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Note 15 - Commitments and Contingent Liabilities | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2017
Notes to Financial Statements |
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block] | 15. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES From time-to-time, we are a party to ordinary, routine litigation arising in the ordinary course of business, most of which involves claims for personal injury and property damage incurred in connection with the transportation of freight. We maintain insurance to cover liabilities arising from the transportation of freight for amounts in excess of certain self-insured retentions. In management's opinion, our potential exposure under pending legal proceedings is adequately provided for in the accompanying consolidated financial statements. On May 8, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio issued a pre-trial decision against our Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc. ("SRT") subsidiary relating to a cargo claim incurred i n 2008. The court had previously ruled in favor of the plaintiff in 2014, and the prior decision was reversed in part by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and remanded for further proceedings in 2015. As a result of this decision, we increased the reserve in respect of this case by $0.9 million in the first quarter of 2017 in order to accrue additional legal fees and pre-judgment interest since the time of the previously noted appeal. We are appealing the District Court’s decision on damages to the Sixth Circuit. Our SRT subsidiary is a defendant in a lawsuit filed on December 16, 2016 in the Superior Court of San Bernardino County, California. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of David Bass (a California resident and former driver), who is seeking to hav e the lawsuit certified as a class action case wherein he alleges violation of multiple California wage and hour statutes over a four year period of time, including failure to pay wages for all hours worked, failure to provide meal periods and paid rest breaks, failure to pay for rest and recovery periods, failure to reimburse certain business expenses, failure to pay vested vacation, unlawful deduction of wages, failure to timely pay final wages, failure to provide accurate itemized wage statements, and unfair and unlawful competition as well as various state claims. The case was removed from state court in February, 2017 to the U.S. District Court in the Central District of California, and subsequently, SRT moved the District Court to transfer venue of the case to the U.S. District Court sitting in the Western District of Arkansas. The motion to transfer was approved by the California District Court in July, 2017, and the case will now be heard in the U.S. District court in the Western District of Arkansas. Based on our present knowledge of the facts and, in certain cases, advice of outside counsel, management believes the resolution of open claims and pending litigation, taking into account existing reserves, is not likely to have a materially adverse effec t on our consolidated financial statements. We had $32.9 million and $27.2 million of outstanding and undrawn letters of credit as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The letters of credit are maintained primarily to support our insurance programs. We had commitments outstanding at December 31, 2017, to acquire revenue equipment totaling approximately $51.7 million in 2018 versus commitments at December 31, 2016 of approximately $86.5 million. These commitments are cancelable upon stated notice periods, subject to certain adjustments in the underlying obligations and benefits. These purchase commitments are expected to be financed by operating leases, capital leases, long-term debt, proceeds from sales of existing equipment, and/or cash flows from operations.

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