Form S-4
Table of Contents

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 16, 2008

Registration No. [            ]

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM S-4

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

QUALITY DISTRIBUTION, LLC

and the Guarantors identified in footnote (1) below

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

 

Delaware   4213   04-3668323

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(Primary Standard Industrial

Classification Code Number)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification Number)

4041 Park Oaks Blvd., Suite 200

Tampa, Florida 33610

(813) 630-5826

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

QD CAPITAL CORPORATION

and the Guarantors identified in footnote (1) below

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

 

Delaware   4213   02-0692668

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(Primary Standard Industrial

Classification Code Number)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification Number)

4041 Park Oaks Blvd., Suite 200

Tampa, Florida 33610

(813) 630-5826

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

 

 

Jonathan C. Gold

Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

Quality Distribution, Inc.

4041 Park Oaks Blvd., Suite 200

Tampa, Florida 33610

(813) 630-5826

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service of process)

 

 

With copies to:

William E. Turner II

Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg LLP

200 West Madison Street, Suite 3900

Chicago, Illinois 60606

(312) 984-3100

 

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after this Registration Statement becomes effective.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are being offered in connection with the formation of a holding company and there is compliance with General Instruction G, check the following box.  ¨

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ¨

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, 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. (Check one):

Large accelerated filer  ¨            Accelerated filer  x            Non-accelerated filer  ¨            Smaller reporting company  ¨

(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)

The registrants hereby amend this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrants shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 

(1) The following parent of Quality Distribution, LLC and domestic direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries of Quality Distribution, LLC are Guarantors of the exchange Senior Floating Rate Notes due 2012, Series B, and are Co-Registrants, each of which is incorporated in the jurisdiction and has the I.R.S. Employer Identification Number indicated: Quality Distribution, Inc., a Florida corporation (59-3239073); American Transinsurance Group, Inc., a Delaware corporation (23-2613934); Boasso America Corporation, a Louisiana corporation (72-1176189); Chemical Leaman Corporation, a Pennsylvania corporation (23-2021808); EnviroPower, Inc., a Delaware corporation (23-2735584); Fleet Transport Company, Inc., a Delaware corporation (23-2848144); Mexico Investments, Inc., a Florida corporation (59-3433851); MTL of Nevada, a Nevada corporation (88-0350589); Power Purchasing, Inc., a Delaware corporation (23-2611487); QSI Services, Inc., a Delaware corporation (51-0349728); Quala Systems, Inc., a Delaware corporation (23-2343087); Quality Carriers, Inc., an Illinois corporation (36-2590063); and Transplastics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (23-2932792).

 

 

 

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 

 

 

Title of each Class of

Securities to be Registered

  

Amount

to be
Registered

  

Proposed
Maximum
Offering

Price

Per Note

  Proposed
Maximum
Aggregate
Offering Price
  Amount of
Registration
Fee

Senior Floating Rate Notes due 2012, Series B

   $50,000,000    100%   $50,000,000(1)   $2,000

Guarantees of Senior Floating Rate Notes due 2012, Series B

   $50,000,000    (2)   (2)   (2)

 

 

(1) Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee.
(2) Each of Quality Distribution, Inc., American Transinsurance Group, Inc., Boasso America Corporation, Chemical Leaman Corporation, EnviroPower, Inc., Fleet Transport Company, Inc., Mexico Investments, Inc., MTL of Nevada, Power Purchasing, Inc., QSI Services, Inc., Quala Systems, Inc., Quality Carriers, Inc. and Transplastics, Inc. will guarantee the obligations of Quality Distribution, LLC and QD Capital Corporation under the Senior Floating Rate Notes due 2012, Series B. No additional consideration for the guarantees of the Senior Floating Rate Notes due 2012, Series B will be furnished. Pursuant to Rule 457(n), no additional registration fee is payable with respect to such guarantees.


