see a risk, based on labor relations issues or other factors, in relying on third-party logistics service providers or may define these activities as their own core competencies and may seek means to deploy excess labor or other resources, and hence may prefer to perform logistics operations themselves. We therefore cannot assure you that the market for logistics services will not decline or will grow as we expect.

Other developments may also lead to a decline in the demand for our services by our customers. For example, consolidation or acquisitions, particularly involving our customers, may decrease the potential number of buyers of our services. Similarly, the relocation or expansion of our customers’ production operations in locations where we do not have an established presence, or where our competitive position is not as strong, may adversely affect our business, even if production increases worldwide, if we are not able to effectively service these customers in such locations. Any significant reduction in or the elimination of the use of the services we provide would result in reduced revenue and harm our business.

Many of our customers experience rapid changes in their prospects, substantial price competition and pressure on their profitability. Although such pressures can encourage outsourcing as a cost-reduction measure, they may also result in increasing pressure on us from our customers to lower our prices, which could negatively affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Our profitability could be negatively impacted by downward pricing pressure from certain of our customers.

Given the nature of our services and the competitive environment in which we operate, our largest customers exert downward pricing pressure and often require modifications to our standard commercial terms. Due to their size and market concentration, some of our customers utilize competitive bidding procedures involving bids from a number of competitors or otherwise exert pressure on our prices and margins. Likewise, such customers’ increased bargaining power could have a negative effect on the non-monetary terms of our customer contracts, for example, in relation to the allocation of risk or the terms of payment. While we believe our ongoing cost reduction initiatives have helped mitigate the effect of price reduction pressures from our customers, there is no assurance that we will be able to maintain or improve our current levels of profitability.

Fluctuations in the price or availability of fuel and our ability to collect fuel surcharges may affect our ability to retain or recruit owner-operators.

Our owner-operators bear the costs of operating their tractors, including the cost of fuel and fuel taxes. The tractors operated by our owner-operators consume large amounts of diesel fuel. Diesel fuel prices fluctuate greatly due to economic, political and other factors beyond our control. For example, average weekly diesel fuel prices ranged from $3.92 per gallon to $4.15 per gallon in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared with $3.72 per gallon to $4.01 per gallon in the fourth quarter of 2011. To address fluctuations in fuel prices, we seek to impose fuel surcharges on our customers and pass these surcharges on to our owner-operators. These arrangements will not fully protect our owner-operators from fuel price increases. If costs for fuel escalate significantly it could make it more difficult to attract additional qualified owner-operators and retain our current owner-operators. Our owner-operators also may seek higher compensation from us in the form of higher commissions, which could have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations. If we lose the services of a significant number of owner-operators or are unable to attract additional owner-operators, it could have a materially adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We may not be able to successfully execute our acquisition strategy, which could cause our business and future growth prospects to suffer.

One component of our growth strategy is to pursue strategic acquisitions of transportation companies and third-party providers of logistic services that meet our acquisition criteria. Our growth plans are highly dependent upon being able to make strategic acquisitions. However, suitable acquisition candidates may not be available on

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terms and conditions we find acceptable. In pursuing acquisitions, we compete with other companies, many of which may have greater resources than we do. If we are unable to secure sufficient funding for potential acquisitions, we may not be able to complete strategic acquisitions that we otherwise find desirable. Further, if we succeed in consummating strategic acquisitions, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be negatively affected because:

If we are unable to retain our executive officers, our business and results of operations could be harmed.

We are highly dependent upon the services of our executive officers and the officers of our operating subsidiaries. We do not maintain key-man life insurance on any of these persons. The loss of the services of any of these individuals could have a materially adverse effect on our operations and future profitability. We also need to continue to develop and retain a core group of managers if we are to realize our goal of expanding our operations and continuing our growth. The market for qualified employees can be highly competitive, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to attract and retain the services of qualified executives, managers or other employees.

We operate in a highly regulated industry and increased costs of compliance with, liability for violation of, or changes in, existing or future regulations could have a materially adverse effect on our business and our ability to retain or recruit owner-operators.

The U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, or FMCSA, and various state and local agencies exercise broad powers over our business, generally governing such activities as authorization to engage in motor carrier operations, safety and insurance requirements. Our owner-operators must comply with the safety and fitness regulations promulgated by the FMCSA, including those relating to drug and alcohol testing and hours-of-service. There also are regulations specifically relating to the trucking industry, including testing and specifications of equipment and product handling requirements. These measures could disrupt or impede the timing of our deliveries and we may fail to meet the needs of our customers. The cost of complying with these regulatory measures, or any future measures, could have a materially adverse effect on our business or results of operations.

In December 2011, the FMCSA published new final hours-of-service (HOS) rules, which they believe comply with a court imposed settlement agreement, allowing commercial motor carrier drivers to continue to drive up to 11 hours within a 14-hour workday and mandate at least 10 consecutive off-duty hours between workdays. The rule also allows drivers to continue to restart their calculations of weekly on-duty time limits after having at least

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34 consecutive hours off-duty. We believe the FMCSA still favors a 10-hour driving limit, which would yield a loss of 1-hour of service from current standards, but they currently have insufficient research data to support such a change.

In December 2010, the FMCSA also initiated its Compliance Safety Accountability (CSA) initiative (formerly Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010). The CSA system fundamentally changes the safety evaluation process for all motor carriers and includes a scope of enforcement to the driver/owner-operator level to make safety performance history more transparent to law enforcement and motor carriers. We believe the intent is to improve regulatory oversight of motor carriers and drivers.

We are also preparing for an anticipated change in the manner in which commercial drivers will be required to document their HOS. In April 2010, the FMCSA published a regulation that would require interstate carriers, with documented patterns of HOS violations, to install electronic on-board recorders (EOBR) in their vehicles. EOBRs are devices attached to a vehicle that automatically record the number of hours a driver spends operating the vehicle. The current system is a manual log system. The ruling was challenged in Federal Court and was withdrawn by FMSCA. In January 2011, the FMCSA re-proposed this requirement expanding it to all motor carriers. Due to the complexity of the EOBR proposal, the FMCSA has begun a series of listening sessions to allow the collection of opinions, proposals and concerns on the program. This will delay the process for a rulemaking until 2013, with implementation now projected in 2014.

Advocacy groups may continue to challenge the final rulings of the FMCSA, and we are unable to predict how a court may rule on such challenges. We will continue to monitor the actions of the FMCSA.

Our operations are subject to various environmental laws and regulations, the violation of which could result in substantial fines or penalties.

Our operations involve the risks of fuel spillage and environmental damage, among others, and we are subject to various environmental laws and regulations. If we are involved in a spill or other accident involving hazardous substances, or if we are found to be in violation of applicable laws or regulations, we could be subject to substantial fines or penalties and to criminal and civil liability, which could have a materially adverse effect on our business and operating results. In addition, claims for environmental liabilities arising out of property contamination have been asserted against us from time to time. Such claims, in some instances, have been associated with businesses related to entities or facilities we acquired and have been based on conduct that occurred prior to our acquisition of those entities or facilities. While none of the claims identified to date have resulted in a material liability to us, additional environmental liabilities relating to any of our former operations or any entities or facilities we have acquired could be identified and give rise to claims against us involving significant losses. In addition, compliance with current and future environmental laws and regulations, such as those relating to carbon emissions and the effects of global warming, can be expected to have a significant impact on our transportation services and could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

A determination by regulators that our agents and owner-operators are employees could expose us to various liabilities and additional costs.

From time to time, tax and other regulatory authorities have sought to assert that independent contractors in the transportation services industry, such as our agents and owner-operators, are employees rather than independent contractors. There can be no assurance that these interpretations and tax laws that consider these persons independent contractors will not change or that these authorities will not successfully assert this position. If our agents or owner-operators 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. Our business model relies on the fact that our agents and owner-operators are not deemed to be our employees, and exposure to any of the above increased costs would have a materially adverse effect on our business and operating results.

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Our business may be disrupted by natural disasters causing supply chain disruptions.

Natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods or other adverse weather and climate conditions, whether occurring in the United States or abroad, could disrupt our operations or the operations of our customers and could damage or destroy infrastructure necessary to transport products as part of the supply chain. These events could make it difficult or impossible for us to provide logistics and transportation services, disrupt or prevent our ability to perform functions at the corporate level, and/or otherwise impede our ability to continue business operations in a continuous manner consistent with the level and extent of business activities prior to the occurrence of the unexpected event, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We are dependent on access to transportation networks.

We do not maintain all of our own transportation networks, and we rely on other third-party transportation service providers for some of our logistics services. Access to competitive transportation networks is important to logistics companies such as ourselves. We cannot assure you that we will always be able to ensure access to preferred third-party networks or that these networks will continue to meet our needs and allow us to remain competitive, in particular as compared with our large competitors with their own affiliated networks. If we are unable to ensure sufficient access to the most competitive domestic and international networks on a long-term basis, this could have a material adverse effect on our business and net sales, and the related operating results and operating cash flows.

Our business may be harmed by terrorist attacks, future war or anti-terrorism measures.

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, federal, state and municipal authorities have implemented and continue to follow various security measures, including checkpoints and travel restrictions on large trucks. Such measures may have costs associated with them, which we or our owner-operators could be forced to bear, or may otherwise reduce the productivity of our owner-operators. For example, security measures imposed at bridges, tunnels, border crossings and other points on key trucking routes may cause delays and increase the non-driving time of our owner-operators, which could have a materially adverse effect on our operating results. Our international operations in Mexico and Canada may be affected significantly if there are any disruptions or closures of border traffic due to security measures. In addition, war, risk of war or a terrorist attack also may have an adverse effect on the economy. A decline in economic activity could adversely affect our revenues or restrict our future growth. Instability in the financial markets as a result of terrorism or war also could affect our ability to raise capital. In addition, the insurance premiums charged for some or all of the coverage currently maintained by us could increase dramatically or such coverage could be unavailable in the future.

Our ability to grow may be affected if shippers refuse to use our services because we operate a portion of our business through agents and owner-operators.

In our experience, certain high-volume shippers have determined that their freight must be hauled by carriers that use company drivers and equipment. Such shippers believe that they can obtain a more homogenous fleet and more control over service standards. Such policies could prevent us from pursuing certain business opportunities, which could adversely affect our growth and results of operations.

Our intermodal business could be adversely affected by a decrease in the volume of international shipments.

A portion of our business comes from the intermodal segment of the transportation market, and we believe that by expanding our intermodal support services we have a substantial opportunity to grow our business. A decrease in intermodal transportation services resulting from general economic conditions or other factors such as work stoppages, price competition from other modes of transportation, or a disruption in steamship or rail service could have an adverse effect on these growth opportunities and have a materially adverse effect on our business.

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Seasonality and the impact of weather can affect our operations.

The productivity of our owner-operators generally decreases during the winter season and, in certain states during hurricane season, because some shippers reduce their shipments and inclement weather impedes operations. At the same time, our operating expenses generally increase because harsh weather creates higher accident frequency and increased claims.

Our operations in Mexico and Canada make us vulnerable to risks associated with doing business in foreign countries.

As a result of our existing operations in Mexico and Canada, an increasing portion of our revenue and expenses are expected to be denominated in currencies other than U.S. dollars. International operations are subject to certain risks inherent in doing business abroad, including:

Expanding our business in Mexico and Canada, and developing business relationships with manufacturers in such jurisdictions are important strategic elements. As a result, exposure to the risks described above may be greater in the future. The likelihood of such risks and their potential effect on us may vary from country to country and are unpredictable. However, any such occurrences could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We may be subject to additional impairment charges due to further declines in the fair value of our equity securities.

We hold equity securities as short term investments. Holding equity securities subjects us to fluctuations in the market value of our investment portfolio based on current market prices. Marketable securities are carried at fair value and are marked to market at the end of each quarter, with the unrealized gains and losses, net of tax, included as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income, unless the declines in value are judged to be other-than-temporary, in which case an impairment charge is included in the determination of net income. During 2009, we recorded pre-tax other-than-temporary impairment charges of $1.3 million for marketable equity securities classified as available-for-sale. There have been no such charges since 2009. However, we may incur future impairment charges if declines in market values continue or worsen and impairments are no longer considered temporary.

We may be required to write down goodwill and other intangible assets, causing our financial condition and results to be negatively impacted.

When we acquire a business, a portion of the purchase price may be allocated to goodwill and other identifiable intangible assets. Goodwill represents the excess purchase price over the fair value of assets acquired in connection with our acquisitions. At December 31, 2012, our goodwill and other identifiable intangible assets were approximately $25.1 million. Under current accounting standards, if we determine goodwill or intangible assets are impaired, we would be required to write down the value of these assets. We are required to test goodwill for impairment annually or more frequently, whenever events occur or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit with goodwill below its carrying amount. Annually we annually test goodwill for impairment during the third fiscal quarter of each year. As a result of our impairment analysis, we have concluded that no impairment charge was necessary for the year ended

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December 31, 2012. However, we cannot provide assurance whether we will be required to take an impairment charge in the future. Any impairment charge would have a negative effect on our financial results.

Any disputes that arise between us and CenTra, an entity controlled by our majority shareholders, with respect to our past and ongoing relationships could harm our business operations.

Disputes may arise between CenTra, an entity controlled by our majority shareholders, and us in a number of areas relating to our past and ongoing relationships, including:

We may not be able to resolve any potential conflicts and even if we do, the resolution may be less favorable than if we were dealing with an unaffiliated party. The agreements we have entered into with CenTra and with other affiliates controlled by our majority shareholders may be amended upon agreement between the parties.

Our revenue is somewhat dependent on North American automotive industry production volume, and may be negatively affected by future downturns in North American automobile production.

A significant portion of our customers are concentrated in the North American automotive industry. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012, 31% of our operating revenues were derived from customers in the North American automotive industry. Our business and growth largely depend on continued demand for its services from customers in this industry.

The global economic crisis that began in 2008 resulted in delayed and reduced purchases of automobiles. According to CSM Worldwide, light vehicle production in North America during 2009 decreased by 32% compared to 2008. As a result of plant closings and the general downturn in North American automobile production, the revenue we derive from customers in the North American automotive industry decreased from $303.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2007, to $168.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2009, a decline of more than 44%. Throughout the period 2008 to 2009, we experienced significant variability in our revenues from automotive industry customers, as General Motors and Chrysler restructured through bankruptcies, and other North American manufacturers re-scaled their operations to adjust to changing market demands.

These unprecedented conditions negatively impacted revenues in 2008 and 2009. Any future downturns in North American automobile production, which also impacts our steel and metals customers, may similarly affect revenues in future periods.

Our business derives a large portion of revenue from a few major customers, and the loss of any one or more of them as customers, or a reduction in their operations, could have a material adverse effect on our business.

A large portion of our revenue is generated from a limited number of major customers concentrated in the automotive, steel and metals, and energy industries. Our top 10 customers accounted for approximately 37.6% of our operating revenues for the year ended December 31, 2012. Our contracts with customers generally contain cancellation clauses, and there can be no assurance that these customers will continue to utilize our services or that they will continue at the same levels. Further, there can be no assurance that these customers will not be further affected by a future downturn in demand, which would result in a reduction in their operations and corresponding need for our services. Moreover, our customers may individually lose market share, apart from

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general economic trends. If our major customers lose U.S. market share they may have less need for services. A reduction in or termination of services by one or more of its major customers could have a material adverse effect on its business and results of operations.

Customer manufacturing plant closures could have a material effect on our performance.

We derive a substantial portion of our revenue from the operation and management of operating facilities, which are often located adjacent to a customer’s manufacturing plant and are directly integrated into the customer’s production line process. We may experience significant revenue loss and shut-down costs, including costs related to early termination of leases, causing our business to suffer if customers closed their plants or significantly modified their capacity or supply chains at a plant that we service.

In 2008 and 2009, we discontinued and closed operations at five locations in response to our customers closing their related manufacturing plants and recorded aggregate net shut-down charges of $4.8 million as a result of those closings. In December 2011, seven months after launching five new freight consolidation centers in Europe for the European subsidiary of a Tier I automotive supplier, we discontinued and closed the centers and recorded net shut-down charges of $0.9 million as a result of these closings. Our action was the result of lower-than-anticipated volumes through our customer’s European supply chain and the subsequent decision by our customer’s European subsidiary to substantially alter their overall approach to freight transportation. Although we do not currently operate any facilities linked to other announced plant closures, there can be no assurance that it will not be impacted by any future announcements of plant closures.

