Note 17 - Revenue and Business Segments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Notes to Financial Statements

Segment Reporting Disclosure [Text Block]

17. Revenue and Business Segments

We account for our revenue in accordance with FASB ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which we adopted on January 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective method. We combine our five current operating segments into four reporting segments (Truckload, Dedicated, Intermodal and Brokerage) for financial reporting purposes. These four reporting segments are also the appropriate categories for the disaggregation of our revenue under FASB ASC 606.

We have strategically transitioned from a refrigerated long-haul carrier to a multifaceted business offering a network of refrigerated and dry truck-based transportation capabilities across our five distinct business platforms – Truckload, Dedicated, Intermodal, Brokerage and MRTN de Mexico.

The primary source of our operating revenue is provided by our Truckload segment through a combination of regional short-haul and medium-to-long-haul full-load transportation services. We transport food and other consumer packaged goods that require a temperature-controlled or insulated environment, along with dry freight, across the United States and into and out of Mexico and Canada. Our agreements with customers are typically for one year.

Our Dedicated segment provides customized transportation solutions tailored to meet each individual customer’s requirements, utilizing temperature-controlled trailers, dry vans and other specialized equipment within the United States. Our agreements with customers range from three to five years and are subject to annual rate reviews.

Generally, we are paid by the mile for our Truckload and Dedicated services. We also derive Truckload and Dedicated revenue from fuel surcharges, loading and unloading activities, equipment detention and other accessorial services. The main factors that affect our Truckload and Dedicated revenue are the rate per mile we receive from our customers, the percentage of miles for which we are compensated, the number of miles we generate with our equipment and changes in fuel prices. We monitor our revenue production primarily through average Truckload and Dedicated revenue, net of fuel surcharges, per tractor per week. We also analyze our average Truckload and Dedicated revenue, net of fuel surcharges, per total mile, non-revenue miles percentage, the miles per tractor we generate, our fuel surcharge revenue, our accessorial revenue and our other sources of operating revenue.

Our Intermodal segment transports our customers’ freight within the United States utilizing our temperature-controlled trailers and, beginning in September 2019, our refrigerated containers, each on railroad flatcars for portions of trips, with the balance of the trips using our tractors or, to a lesser extent, contracted carriers. The main factors that affect our Intermodal revenue are the rate per mile and other charges we receive from our customers.

Our Brokerage segment develops contractual relationships with and arranges for third-party carriers to transport freight for our customers in temperature-controlled trailers and dry vans within the United States and into and out of Mexico through Marten Transport Logistics, LLC, which was established in 2007 and operates pursuant to brokerage authority granted by the DOT. We retain the billing, collection and customer management responsibilities. The main factors that affect our Brokerage revenue are the rate per mile and other charges that we receive from our customers.

Operating results of our MRTN de Mexico business which offers our customers door-to-door service between the United States and Mexico with our Mexican partner carriers is reported within our Truckload and Brokerage segments.

Our customer agreements are typically for one-year terms except for our Dedicated agreements which range from three to five years with annual rate reviews. Under FASB ASC 606, the contract date for each individual load within each of our four reporting segments is generally the date that each load is tendered to and accepted by us. For each load transported within each of our four reporting segments, the entire amount of revenue to be recognized is a single performance obligation and our agreements with our customers detail the per-mile charges for line haul and fuel surcharges, along with the rates for loading and unloading, stop offs and drops, equipment detention and other accessorial services, which is the transaction price. There are no discounts that would be a material right or consideration payable to a customer. We are required to recognize revenue and related expenses over time, from load pickup to delivery, for each load within each of our four reporting segments. We base our calculation of the amount of revenue to record in each period for individual loads picking up in one period and delivering in the following period using the number of hours estimated to be incurred within each period applied to each estimated transaction price. Contract assets for this estimated revenue which are classified within prepaid expenses and other within our consolidated balance sheet were $1.5 million and $1.7 million as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. We had no impairment losses on contract assets in 2020 or 2019. We bill our customers for loads after delivery is complete with standard payment terms of 30 days.

We account for revenue of our Intermodal and Brokerage segments and revenue on freight transported by independent contractors within our Truckload and Dedicated segments on a gross basis, as discussed in our revenue policy note.

The following table sets forth for the years indicated our operating revenue and operating income by segment. We do not prepare separate balance sheets by segment and, as a result, assets are not separately identifiable by segment.

(Dollars in thousands)	2020		2019		2018
Operating revenue:
Truckload revenue, net of fuel surcharge revenue	$	342,357	$	329,304	$	322,324
Truckload fuel surcharge revenue		36,791		48,696		53,016
Total Truckload revenue		379,148		378,000		375,340
Dedicated revenue, net of fuel surcharge revenue		271,550		223,935		187,137
Dedicated fuel surcharge revenue		38,234		42,049		36,715
Total Dedicated revenue		309,784		265,984		223,852
Intermodal revenue, net of fuel surcharge revenue		79,944		77,750		85,572
Intermodal fuel surcharge revenue		8,789		12,644		16,453
Total Intermodal revenue		88,733		90,394		102,025
Brokerage revenue		96,709		108,893		86,377
Total operating revenue	$	874,374	$	843,271	$	787,594
Operating income:
Truckload	$	39,637	$	29,666	$	35,067
Dedicated		40,909		31,245		18,589
Intermodal		5,730		6,612		11,150
Brokerage		6,970		8,975		5,542
Total operating income	$	93,246	$	76,498	$	70,348

Truckload segment depreciation expense was $54.7 million, $54.0 million and $52.2 million, Dedicated segment depreciation expense was $41.4 million, $34.6 million and $29.6 million, Intermodal segment depreciation expense was $5.6 million, $5.1 million and $5.5 million, and Brokerage segment depreciation expense was $1.2 million, $1.5 million and $1.3 million, in 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.