Table of Contents

The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to acquire these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

Subject to Completion, dated April 16, 2008

Quality Distribution, LLC

QD Capital Corporation

LOGO

Offer to Exchange All Outstanding $50,000,000 Principal Amount At Maturity of

Senior Floating Rate Notes due 2012, Series B

For

Senior Floating Rate Notes due 2012, Series B

Which Have Been Registered Under the Securities Act of 1933

The Exchange Offer:

 

   

We will exchange all old notes that are validly tendered and not validly withdrawn for an equal principal amount of exchange notes that have been registered.

 

   

You may withdraw tenders of old notes at any time prior to the expiration of the exchange offer.

 

   

The exchange offer expires at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on [            ], 2008, unless we extend the offer.

The Exchange Notes:

 

   

The terms of the exchange notes to be issued in the exchange offer are substantially identical to the old notes, except that the exchange notes will be freely tradable by persons who are not affiliated with us.

 

   

No public market currently exists for the old notes. We do not intend to list the exchange notes on any securities exchange and, therefore, no active public market is anticipated.

 

   

The exchange notes, like the old notes, will be guaranteed on a senior basis by our parent, Quality Distribution, Inc., and each of our existing and certain future U.S. restricted subsidiaries.

 

   

The exchange notes, like the old notes, will be unsecured and rank equally with all of our existing and future senior debt and rank senior to our existing and future subordinated debt, and will be effectively subordinated to all of our secured debt, to the extent of the value of the assets securing such debt, and to all liabilities of our non-guarantor subsidiaries.

 

   

Like the old notes, if we fail to make payments on the exchange notes, Quality Distribution, Inc. and our subsidiary guarantors must make them instead. The exchange notes and guarantees will also be junior to all of our secured debt and all liabilities of our non-guarantor subsidiaries.

 

   

Each broker-dealer that receives exchange notes pursuant to the exchange offer must acknowledge that it will deliver a prospectus in connection with any resale of the exchange notes.

 

   

If the broker-dealer acquired the old notes as a result of market-making or other trading activities, such broker-dealer may use this prospectus for the exchange offer, as supplemented or amended, in connection with its resales of the exchange notes.

You should carefully consider the risk factors beginning on page 1 of this prospectus before participating in the exchange offer.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

The date of this prospectus is [            ], 2008.


Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

     Page

MARKET AND INDUSTRY DATA

   ii

SUMMARY

   iii

RISK FACTORS

   1

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

   7

THE EXCHANGE OFFER

   8

USE OF PROCEEDS

   15

CAPITALIZATION

   15

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA COMBINED FINANCIAL INFORMATION

   16

SELECTED HISTORICAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION

   19

MANAGEMENTS DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

   21

BUSINESS

   34

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

   43

PROPERTIES

   43

MANAGEMENT

   45
     Page

DESCRIPTION OF THE ABL FACILITY AND OTHER INDEBTEDNESS

   59

DESCRIPTION OF THE SERIES B NOTES

   62

BOOK-ENTRY, DELIVERY AND FORM

   90

CERTAIN U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

   92

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

   94

LEGAL MATTERS

   94

EXPERTS

   94

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

   94

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

   F-1

You should rely only on the information contained in this document. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with any other information. This document may only be used where it is legal to sell these securities.

The information contained in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date of this prospectus, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or of any sale of our notes. In this prospectus, unless the context otherwise requires or indicates, (i) the terms “our company,” “QD LLC,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Quality Distribution, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, and its consolidated subsidiaries and their predecessors, (ii) “QDI” refers to Quality Distribution, Inc., our parent company, (iii) “QD Capital” refers to QD Capital Corporation, our wholly owned subsidiary and a co-issuer of the Senior Floating Rate Notes due 2012, Series B, and (iv) the “Issuers” refers to QD LLC (without its consolidated subsidiaries and their predecessors) and QD Capital.

This prospectus incorporates important business and financial information about us that is not included in or delivered with this document. Copies of this information are available without charge to any person to whom this prospectus is delivered, upon written or oral request. Written requests should be sent to Quality Distribution, Inc., Attention: Investor Relations, 4041 Park Oaks Boulevard, Suite 200, Tampa, Florida 33610. Oral requests should be made by telephone (813) 630-5826. To obtain delivery, you must request the information no later than [            ], which is five business days before the expiration of the Exchange Offer.