If our customers are able to reduce their total cost structure regarding their employees that provide internal logistics and transportation services, our business and results of operations may be harmed.

A major driver for customers to use third-party logistics providers instead of their own personnel is their inherent high cost of labor. Third-party logistics service providers such as us are generally able to provide such services more efficiently than otherwise could be provided “in-house” primarily as a result of our lower and more flexible employee cost structure. Historically, this has been the case in the U.S. automotive industry. If, however, the U.S. automotive industry, which has received concessions from the United Auto Worker and other unions, or any other industry we serve, is able to renegotiate the terms of its labor contracts or otherwise reduce its total cost structure regarding its employees, or if it has to make concessions as a result of pressure from the unions with which it deals, we may not be able to provide our customers with an attractive alternative for their logistics needs and our business and results of operations may be harmed.

We face a variety of risks relating to its material handling services.

For certain value-added material handling services, we lease warehouses and distribution facilities on a long-term basis. In one situation, we also assumed employment arrangements from a customer. Such actions may require substantial investments in property, plant and equipment, personnel and management capacity. If we acquire or take over existing facilities of a customer or a competing provider, we may in some jurisdictions assume by operation of law all rights and obligations arising under the existing employment relationships between our customer or the competing provider and the employees employed at such facilities. This may result in additional costs and obligations to be incurred by us, such as wages and employee benefits, which may include severance or other employment-related obligations.

We commit facilities, labor and equipment on the basis of projections of future demand, and our projections may prove inaccurate as a result of changes to economic conditions or a decision by our customers to terminate or not to renew their contracts with us. We generally strive to minimize these risks for its dedicated warehouses and other assets by negotiating coterminous lease agreements, which have the same duration as that of the assets deployed to service the contract. Where we take assignment of existing employment relationships, we typically seek indemnities for employee service liabilities from the previous employer. Our revenue, cash flows and results

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of operations may be adversely affected if we are unable to secure terms coterminous with our customer commitments or to be indemnified for employee service liabilities. This could result in an impairment of assets and adversely affect our cash flow.

Under some of our third-party logistics agreements, we have agreed to reduce our prices over time in accordance with anticipated cost savings and efficiency improvements. If we are compelled to perform our contractual obligations on unfavorable terms (including when such anticipated cost savings and improvements are not realized), our results of operations could be adversely affected.

Our customers may terminate contracts before completion or choose not to renew contracts, which could adversely affect our business and reduce our revenue.

The terms of our customer contracts, particularly for value-added services, often range up to five years. Many of our customer contracts may be terminated by such customers with or without cause, with one to six months’ notice and in most cases without significant penalty. The termination of a substantial percentage of these contracts could adversely affect our business and reduce our revenue. Failure to meet contractual or performance requirements could result in cancellation or non-renewal of a contract. In addition, a contract termination or significant reduction in work assigned to us by a major customer could cause us to experience a higher than expected number of unassigned employees or other underutilized resources, which would reduce our operating margin until we are able to reduce or reallocate headcount or other overcapacity. We may not be able to replace any customer that elects to terminate or not renew its contract, which would adversely affect our business and revenues.

Our business is highly dependent on dynamic information technology.

The provision and application of information technology is an important competitive factor in the logistics industry. Among other things, our information systems must frequently interact with those of our customers and transportation providers. Our future success will depend on our ability to employ logistics software that meets industry standards and customer demands. Although there are redundancy systems and procedures in place, the failure of the hardware or software that supports our information technology systems could significantly disrupt client workflows and cause economic losses for which we could be held liable and which would damage our reputation.

We expect customers to continue to demand more sophisticated and fully integrated information technology systems from their logistics providers, which are compatible with their own information technology environment. In addition, our competitors may have or develop information technology systems that permit them to be more cost effective and otherwise better situated to meet customer demands than we are able to develop. Larger competitors may be able to develop or license information technology systems more cost effectively than we can by spreading the cost across a larger customer base, and competitors with greater financial resources may be able to develop or purchase information technology systems that we cannot afford. If we fail to meet the demands of our customers or protect against disruptions of both our and our customers’ operations, we may lose customers, which could seriously harm our business and adversely affect our operating results and operating cash flow.

We license a variety of software that is used in our information technology system. As a result, the success and functionality of our information technology is dependent upon our ability to continue to license the software platforms upon which it is built. There can be no assurances that we will be able to maintain these licenses or replace the functionality provided by this software on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

Additionally, while we are not aware of any pending infringement matters and we believe that we have all necessary licenses to implement our system, we could be subject to claims of infringement in the future. The failure to maintain these licenses or any significant delay in the replacement of, or interference in, our use of this software or any claims of infringement, even those without merit, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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A significant labor dispute involving us or one or more of our customers, or that could otherwise affect our operations, could reduce our revenues and harm our profitability.

A substantial number of our employees and of the employees of our largest customers are members of industrial trade unions and are employed under the terms of collective bargaining agreements. Each of our unionized facilities has a separate agreement with the union that represents the workers at only that facility. Labor disputes involving either us or our customers could affect our operations. If the UAW and our automotive customers and their suppliers are unable to negotiate new contracts and our customers’ plants experience slowdowns or closures as a result, our revenue and profitability could be negatively impacted. A labor dispute involving another supplier to our customers that results in a slowdown or closure of our customers’ plants to which we provide services could also have a material adverse effect on our business. Significant increases in labor costs as a result of the renegotiation of collective bargaining agreements could also be harmful to our business and our profitability. As of December 31, 2012, 714 of our 2,519 employees are subject to collective bargaining agreements, including 68 which are subject to contracts that expire in 2013.

In addition, strikes, work stoppages and slowdowns by our employees may affect our ability to meet our customers’ needs, and customers may do more business with competitors if they believe that such actions may adversely affect our ability to provide service. We may face permanent loss of customers if we are unable to provide uninterrupted service. The terms of our future collective bargaining agreements also may affect our competitive position and results of operations.

If we are unable to enter new business industries or segments successfully, our future growth prospects could suffer.

Our growth strategy requires us to enter into geographic or business markets in which we have little or no prior experience. In addition to the risks inherent in entering new markets or lines of business, our success in entering such new markets or businesses may be dependent on our ability to create new and appropriate business models. There can be no assurance that we will be able to develop successful business models that can adapt to new lines of businesses in which we have little or no experience.

Product recalls or isolated product liability claims may negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Recalls may result in decreased production levels due to (i) the manufacturer focusing its efforts on addressing the problems underlying the recall, as opposed to generating new sales volume, and (ii) consumers’ electing not to purchase automobiles manufactured by manufacturers initiating the recall, or by automotive companies in general, while such recalls persist. Any reductions in the production volumes of our customers could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We provide sub-assembly services for certain customers in the United States and Mexico. In the ordinary course of operations, we manage charge-backs for non-conforming goods or service failure claims. To the extent that product recalls or isolated product liability claims are caused by or involve components we have sub-assembled, we may be subject to risk of loss or other damage claims in connection with such sub-assembly services. We are not involved in the design, development or specification of any components. Our customers purchase all components and also specify sub-assembly processes and related equipment. We do warrant that items assembled by us will be fit and sufficient for the particular purpose intended by our customer and will, in particular, achieve specific testing, assembly and data capture criteria established by our customer for the sub-assembly process, based on detailed interim and final testing. If we do not expressly modify or exclude language appearing in the general terms and conditions attached to its major customers’ purchase orders, such losses or claims could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

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ITEM 1B: UNRESOLVED SECURITIES & EXCHANGE COMMISSION STAFF COMMENTS

None.

ITEM 2: PROPERTIES

We are headquartered and maintain our corporate administrative offices in Warren, Michigan. We own our corporate administrative offices, as well as terminal yards in the following locations: Dearborn, Michigan; Columbus, Ohio; Reading, Ohio; Latty, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; Gary, Indiana; Dallas, Texas; South Kearny, New Jersey; Garden City, Georgia; Millwood, West Virginia and Memphis, Tennessee; offices in Tampa, Florida; Houston, Texas and a condominium in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. Our properties are subject to a mortgage granted to Comerica Bank, as agent for our senior lenders.

