Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc.

fourth quarter 2024 earnings conference call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on a touch-tone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Jack Atkins, Director, Finance, and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Betsy. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the fourth quarter 2024 conference call for Old Dominion Freight Line. Today's call is being recorded and will be available for replay beginning today through February 12, 2025, by dialing 1-877-3255. 344-7529, access code 3755692. The replay of the webcast may also be accessed for 30 days at the company's website. This conference call may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements among others regarding Old Dominion's expected financial and operating performance. For this purpose, any statements that may Any statements made during this call that are not forward-looking statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the words believes, anticipates, plans, expects, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. You are hereby cautioned that these statements may be affected by the important factors, among others, set forth in Old Dominion's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in this morning's news release. and consequently, actual operations and results may differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Please note that all prior period share and per share data discussed on today's conference call have also been adjusted to reflect our March 2024 two-for-one stock split. As a final note before we begin, We welcome your questions today, but ask that you limit yourself to just one question before returning to the queue. At this time for opening remarks, I would like to turn the conference call over to the company's president and chief executive officer, Mr. Marty Freeman. Marty, please go ahead, sir.

Good morning and welcome to our fourth quarter conference call. With me on the call today is Adam Satterfield, our CFO. And after some brief remarks, we'll be more than happy to take your questions. Old Dominion's fourth quarter financial results reflect continued softness in the domestic economy. While our revenue declined 7.3% in the quarter due to a decrease in our volumes, our market share remained relatively consistent while we continued to strengthen our customer relationships. Although our fourth quarter earnings per diluted share of $1.23 represents a 16.3% decrease compared to the same period a year ago, I'm proud of how our team continued to deliver superior service while also operating very efficiently despite headwinds from lower density. The past few years have been full of challenges with our industry, especially given the sluggish macroeconomic environment that has continued far longer than most of us would have anticipated. Through all of this, we have remained committed to the key elements of our proven long-term strategic plan, and I would like to thank our OD family of employees for unwavering dedication to our core strategic priorities. While we have focused on what we can control, providing superior customer service, remaining disciplined in our approach to pricing and controlling our cost by maximizing our operating efficiencies and minimizing our discretionary spending, we have also continued to invest in our network, our technology, and our people, as we strengthen our balance sheet allows us to remain focused on long-term market share opportunities. The consistency of our execution through the ups and downs of the economic cycle has been a key element in our ability to win market share through the years. Our customers know they can rely on us to be there for them and help them keep their promises to their customers. I'm proud to report that once again, the case in the fourth quarter, as we provided our customers with 99% on-time service and a cargo claims ratio below 0.1%. By consistently providing our customers with best in class service, we are adding value to their business, which in turn supports our yield management initiatives. Our long-term consistent approach to pricing, which focuses on individual customer profitability, is designed to help offset our cost inflation and support future investments in our capacity and technology. In the face of this challenging demand environment, our team has worked hard to control our cost and preserve our profitability by looking for ways to operate as efficiently as possible. As a result, over the past two years, our direct operating expenses have declined as a percentage of revenue despite headwinds from lower network density and continued cost inflation. This shows the flexibility of our network as well as the commitment of our entire team to match our direct operating costs to our business levels. Importantly, our efforts to control costs have not prevented us from continuing to invest in our business for long term. We spent $771 million on capital expenditures in 2024, which follows the $757 million in capital spending we executed in 2023. These figures include $664 million we have invested over the two-year period in the ongoing expansion of our service center network. We opened four new service centers in 2024, and we also have several other facilities under construction or nearly complete that we can open quickly once the demand environment supports it. We have over 30% excess capacity in our service center network, but we know how quickly the market can change. These ongoing investments have created some short-term headwinds to our overhead expenses due to higher depreciation costs. That said, we are willing to incur these costs in the short term so that we are in a position to grow with our customers and support them while the capacity and technology they will acquire in the years ahead. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our OD family of employees, I'm cautiously optimistic as we start the fiscal new year. While we cannot predict what we will see in the inflection in demand, we are well positioned to respond to an improved operating environment when it materializes. Over the past decade, our consistent execution and commitment to superior service has allowed Old Dominion to win more market share than any other LTO carrier. We are confident. that by continuing to implement our proven strategic plan, we are positioned to continue to win market share and drive increased value for our shareholders over the long term. I appreciate you joining us this morning, and now Adam will discuss our fourth quarter in greater detail. Adam.