MARKET AND INDUSTRY DATA

Market and industry data and other statistical information used throughout this prospectus are based on independent industry publications, government publications and other published independent sources, including Bulk Transporter’s Tank Truck Carrier 2006 Annual Gross Revenue Report. Some data are also based on our good faith estimates, which are derived from our review of management’s knowledge of the industry and independent sources. Although we believe that this information is reliable, we cannot guarantee its accuracy and completeness, nor have we independently verified it. We also obtain certain other market share and industry data from internal company analyses and management estimates, and based on our knowledge of the industry. While we believe such internal company analyses and management estimates are reliable, no independent sources have verified such analyses and estimates. Although we are not aware of any misstatements regarding the market share and the industry data that we present in this prospectus, our estimates involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on various factors, including those discussed under “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements.”

 

ii


Table of Contents

SUMMARY

This summary highlights information contained elsewhere in this prospectus but might not contain all of the information that is important to you. Before participating in the exchange offer, you should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the “Risk Factors” section and the consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus. Excepted as otherwise noted, the financial data included in the prospectus comes from the consolidated financial statements of our parent, Quality Distribution, Inc. and its subsidiaries. Quality Distribution, Inc. is a guarantor of our 9% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2010, our Senior Floating Rate Notes due 2012 and our asset-based lending facility and has no material assets or operations other than its ownership of 100% of our membership interests. As a result, the consolidated financial position and results of operations of Quality Distribution, Inc. are substantially the same as ours.

Our Business

We operate the largest for-hire chemical bulk tank truck network in North America based on bulk service revenues as reported in Bulk Transporter’s Tank Truck Carrier 2006 Annual Gross Revenue Report, the most recent such report available from Bulk Transporter, and we believe we have more than twice the revenues of our closest competitor in our primary chemical bulk transport market in the U.S. The bulk tank truck market in North America includes all products shipped by bulk tank truck carriers and consists primarily of liquid and dry bulk chemicals (including plastics) and bulk dry and liquid food-grade products. We primarily transport a broad range of chemical products and provide our customers with tank wash facilities, ISO depot services, leasing, transloading services, logistics and other value-added services. We are a core carrier for many of the Fortune 500 companies engaged in chemical processing, including Dow Chemical, Procter & Gamble, DuPont and PPG Industries, and we provide services to most of the top 100 chemical producers with U.S. operations.

Our bulk service network consists primarily of company operated terminals, independently owned third-party affiliate terminals and independent owner-operator drivers. Affiliates are independent companies we contract with to operate trucking terminals and tank washes exclusively on our behalf in defined markets. The affiliates provide the capital necessary to service their contracted business and are also responsible for most of the operating costs associated with servicing the contracted business. Owner-operators are generally individual drivers who own or lease their tractors and agree to drive exclusively for us and our affiliate partners. We believe the use of affiliates and independent owner-operators provides the following key competitive advantages to us in the marketplace:

 

   

Locally owned and operated affiliate terminals can provide superior, tailored customer service.

 

   

Affiliates and independent owner-operators are paid a fixed, contractual percentage of revenue for each load they transport creating a variable cost structure that provides protection against cyclical downturns.

 

   

Reliance on affiliate and independent owner-operators creates an asset-light business model that generally reduces our capital investment.

Our revenue is principally a function of the volume of shipments by the bulk chemical industry, the number of miles driven per load, our market share, and the allocation of shipments between tank truck transportation and other modes of transportation such as rail. The volume of shipments of chemical products is, in turn, affected by many other industries, including consumer and industrial products, automotive, paints and coatings, and paper, and tends to vary with changing economic conditions.

Our Industry

We estimate, based on industry sources, that the highly fragmented North American for-hire segment of the chemical bulk transport market generated revenues of approximately $6.5 billion in 2006. We specifically operate in the for-hire chemical and food grade bulk transport market (estimated at $4.0 billion in 2006) where we believe, based on published reports, we have achieved leading market share (estimated at 18%), based on revenues. Our competition in the for-hire segment is comprised of more than 200 smaller, primarily regional carriers. Based on revenues as reported in Bulk Transporter’s Tank Truck Carrier 2006 Annual Gross Revenue Report, we operate the largest for-hire chemical bulk tank truck network comprising terminals, tractors and trailers in North America and therefore believe we are well-positioned to expand our business by increasing our market share.