As of December 31, 2012, we also leased 76 operating, terminal and yard, and administrative facilities in various U.S. cities located in 26 states, in Milton, Ontario, and in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. This includes 15 facilities approximately 100,000 square feet or larger at which we deliver value-added services, or which serve as destinations for selected transportation services. We also deliver services inside or linked to 19 facilities provided by customers. Certain of our leased facilities are leased from entities controlled by our majority shareholders. These facilities are leased on either a month-to-month basis or extended terms. We believe that the properties we lease from these affiliates are, in the aggregate, leased at market rates and are suitable for their purposes and adequate to meet our needs.

ITEM 3: LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

The nature of our business routinely results in litigation incidental to the ordinary course of our business, primarily involving claims for personal injury and property damage incurred in the transportation of freight. Based on knowledge of the facts and, in certain cases, opinions of outside counsel, we believe all such litigation is adequately covered by insurance or otherwise reserved for and that adverse results in one or more of those cases would not have a materially adverse effect on our financial condition, operating results or cash flows.

ITEM 4: MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

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PART II

Market Information

Our common stock is traded on The NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “UACL”. The following table shows the reported high and low sales prices of our common stock for the periods indicated.

The reported last sale price per share of the Common Stock as quoted through the NASDAQ Global Select Market on March 4, 2013 was $19.35 per share. As of such date we had 30,053,912 shares outstanding. The number of shareholders of record on March 4, 2013, was 11; however, we estimate that we have a significantly greater number of shareholders because a substantial number of our common shares are held at The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation on behalf of our shareholders.

Dividends

Historically, we have not paid regular dividends, and no dividends or distributions on our common stock were paid during 2007, 2008 or 2010. However, on February 25, 2009, September 6, 2011 and again on March 16, 2012 the Board of Directors declared special cash dividends of $1.00 per common share. We currently intend to retain any future earnings to finance the growth, development and expansion of our business and currently do not anticipate paying cash dividends in the future. Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, any legal or contractual restrictions on the payment of dividends and other factors the Board of Directors deems relevant.

Limitations on our ability to pay dividends are described under the section captioned “Liquidity and Capital Resources—Revolving Credit and Term Loan Agreement” in Item 7 of this Form 10-K.

Equity Compensation Plan Information

We maintain one stock incentive plan, the 2004 Stock Incentive Plan (the Plan). The Plan allows for the issuance of a total of 500,000 shares. The grants may be made in the form of restricted stock bonuses, restricted stock purchase rights, stock options, phantom stock units, restricted stock units, performance share bonuses, performance share units or stock appreciation rights. For more information on the Plan, see Item 8: Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. The following table presents information related to securities authorized for issuance under this plan at December 31, 2012:

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Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

On November 6, 2007, the Company announced that it had been authorized to purchase up to 800,000 shares of its Common Stock from time to time in the open market. No specific expiration date has been assigned to the authorization.

There were no purchases of our equity securities by or on behalf of us or any affiliated purchaser within the fourth quarter of 2012.

Performance Graph

The graph below compares the cumulative 5-Year total return of holders of Universal Truckload Services, Inc.’s common stock with the cumulative total returns of the NASDAQ Composite index and the NASDAQ Transportation index. The graph tracks the performance of a $100 investment in our common stock and in each of the indexes (with the reinvestment of all dividends) from 12/31/2007 to 12/31/2012.

The stock price performance included in this graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.

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ITEM 6: SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

The following table sets forth the selected historical financial and operating data as of and for the periods presented. In October 2012, Universal acquired LINC Logistics Company (LINC). Universal and LINC were under common control, and as such, the financial statements of Universal have been retrospectively revised to reflect the accounts of LINC as if they had been consolidated for all previous periods. The selected historical balance sheet data at December 31, 2012 and 2011 and the selected historical statement of income data for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements. The selected historical balance sheet data at December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008 and the selected historical statement of income data for the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008 have been combined for Universal and LINC, and derived from Universal’s audited consolidated financial statements and LINC’s audited consolidated financial statements. The selected historical financial and operating data presented below should be read in conjunction with the information included under the heading “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Form 10-K. The following financial and operating data may not be indicative of our future performance.

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In accordance with the requirements of Regulation G issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, we are presenting the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure and reconciling the non-GAAP financial measure to the comparable GAAP measure. Set forth below is a reconciliation of income from operations, the most comparable GAAP measure, to adjusted income from operations; and of net income, the most comparable GAAP measure, to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA for each of the periods indicated:

We present adjusted income from operations and adjusted EBITDA in this Form 10-K because we believe it assists investors and analysts in comparing our performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by excluding items that we do not believe are indicative of our core operating performance.

Adjusted income from operations and adjusted EBITDA have limitations as an analytical tool. Some of these limitations are:

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Because of these limitations, adjusted income from operations and adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for performance measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. We compensate for these limitations by relying primarily on our GAAP results and using adjusted income from operations and Adjusted EBITDA only supplementally.

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Overview

We are a leading asset-light provider of customized transportation and logistics solutions throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada. In October 2012, we acquired LINC Logistics Company (LINC). Universal and LINC were under common control, and as such, the financial statements of Universal have been retrospectively revised to reflect the accounts of LINC as if they had been consolidated for all previous periods. The acquisition significantly enhanced our position as a leading provider of third party transportation, value-added and intermodal services.

We provide a comprehensive suite of transportation and logistics solutions that allow our customers and clients to reduce costs and manage their global supply chains more efficiently. We market our services through a direct sales and marketing network focused on selling our portfolio of transportation logistic services to large customers in specific industry sectors, through a contract network of agents who solicit freight business directly from shippers, and through company-managed terminals and full service freight forwarding and customs house brokerage offices.

Our network of agents and owner-operators is located throughout the United States and in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and we operate, manage or provide transportation services at 76 logistics locations in the United States, Mexico and Canada. 19 facilities are located inside customer plants or distribution operations; the other facilities are generally located close to our customers’ plants to optimize the efficiency of their component supply chains and production processes. Our facilities and services are often directly integrated into the production processes of our customers and represent a critical piece of their supply chains. To support our asset-light business model, we generally try to coordinate the length of real estate leases associated with our value-added services with the end date of the related customer contract associated with such facility, or use month-to-month leases, in order to mitigate exposure to unrecovered lease costs.

We offer our customers a wide range of transportation services by utilizing a diverse fleet of tractors and trailing equipment provided by us, our owner-operators and third-party transportation companies. Our owner-operators provided us with approximately 3,370 tractors and 3,100 trailers. We own approximately 730 tractors, 3,200 trailers, 840 chassis and 800 containers. Our agents and owner-operators are independent contractors who earn a fixed commission calculated as a percentage of the revenue or gross profit they generate for us and who bring an entrepreneurial spirit to our business. Our transportation services are provided through a network of both union and non-union employee drivers, owner-operators, contract drivers, and third-party transportation companies.

We employ 2,519 people in the United States, Mexico and Canada, including 714 employees subject to collective bargaining agreements. We also engaged staffing contract vendors to supply an average of 2,182 additional personnel on a full-time-equivalent basis.

Our use of agents, owner-operators, third-party providers and contract staffing vendors allows us to maintain both a highly flexible cost structure and a scalable business operation, while reducing investment requirements. These benefits are passed on to our customers in the form of cost savings and increased operating efficiency, while enhancing our cash generation and the returns on our invested capital and assets.

We believe that our flexible business model also offers us substantial opportunities to grow through a mixture of organic growth and acquisitions. We intend to continue our organic growth by recruiting new agents and owner-operators, expanding into new industry verticals and targeting further penetration of our key customers. We believe our integrated suite of transportation and logistics services, our network of facilities in the United States, Mexico and Canada, our long-term customer relationships and our reputation for operational excellence will allow us to capitalize on these growth opportunities. We also expect to continue to make strategic acquisitions of companies that complement our asset light business model, as well as companies that derive a portion of their revenues from asset based operations.

