Note 10 - Commitments and Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Notes to Financial Statements

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 10. Commitments and Contingencies

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.

Our subsidiary Covenant Transport, Inc. (“Covenant Transport”) is a defendant in a lawsuit filed on November 9, 2018, in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, California.  The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Richard Tabizon (a California resident and former driver) who is seeking to have the lawsuit certified as a class action.  The complaint asserts that the time period covered by the lawsuit is from October 31, 2014 to the present and alleges claims for failure to properly pay drivers for rest breaks, failure to provide accurate itemized wage statements and/or reimbursement of business related expenses, unlawful deduction of wages, failure to pay proper minimum wage and overtime wages, failure to provide all wages due at termination, and other related wage and hour claims under the California Labor Code.  Since the original filing date, the case has been removed from the Los Angeles Superior Court to the U.S. District Court in the Central District of California and subsequently the case was transferred to the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Tennessee where the case is now pending.  The Court has set a bench trial to begin on August 25, 2020.  Covenant Transport intends to vigorously defend itself in this matter.  We do not currently have enough information to make a reasonable estimate as to the likelihood, or amount of a loss, or a range of reasonably possible losses as a result of this claim, as such there have been no related accruals recorded as of June 30, 2020.    

On February, 28 2019, Covenant Transport was named in a separate (but related) lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, California requesting civil penalties under the California Private Attorneys’ General Act for the same underlying wage and hour claims at issue in the putative class action case noted above. On August 1, 2019, the Los Angeles Superior Court entered an order staying the action pending completion of the earlier-filed action that is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Covenant Transport intends to vigorously defend itself in this matter.  We do not currently have enough information to make a reasonable estimate as to the likelihood, or amount of a loss, or a range of reasonably possible losses as a result of this claim, as such there have been no related accruals recorded as of June 30, 2020.

On August 2, 2018, Curtis Markson, et al. (collectively, “Markson”), filed a putative class action case in United States District Court, Central District of California generically claiming that five (5) specified trucking companies (including our subsidiary Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc.) entered into a "no poaching conspiracy" in which they agreed not to solicit or hire employees in California who were "under contract" with a fellow defendant. The allegations center around new drivers in California who received their commercial driver's license through driving schools associated with, or paid for by, one of the named defendants, in exchange for agreeing to drive for that defendant carrier for a specified amount of time (typically 8-10 months). Over the ensuing 18 – 20 months, the Plaintiffs added Covenant Transport as a co-defendant in the lawsuit on April 23, 2020.  The lawsuit claims that the named defendants sent letters to one another, providing notice of "under contract" status, if these new California drivers were hired by another defendant carrier prior to the driver completing their contractual obligations. Plaintiffs contend that these notifications evidence a collusive agreement by the named defendants to restrain competition among trucking companies in California and suppress wages. Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc. and Covenant Transport are vigorously defending themselves against these claims. We do not currently have enough information to make a reasonable estimate as to the likelihood, or amount of a loss, or a range of reasonably possible losses as a result of this claim, as such there have been no related accruals recorded as of June 30, 2020.    

Our insurance program includes multi-year policies with specific insurance limits that may be eroded over the course of the policy term. If that occurs, we will be operating with less liability coverage insurance at various levels of our insurance tower. For the current policy period ( April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2021), aggregate limits available in the coverage layer $9.0 million in excess of $1.0 million are estimated to be fully eroded based on current claims expense accruals. As a result, any increases to existing claims, and/or new claims filed prior to March 31, 2021, may require additional expense accruals. Additionally, there is the possibility of mandatory reinstatement charges for the expired policy providing coverage in the $10.0 million in excess of $10.0 million layer, for accidents that occurred prior to expiration on March 31, 2020. The expenses associated with additional liability claims may be substantial and such expenses could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Due to these developments, we may experience additional expense accruals, increased insurance and claims expenses, and greater volatility in our insurance and claims expenses, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. 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 condensed consolidated financial statements.

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, discussed above, taking into account existing reserves, is not likely to have a materially adverse effect on our condensed consolidated financial statements.

We had $36.7 million and $35.2 million of outstanding and undrawn letters of credit as of June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively. The letters of credit are maintained primarily to support our insurance programs.