The chemical bulk tank truck industry growth is generally dependent on (i) volume growth in the industrial chemical industry, (ii) the rate at which chemical companies outsource their transportation needs, (iii) the overall capacity of the rail system, and, in particular (iv) the extent to which chemical companies make use of the rail system for their bulk chemical transportation needs. As competitive pressures force chemical companies to reduce costs and focus on their core businesses, we believe that chemical companies will consolidate their shipping relationships and outsource a greater portion of their logistics needs to third-party tank truck carriers. We believe that large, national full-service carriers will benefit from any such consolidation of relationships and outsourcing of logistics needs and will be able to grow faster than the overall bulk tank truck industry. As a result of our leading market position, breadth of customer services, flexible business model and decentralized operating structure, we believe we are well positioned to benefit from current industry outsourcing trends.

As the chemical industry continues the recent trend towards the globalization of petro-chemical manufacturing capacity, greater quantities of chemicals are being imported into the United States. Consequently, the ISO tank container transportation and depot services business has seen double digit growth rates over the past five years and this growth is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. Our subsidiary, Boasso America Corporation (“Boasso”), is the market leader in the North American ISO tank container transportation and depot services business, which we estimate is a $250 million market.

Our industry is characterized by high barriers to entry such as (i) the time and cost required to develop the operational infrastructure necessary to handle sensitive chemical cargo, (ii) the financial and managerial resources required to recruit and train drivers, (iii) substantial industry regulatory requirements, and (iv) the significant capital investments required to build a fleet of equipment and establish a network of terminals. In addition, the industry continues to experience consolidation due to economic and competitive pressures, increasing operating costs for driver recruitment and insurance, and increasing capital investments for equipment and technology. As the cost and complexity of operating a bulk tank truck business increase, we believe that large, well-established carriers like ourselves will gain market share.

 

iii


Table of Contents

Our Formation and Ownership

We are a Delaware limited liability company formed on April 14, 2002. Our sole member is QDI. QDI is a holding company with no significant assets or operations other than the ownership of 100% of our membership interests. QD Capital, our wholly owned subsidiary, is a Delaware corporation, formed on May 1, 2003 and is a co-issuer of the Old Series B Notes and will be a co-issuer of the Exchange Series B Notes. QD Capital has nominal assets and no operations.

In addition, we are the primary obligor under our asset-based lending facility (the “ABL Facility”), our 9% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2010 (the “9% Notes”), our Senior Floating Rate Notes due 2012, Series A (the “Series A Notes”), our Senior Floating Rate Notes due 2012, Series B (the “Series B Notes”) and the $2.5 million 7% unsecured promissory note with a two-year maturity (the “Boasso Note”) issued in connection with our recent acquisition of Boasso. QDI is a guarantor under the ABL Facility, the 9% Notes, the Series A Notes and the Series B Notes.

QDI was formed in 1994 as a holding company known as MTL, Inc. and consummated its initial public offering on June 17, 1994. On June 9, 1998, MTL, Inc. was recapitalized through a merger with a corporation controlled by Apollo Investment Fund III, L.P. As a result of the recapitalization, MTL, Inc. became a private company. On August 28, 1998, we completed our acquisition of Chemical Leaman Corporation (“CLC”) and its subsidiaries. Through the 1998 acquisition, we combined two of the then-leading bulk transportation service providers, namely, Montgomery Tank Lines, Inc. and Chemical Leaman Tank Lines, Inc., under one operating company, Quality Carriers, Inc. (“QCI”). In 1999, QDI changed its name from “MTL, Inc.” to “Quality Distribution, Inc.” On May 30, 2002, QDI transferred all of its assets (other than certain contract rights which by their terms could not be assigned without the consent of the other parties thereto) to us, consisting principally of the capital stock of QDI’s operating subsidiaries. On November 13, 2003, QDI consummated the initial public offering of its common stock. On December 18, 2007, we acquired all of the outstanding capital stock of Boasso for an aggregate purchase price of (i) $58.8 million in cash less the outstanding long-term indebtedness of Boasso, subject to a working capital adjustment, and (ii) the Boasso Note, excluding fees and direct costs.