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In January 2010, we acquired Cavalry Transportation, LLC and Cavalry Logistics, LLC, or Cavalry, based in Nashville, Tennessee, for approximately $2.7 million. Cavalry offers fully integrated transportation resources designed to maximize value for its customers through logistic solutions in intermodal, truckload, and less-than-truckload transportation options. Cavalry operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Universal Truckload Services, Inc.

In January 2010, we acquired certain assets of TSD Transportation L.P., or TSD, based in Texarkana, Texas, for approximately $0.7 million. Included in the purchase price was approximately $0.4 million of additional consideration estimated to be paid to the former owners of TSD based on a percentage of revenues generated through December 31, 2011. TSD operates as part of Louisiana Transportation, Inc.

In March 2011, we acquired certain assets of Hart Transportation, Inc., or Hart, based in Jacksonville, Florida for approximately $1.4 million. Hart is primarily a regional provider of van and flatbed services throughout the southeastern United States. Included in the purchase price is approximately $0.4 million of additional consideration estimated to be paid to the former owner of Hart based on a percentage of revenues generated through March 31, 2014. Hart operates as part of Universal Am-Can, Ltd.

Factors Affecting Our Revenues

Operating Revenues. We generate substantially all of our revenues through fees charged to customers for the transportation of freight and for the customized logistics services we provide. We also derive revenue from fuel surcharges, where separately identifiable, loading and unloading activities, equipment detention, container management and storage and other related services. Our agreements with customers typically follow one of two patterns: transactional or contractual. Transactional agreements are associated with individual freight shipments coordinated by our agents, company-managed terminals and specialized services operations. Generally, we are paid by the mile for our transportation and intermodal drayage services. Contractual agreements are for the delivery of value-added services or transportation services that are on an exclusive basis. The pricing structure of value-added services contracts, which often are three to five years in duration, compensate for the physical resources and labor that support material handling, sequencing, sub-assembly and various other value-added processes, including both variable-cost and fixed-price components. Transportation services which are contractual typically have a term of one year. Fees charged to customers by our full service international freight forwarding and customs house brokerage are based on the specific means of forwarding or delivering freight on a shipment-by-shipment basis.

Our transportation revenues are primarily influenced by fluctuations in freight volumes and shipping rates. The main factors that affect these are competition, available truck capacity, and economic market conditions. Our value-added contract business is substantially driven by the level of demand for outsourced logistics services. Major factors that affect our revenues include changes in manufacturing supply chain requirements, production levels in specific industries, pricing trends due to levels of competition and resource costs in logistics and transportation, and economic market conditions.

We recognize revenue on a gross basis at the time that persuasive evidence of an arrangement with our customer exists, sales price is fixed and determinable, and collectability is reasonably assured. Our revenue is recognized at the time of delivery to the receiver’s location, or for service arrangements, after the related services have been rendered.

Factors Affecting Our Expenses

Purchased transportation and equipment rent. Purchased transportation and equipment rent represents the amounts we pay to our owner-operators or other third party equipment providers to haul freight and, to the extent required to deliver certain logistics services, the cost of equipment leased under short-term contracts from third parties. The amount of the purchased transportation we pay to our owner-operators is primarily based on a

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contractually agreed-upon percentage of our revenue for each load hauled. The expense also includes the amount of fuel surcharges, where separately identifiable, that we receive from our customers and pass through to our owner-operators. Our strategy is to maintain a highly flexible business model that employs a cost structure that is mostly variable in nature. As a result, purchased transportation and equipment rent is the largest component of our costs and increases or decreases proportionately with changes in the amount of revenue generated by our owner-operators and other third party providers and with the production volumes of our customers. We recognize purchased transportation and equipment rent as the services are provided.

Direct personnel and related benefits. Direct personnel and related benefits include the salaries, wages and fringe benefits of our employees, as well as costs related to contract labor utilized in operating activities. These costs are a significant component of our cost structure and increase or decrease proportionately with the expansion, addition or closing of operating facilities. As of December 31, 2012, approximately 28.3% of our employees were subject to collective bargaining agreements. Any changes in union agreements will affect our personnel and related benefits cost. The operations in the United States and Canada that are subject to collective bargaining agreements have separate, individualized agreements with several different unions that represent employees in these operations. While there are some facilities with multiple unions, each collective bargaining agreement with each union covers a single facility for that union. Such agreements have expiration dates that are generally independent of other collective bargaining agreements and include economics and operating terms tailored to the specific operational requirements of a customer. Our operation in Mexico provides competitive compensation within the Mexican statutory framework for managerial and supervisory personnel.

Commission expense. Commission expense represents the amount we pay our agents for generating shipments on our behalf. The commissions we pay to our agents are generally established through informal oral agreements and are based on a percentage of revenue or gross profit generated by each load hauled. Traditionally, commission expense increase or decrease in proportion to the revenues generated through our agents. We recognize commission expenses at the time we recognize the associated revenue.

Operating expense (exclusive of items shown separately). These expenses include items such as fuel, tires and parts repair items primarily related to the maintenance of company owned/leased tractors, trailers and lift equipment, as well as licenses, dock supplies, communication, utilities, operating taxes and other general operating expenses. We also receive rental income by leasing our trailers to owner-operators. These expenses are presented net of rental income. Because we maintain a flexible business model, our operating expenses (exclusive of items shown separately) generally relate to equipment utilization, fluctuations in customer demand and the related impact on our operating capacity. Our transportation services provided by company owned equipment depend on the availability and pricing of diesel fuel. Although we often include fuel surcharges in our billing to customers to offset increases in fuel costs, other operating costs have been, and may continue to be, impacted by fluctuating fuel prices. We recognize these expenses as they are incurred and the rental income as it is earned.

Occupancy expense. Occupancy expense includes all costs related to the lease and tenancy of terminals and operating facilities, except utilities, unless such costs are otherwise covered by our customers. Although occupancy expense is generally related to fluctuations in overall customer demand, our contracting and pricing strategies help mitigate the cost impact of changing production volumes. To minimize potential exposure to inactive or underutilized facilities that are dedicated to a single customer, we strive where possible to enter into lease agreements that are coterminous with individual customer contracts, and we seek contract pricing terms that recover fixed occupancy costs, regardless of production volume. Occupancy expense may also includes certain lease termination and related occupancy costs that are accelerated for accounting purposes into the fiscal year in which such a decision was implemented.

Selling, general and administrative expense. Selling, general and administrative expense includes the salaries, wages and benefits of sales and administrative personnel, related support costs, taxes (other than income and property taxes), adjustments due to foreign currency transactions, bad debt expense, and other general expenses, including gains or losses on the sale or disposal of assets. These expenses are generally not directly related to

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levels of operating activity and may contain non-recurring or one-time expenses related to general business operations. We recognize selling, general and administrative expense when it is incurred.

Insurance and claims. Insurance and claims expense represents our insurance premiums and the accruals we make for claims within our self-insured retention amounts. Our insurance premiums are generally calculated based on a mixture of a percentage of line-haul revenue and the size of our fleet. Our accruals have primarily related to cargo and property damage claims. We may also make accruals for personal injuries and property damage to third parties, physical damage to our equipment, general liability and workers’ compensation claims if we experience a claim in excess of our insurance coverage. To reduce our exposure to non-trucking use liability claims (claims incurred while the vehicle is being operated without a trailer attached or is being operated with an attached trailer which does not contain or carry any cargo), we require our owner-operators to maintain non-trucking use liability coverage, which we refer to as deadhead bobtail coverage, of $2.0 million per occurrence. Our exposure to liability associated with accidents incurred by other third party providers who haul freight on our behalf is reduced by various factors including the extent to which they maintain their own insurance coverage. Our insurance expense varies primarily based upon the frequency and severity of our accident experience, insurance rates, our coverage limits and our self-insured retention amounts.

Depreciation and amortization. Depreciation and amortization expense relates primarily to the depreciation of owned tractors, trailers, computer and operating equipment, and buildings as well as the amortization of the intangible assets recorded for our acquired customer and agent relationships. We estimate the salvage value and useful lives of depreciable assets based on current market conditions and experience with past dispositions.

Results of Operations

In prior periods, we presented our individual operating segments as one reportable segment. In the fourth quarter of 2012, we acquired LINC and, on December 20, 2012, our board appointed a new chief executive officer, who has the responsibility to allocate resources and to assess the performance of our operating segments. Certain integration activities in connection with our organizational design and our financial reporting system were not concluded as of December 31, 2012. We concluded that LINC should be reported separately from the operating segments that pre-dated the LINC acquisition.

LINC’s operating revenues increased $18.7 million, or 6.4%, to $309.6 million for 2012 from $290.9 million for 2011. The increase in operating revenues was primarily driven by increasing demand for value-added services at both new and existing customers, which was partially offset by decreases in our transportation volumes. Income from operations in 2012 increased to $45.5 million, or 14.7% expressed as a percentage of operating revenues, compared to $41.7 million, or 14.3% in the same period last year. The increase in income from operations is the result of increased volumes. As a percentage of operating revenue, income from operations increased 36 basis points, which reflects LINC’s highly variable cost structure. Included in LINC’s operating results were $2.3 million of transaction fees and other merger related costs and a write-off of $1.9 million of IPO expenses that were taken as a charge to income when preparations were abandoned in May 2012.

Operating revenues from our pre-merger reportable segment increased $27.6 million, or 4.0%, to $727.4 million for 2012 from $699.7 million for 2011. Revenues from our transportation services experienced modest growth of 1.7% while intermodal services increased 17.1% primarily due to increased domestic container freight moves and an acquisition. Income from operations increased to $23.7 million, or 3.3% expressed as a percentage of operating revenue compared to $24.4 million, or 3.5% in the same period last year. As a percentage of operating revenues, income from operations decreased slightly by 23 basis points. Operating results from our pre-merger reportable segment reflect $6.1 million of transaction fees and other costs incurred that were directly related to the acquisition of LINC.

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The following table sets forth items derived from our consolidated statements of income for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, presented as a percentage of operating revenues:

2012 Compared to 2011

Operating revenues. Operating revenues increased $46.3 million, or 4.7%, to $1.037 billion for 2012 from $990.7 million for 2011. This included increases of $1.5 million, $27.2 million, and $17.6 million in our transportation, value-added and intermodal services, respectively. Included in operating revenues are fuel surcharges, where separately identifiable, of $115.2 million for 2012 compared to $110.6 million for 2011. The increase in fuel surcharges was primarily the result of higher volumes, particularly in our intermodal operations where fuel surcharges, where separately identifiable, increased $4.3 million. Overall, we experienced a decrease in our transportation volumes including the discontinuation of certain lower margin transportation routes, the discontinuation of a small freight management program, and the discontinuation of a Canadian shuttle operation. These decreases however were offset by an increase in our operating revenue per loaded mile, an additional $4.5 million of revenues generated at our new Camp Hill, Pennsylvania less-than-truckload operations and $2.0 million of revenues attributable to an acquisition made in the first quarter of 2011. Our intermodal operations experienced an increase in both the number of loads hauled, in operating revenues per loaded mile, as well as a $6.5 million increase due to increases in domestic container related operations. Also included in intermodal revenue is approximately $4.7 million of revenues attributable to an acquisition made in the second quarter of 2012. The number of loads from our combined transportation and intermodal operations was relatively flat at 996,000 for 2012 compared to 994,000 for 2011, while our operating revenue per loaded mile, excluding fuel surcharges increased to $2.50 from $2.36 for 2011. We also experienced increasing demand for value-added services in 2012 compared to 2011 increasing revenues at both new and existing customers. New value-added revenues totaled $27.2 million, which benefited in part from full-year operations from certain businesses that launched mid-way through 2011, particularly with Wal-Mart Stores, and $3.3 million in volume increases at existing operations. New program launches include additional transmission and suspension work for General Motors in Mexico and additional warehouse management for our industrial and auto supply customers.

Purchased transportation and equipment rent. Purchased transportation and equipment rental costs for 2012 increased by $10.5 million, or 1.8%, to $592.5 million from $582.0 million for 2011. Purchased transportation and equipment rent generally increases or decreases in proportion to the revenues generated through owner-

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operators and other third party providers and is generally correlated with changes in demand for transportation and intermodal services. Combined, transportation and intermodal service revenues increased 2.3% to $862.0 million for 2012 compared to $842.9 million for 2011. As a percentage of operating revenues, purchased transportation and equipment rent expense decreased to 57.1% for 2012 from 58.7% for 2011. The decrease is primarily due to the reduction in transportation and intermodal services as a percentage of total revenues, as well as an increase in intermodal service revenue as a percentage of total revenues, which typically pay lower purchased transportation rates.

Direct Personnel and related benefits. Direct personnel and related benefits expenses for 2012 increased $17.3 million, or 11.9%, to $163.1 million, compared to $145.8 million for 2011. Trends in these expenses are generally correlated with changes in operating facilities and headcount requirements and, therefore, increased with the level of demand for our value-added services and staffing needs of our operations. Approximately $9.0 million of the increase is due to increased expenditures for contract labor or substantially similar contract services, primarily to support newer operations and customers. Such costs increased to 30.7% of total direct personnel and related benefits for 2012, compared to 28.1% of such costs in 2011. As a percentage of revenue, personnel and related benefits expenses increased to 15.7% for 2012, compared to 14.7% for 2011. The percentage is derived on an aggregate basis from both existing and new programs, and from operating locations at various stages in their lifecycles. Individual operations may be impacted by additional production shifts or by overtime at selected operations. While generalizations about the impact of personnel and related benefits costs as a percentage of total revenue are difficult, we manage compensation and staffing levels, including the use of contract labor, to maintain target economics based on near-term projections of demand for our services.

Commission expense. Commission expense for 2012 decreased by $0.4 million, or 1.0%, to $42.2 million from $42.6 million for 2011. As a percentage of operating revenues, commission expense decreased to 4.1% for 2012 compared to 4.3% for 2011. Commission expense generally increases or decreases in proportion to our transportation and intermodal revenues, except in cases where we generate a higher proportion of our revenues at company-managed terminals. As a percentage of revenues, the decrease in commission expense is due to an increase in fuel surcharges, which are generally passed through to our owner-operators and increase in revenues generated by our company managed-locations and value-added services, and as such, no commissions are paid.

Operating expenses (exclusive of items shown separately). Operating expenses (exclusive of items shown separately) increased by $4.8 million, or 7.2%, to $71.1 million for 2012, compared to $66.3 million for 2011. As a percentage of operating revenues, other operating expenses (exclusive of items shown separately) increased to 6.9% for 2012 from 6.7% for 2011. These expenses include items such as fuel, maintenance, insurance, communications, utilities and other general expenses, and generally relate to fluctuations in customer demand. The increase is primarily due to an increase in repairs and maintenance costs of $1.7 million based on higher demand for transportation services and increased travel and entertainment of $0.6 million due increased business and full year operations of several of our value-added locations, as well as road show and IPO efforts of LINC. Additional elements of the increase in operating expenses (exclusive of items shown separately) include increases in utilities, permit costs and dock supplies.

Occupancy expense. Occupancy expense increased by $0.9 million to $19.3 million for 2012, compared to $18.4 million for 2011. The 4.9% increase reflects the aggregate net impact of various changes in the number of operating locations, lease-based facility rents, adjustments in charges related to our reserve for plant closing costs, and in related charges, including property taxes. Additionally, our operations included in the financial results for the full year of 2012 at leased facilities located in Indiana and Tennessee, as well as a new leased facility in Texas. These increases were partially offset by lease rental rate reductions at facilities in Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi and Michigan, as well as the closing of our German operations in 2011.

Selling, general and administrative. Selling, general and administrative expense for 2012 increased by $11.3 million, or 37.8%, to $41.2 million from $29.9 million for 2011. Included in selling, general and administrative expenses is $8.4 million of transaction fees and other costs incurred that were directly related to the acquisition

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of LINC and $1.9 million of expenses that were taken as a charge to income when LINC’s preparations for an IPO were abandoned in May 2012. As a percentage of operating revenues, selling, general and administrative expense increased to 4.0% for 2012 compared to 3.0% for 2011. Exclusive of these charges, as a percentage of operating revenues, selling, general and administrative expense remained constant at 3.0% for 2012 and 2011. Additionally, there were increases in salaries and wage expense of $0.9 million, of which $0.6 million was recognized additional compensation expense for the vested portion of restricted stocks granted in December 2012. Minor fluctuations in other expense categories reflect our efforts to maintain stable overhead expenditures while expanding the business.

Insurance and claims. Insurance and claims expense for 2012 decreased by $1.5 million, or 6.9%, to $20.3 million from $21.8 million for 2011. As a percentage of operating revenues, insurance and claims decreased to 2.0% for 2012 from 2.2% for 2011. The absolute decrease was primarily the result of decreases in our service failure and cargo claims expense of $0.9 million and in our auto liability insurance premiums and claims expense of $0.6 million.

Depreciation and amortization. Depreciation and amortization for 2012 increased by $0.5 million, or 2.8%, to $18.2 million from $17.7 million for 2011. The absolute increase is primarily the result of additional depreciation of $0.9 million on capital expenditures, which was partially offset by a decrease in amortization of $0.4 million due to certain intangible assets becoming fully amortized.

Interest expense, net. Net interest expense was $4.0 million for 2012 compared to $2.2 million for 2011. Upon closing the merger with LINC on October 1, 2012, we borrowed approximately $149.1 million to repay LINC’s outstanding indebtedness and dividends payable. As of December 31, 2012, we had outstanding borrowings totaling $146.0 million compared to $83.1 million at December 31, 2011. Additionally, upon paying off LINC’s existing debt, we wrote-off approximately $0.6 million of capitalized financing costs as additional interest expense.

Other non-operating income (expense), net. Other non-operating income for 2012 was $2.8 million compared to $1.7 million for 2011. Included in other non-operating income in 2012 were $2.2 million in pre-tax gains on the sales of marketable equity securities compared to $1.1 million in 2011.

Provision for income taxes. Provision for income taxes for 2012 was $20.3 million compared to $14.2 million for 2011, based on an effective tax rate of 29.8% and 21.6%, respectively. Prior to the merger, LINC elected to be treated as a “Subchapter S corporation” for federal income tax purposes. As a result, the financial results related to LINC for all of 2011 and for the first three quarters of 2012 incurred no federal income tax liabilities or in many jurisdictions, state or local tax liabilities. The increase in the effective rate is primarily due to increases of operating activities in foreign income tax jurisdictions and transaction costs of $8.3 million that resulted from the acquisition of LINC. Due to the nature of certain costs and expenses associated with the LINC merger, approximately $6.8 million of the transaction costs are nondeductible for tax purposes.

2011 Compared to 2010

Operating revenues. Operating revenues increased $138.8 million, or 16.3%, to $990.7 million for 2011 from $851.9 million for 2010. This included increases of $93.6 million, $30.3 million, and $14.9 million in our transportation, value-added and intermodal services, respectively. Included in operating revenues are fuel surcharges, where separately identifiable, of $110.6 million for 2011 compared to $67.4 million for 2010. The combination of higher fuel prices and increased volumes resulted in higher fuel surcharge revenue. The increase in revenues from our transportation and intermodal services was primarily due to increases in the number of loads hauled, fuel surcharges, where separately identifiable, and increases in our operating revenues per loaded mile. The number of loads from our combined transportation and intermodal operations grew to 994,000 for 2011 compared to 891,000 for 2010, while our operating revenue per loaded mile, excluding fuel surcharges, increased to $2.36 from $2.21 for 2010. Included in transportation revenue is also approximately $10.1 million of revenues

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attributable to an acquisition made in the first quarter of 2011. We also experienced increasing demand for value-added services compared to 2010. We recognized incremental revenue totaling approximately $26.2 million from new programs launched for both existing and new customers. These new programs include a value-added services operation launched inside a General Motors assembly plant, two consolidation centers launched for Wal-Mart Stores in April 2011, and additional services delivered to two other automotive OEMs, two of our industrial customers, and to a Tier I automotive supplier in the United States and Europe. In December 2011, after lower-than-anticipated volume in the first six months of operation, we discontinued freight consolidation centers supporting the same Tier I supplier’s European supply chain, which had accounted for $1.1 million of revenue from new programs in 2011, $3.1 million in operating expenses (including $0.1 million of depreciation and amortization), and $0.9 million in closing costs.

Purchased transportation and equipment rent. Purchased transportation and equipment rental costs for 2011 increased by $83.7 million, or 16.8%, to $582.0 million from $498.3 million for 2010. As a percentage of operating revenues, purchased transportation and equipment rent expense increased to 58.7% for 2011 from 58.5% for 2010. Purchased transportation and equipment rent generally increases or decreases in proportion to the revenues generated through owner-operators and other third party providers and is generally correlated with changes in demand for transportation and intermodal services. The absolute increase was primarily due to the increase in these service categories. The increase in purchased transportation as a percent of operating revenues is primarily due to an increase in fuel surcharges, where separately identifiable, which are generally passed through to owner-operators.

Direct Personnel and related benefits. Direct personnel and related benefits expenses for 2011 increased $23.3 million, or 19.0%, to $145.8 million, compared to $122.5 million for 2010. Trends in these expenses are generally correlated with changes in operating facilities and headcount requirements and, therefore, increased with the level of demand for our value-added services and staffing needs of our operations. Approximately $14.6 million of the $23.3 million increase is due to increased expenditures for contract labor or substantially similar contract services, primarily to support newer operations and customers. Such costs increased to 28.1% of total direct personnel and related benefits for 2011, compared to 21.6% of such costs in 2010. Personnel and related benefits expense also includes approximately $0.2 million in contract labor and other labor-related charges incurred upon our decision to close our short-lived European operation. As a percentage of revenue, personnel and related benefits expenses increased slightly, to 14.7% for 2011, compared to 14.4% for 2010. The percentage is derived on an aggregate basis from both existing and new programs, and from operating locations at various stages in their lifecycles. Individual operations may be impacted by additional production shifts or by overtime at selected operations. While generalizations about the impact of personnel and related benefits costs as a percentage of total revenue are difficult, we manage compensation and staffing levels, including the use of contract labor, to maintain target economics based on near-term projections of demand for our services.

Commission expense. Commission expense for 2011 increased by $3.1 million, or 7.8%, to $42.6 million from $39.5 million for 2010. As a percentage of operating revenues, commission expense decreased to 4.3% for 2011 compared to 4.6% for 2010. The absolute increase was primarily due to the increase in our operating revenues. Commission expense generally increases or decreases in proportion to our transportation and intermodal revenues. As a percentage of revenues, the decrease in commission expense is due to an increase in fuel surcharges, where separately identifiable, which are generally passed through to our owner-operators and increase in revenues generated by our company-managed locations and value-added services, and as such, no commissions are paid.

Operating expenses (exclusive of items shown separately). Operating expenses (exclusive of items shown separately) increased by $12.6 million, or 23.5%, to $66.3 million for 2011, compared to $53.7 million for 2010. As a percentage of operating revenues, other operating expenses (exclusive of items shown separately) increased to 6.7% for 2011 from 6.3% for 2010. One element of the increase in variable operating expenses was higher demand for transportation services, thus resulting in higher maintenance and fuel costs. Maintenance costs increased $3.1 million, or 23.0% to $16.6 million for 2011. Additionally, diesel prices rose 28.4%, from an

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average of $2.96 per gallon in 2010 to $3.80 per gallon for 2011. Although partially recovered in our fuel surcharges to customers, the total cost of diesel fuel used in transportation activities from company owned equipment increased $4.6 million, or 24.0%, for 2011 compared to 2010. Operating expense (exclusive of items shown separately) also includes $0.4 million in costs associated with our December 2011 decision to close freight consolidation operations in Europe. Additional elements of the increase in operating expenses (exclusive of items shown separately) include higher forklift battery replacement charges, increases in permit costs and repair to a facility prior to lease expiration.

Occupancy expense. Occupancy expense increased by $1.7 million to $18.4 million for 2011, compared to $16.7 million for 2010. The 10.2% increase reflects the aggregate net impact of various changes in the number of operating locations, lease-based facility rents, adjustments in charges related to our reserve for plant closing costs, and in related charges, including property taxes. In particular, operations included in the financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011 reflect new real estate leases for facilities located in California, Indiana, Tennessee and Texas; in Ontario, Canada; and at two warehouse facilities in Germany. Cost increases related to these new leases were partially offset by the expiration of an existing lease for our operation in Southern California, which we relocated and rental income from leasing space at certain owned properties. Occupancy expense also includes $0.3 million in closing costs prompted by the early termination of two German real estate contracts, following our December 2011 decision to terminate these leases and close three other small freight consolidation operations in Europe.

Selling, general and administrative. Selling, general and administrative expense for 2011 decreased by $0.6 million, or 2.0%, to $29.9 million from $30.5 million for 2010. As a percentage of operating revenues, selling, general and administrative expense decreased to 3.0% for 2011 compared to 3.6% for 2010. There were no significant changes in employee headcount included in this expense item for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, compared to the one-year earlier period. Minor fluctuations in other expense categories reflect our efforts to maintain stable overhead expenditures while expanding the business.

Insurance and claims. Insurance and claims expense for 2011 increased by $1.0 million, or 4.8%, to $21.8 million from $20.8 million for 2010. As a percentage of operating revenues, insurance and claims decreased slightly to 2.2% for 2011 from 2.4% for 2010. The absolute increase was primarily the result of increases in our service failure and cargo claims expense of $1.3 million, which was partially offset by decreases in our auto liability insurance premiums and claims expense of $0.3 million.

Depreciation and amortization. Depreciation and amortization for 2011 increased by $0.2 million, or 1.1%, to $17.7 million from $17.5 million for 2010. The absolute increase is primarily the result of additional depreciation on our capital expenditures made throughout 2010 and 2011.

Interest expense, net. Net interest expense was $2.2 million for 2011 compared to $1.4 million for 2010 primarily due to a $0.6 million increase in interest expense. Throughout 2011, the core interest rates that establish the baseline for our interest expense have remained at historic lows. On April 21, 2011, LINC refinanced a substantial portion of its outstanding senior debt, increasing total interest-bearing debt outstanding. At December 31, 2011, total outstanding indebtedness, including all senior secured borrowing and the subordinated $25.0 million dividend distribution promissory note, was $83.1 million. This compares to senior secured and subordinated borrowing totaling $63.5 million at December 31, 2010.

Other non-operating income (expense), net. Other non-operating income for 2011 was $1.7 million compared to $6.0 million for 2010. Included in other non-operating income in 2011 were $1.1 million in pre-tax gains on the sales of marketable equity securities compared to $5.4 million in 2010.

Provision for income taxes. Provision for income taxes for 2011 was $14.2 million compared to $11.3 million for 2010, based on an effective tax rate of 21.6% and 19.8%, respectively. Prior to the merger, LINC elected to be treated as a “Subchapter S corporation” for federal income tax purposes. As a result, the financial results related

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to LINC for all of 2011 and 2010 incurred no federal income tax liabilities or in many jurisdictions, state or local tax liabilities. The increase in the effective rate is primarily due to adjustments to prior-year tax provisions, increases in domestic income tax rates, and increases in levels of operating activity in higher tax jurisdictions.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our primary sources of liquidity are funds generated by operations, our availability under our $110 million revolving credit and $60 million equipment credit facilities, our ability to borrow on margin against our marketable securities held at UBS, and proceeds from the sales of marketable securities. Additionally, our revolving credit facility includes an accordion feature which would allow us to increase availability by up to $20 million upon our request and approval of the lenders.

We employ an asset-light operating strategy which we believe lowers our capital expenditure requirements. In general, our facilities used in our value-added services are leased on terms that are either substantially matched to our customer’s contracts, are month-to-month or are provided to us by our customers. We also utilize owner-operators and third-party carriers to provide a significant portion of our transportation and specialized services. Over 80% of the tractors and 50% of the trailers used in our business are provided by our owner-operators. In addition, our use of agents reduces our overall need for large terminals. As a result, our capital expenditure requirements are limited in comparison to most large transportation and logistics service providers, which maintain significant properties and sizable fleets of owned tractors and trailers.

In 2012, our capital expenditures totaled $29.6 million. These expenditures primarily consisted of transportation equipment and investments in support of new value-added service operations, including the expansion in the scope of services we provide in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Our asset-light business model depends somewhat on the customized solutions we implement for specific customers. As a result, our capital expenditures will depend on specific new contracts and the overall age and condition of our owned transportation equipment. In 2013, exclusive of acquisitions of businesses, we expect to incur capital expenditures in the range of 2% to 3% of operating revenues for the acquisition of transportation equipment, to support our value-added service operations and for the acquisition of real property acquisitions and improvements to our existing terminal yard and container facilities.

On October 1, 2012, we completed the acquisition of LINC. In connection with the acquisition, at closing we borrowed approximately $149.1 million to repay LINC’s outstanding indebtedness and dividends payable. Additionally, we incurred transaction fees and other costs related to the merger totaling approximately $8.4 million. See Part II, Item 8, Note 2 and Note 6 to Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion.

We expect that our cash flow from operations, working capital and available borrowings will be sufficient to meet our capital commitments and fund our operational needs for at least the next twelve months. Based on the availability of borrowings under our credit facilities, against our marketable security portfolio and other financing sources. and assuming the continuation of our current level of profitability, we do not expect that we will experience any liquidity constraints in the foreseeable future.

We continue to evaluate business development opportunities, including potential acquisitions that fit our strategic plans. There can be no assurance that we will identify any opportunities that fit our strategic plans or will be able to execute any such opportunities on terms acceptable to us. Depending on prospective consideration to be paid for an acquisition, any such opportunities would be financed first from available cash and cash equivalents and availability of borrowings under our credit facilities.

We currently intend to retain our future earnings to finance our growth.

Revolving Credit and Term Loan Agreement

On August 30, 2012, we entered into a Revolving Credit and Term Loan Agreement, or the Credit Agreement, with and among the lenders parties thereto and Comerica Bank, as administrative agent, to provide for aggregate

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borrowing facilities of up to $220 million. The Credit Agreement consists of a $110 million revolving credit facility (which amount may be increased by up to $20 million upon request of the Company and approval of the lenders), a $60 million equipment credit facility, and a $50 million term loan. Additionally, the Credit Agreement provides for up to $5 million in letters of credit, which would, if drawn upon, reduce availability under the revolving credit facility. Borrowings under the revolving credit facility may be made until, and mature on, August 28, 2017. Borrowings under the equipment credit facility may be made until August 28, 2015, and such borrowings made in any year shall be repaid in 28 quarterly installments beginning on April 1 of the year after the applicable borrowing was made. Borrowings under the term loan facility shall mature on August 28, 2017. Borrowings under the Credit Agreement bear interest at LIBOR or a base rate, plus an applicable margin for each. The applicable margin fluctuates based on the Company’s total debt to EBITDA ratio, as defined in the Credit Agreement.

The Credit Agreement requires us to repay the borrowings made under the term loan facility and the equipment credit facility as follows: 50% (which percentage shall be reduced to 0% subject to the Company attaining a certain leverage ratio) of our annual excess cash flow, as defined; 100% of net cash proceeds of certain asset sales; and 100% of certain insurance and condemnation proceeds. We may voluntarily repay outstanding loans under each of the facilities at any time, subject to certain customary “breakage” costs with respect to LIBOR-based borrowings. In addition, we may elect to permanently terminate or reduce all or a portion of the revolving credit facility.

All obligations under the Credit Agreement are unconditionally guaranteed by our material U.S. subsidiaries and the obligations of the Company and such subsidiaries under the Credit Agreement and such guarantees are secured by, subject to certain exceptions, substantially all of their assets. The Credit Agreement also may, in certain circumstances, limit our ability to pay dividends or distributions. The Credit Agreement includes financial covenants requiring us to maintain maximum leverage ratios and a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio, as well as customary affirmative and negative covenants and events of default. At December 31, 2012, the Company was in compliance with its debt covenants. As of December 31, 2012, there were no letters of credit issued under the Credit Agreement, and the outstanding balance was $146.0 million. Excess availability as defined by the Credit Agreement at such date was $14.2 million.