QDI is owned principally by Apollo Investment Fund III, L.P., Apollo Overseas Partners III, L.P. and Apollo (U.K.) Partners III, L.P., each of which is an affiliate of Apollo Management, L.P. We refer to Apollo Management, L.P. and its affiliates collectively as “Apollo” throughout this prospectus. As of March 1, 2008, Apollo owned or controlled approximately 54.7% of QDI’s outstanding common stock, and approximately 46.6% of QDI’s common stock on a fully diluted basis.

Market Opportunity

We expect the complexities and operational challenges faced by chemical manufacturers to continue to grow as the chemical industry evolves. These complexities and challenges are driven by a variety of industry trends including customer demand for constantly lower prices, global import/export of bulk liquid products and the need to get product into the pipeline. In order to meet these challenges, we believe chemical producers will sell more through distribution as they look for ways to further reduce their costs by streamlining the supply chain. We believe supply chain efficiencies will be one of the necessary fundamentals for chemical manufacturers’ competitiveness.

In addition, the proliferation of global import/export of bulk liquid chemicals has driven the movement of basic manufacturing out of the United States and has resulted in an increase in chemical plant infrastructure to service these off-shore industries. Driven by this globalization, the ISO tank container market is a rapidly growing sector of the overall liquid bulk chemical transportation sector.

The resulting demand for distributors that can offer a broad range of services within the supply chain is expected to drive future industry growth in the bulk transportation sectors.

Our Strengths

Our Competitive Strengths

Following are our strengths that we believe will allow us to successfully exploit the market opportunities described above.

Largest Tank Truck Network in a Fragmented Industry

We provide our customers with access to the largest tractor and tank trailer network in the North American bulk tank truck industry. In addition, our nationwide network of 121 trucking terminals, 38 tank wash facilities and 10 ISO depot services terminals covers all major North American chemical markets and enables us to serve customers with international, national and regional shipping requirements. Our size allows us, our affiliates and our owner-operators to benefit from economies of scale in the purchasing of supplies and services, including fuel, tires and insurance coverage. Our greater network density allows us to create efficiencies by increasing utilization through reduced “empty miles” with more opportunities to generate backhaul loads. Our size also enables us to invest in new technologies that increase our operating efficiency, improve customer service and lower our costs.

Capital Efficient Business Model

Our extensive use of affiliates and owner-operators results in a highly variable cost structure and significantly reduces our capital investment, thereby allowing us to increase our asset utilization. This model also contributes to the stability of our cash flow and margins and increases our return on capital. Affiliates are responsible for the necessary capital investments, the operating expenses related to their terminals, and most of the operating expenses related to the business they service. Typically, affiliates purchase or lease tractors for their business directly from the manufacturers and lease trailers from us. However, some affiliates purchase their own trailers or lease trailers from independent third parties. Owner-operators are independent contractors who supply one or more tractors and drivers for our own or our affiliates’ exclusive use. As with affiliates, owner-operators are responsible for most of the operating expenses related to the business they transport (excluding costs related to the acquisition and maintenance of trailers). With our extensive use of owner-operators and affiliates, we can reduce the high capital costs of purchasing and maintaining tractors.

Core Carrier to Most Top 100 Chemical Companies

We provide services to most of the top 100 chemical producers with U.S. operations. Our ability to maintain these business relationships reflects our service performance and commitment to safety and reliability. We have established long-term customer relationships with these

 

iv


Table of Contents

clients, which help us attract and retain experienced affiliate terminal operators and drivers. We expect to continue to benefit from the overall growth of the largest chemical companies while targeting new revenue opportunities from smaller chemical companies and will continue to explore opportunities to expand the scope of services we offer.

Broad Menu of Complementary Services

Our ability to provide value-added services that complement our core service differentiates us from smaller competitors and enables us to gain market share, particularly with large customers that seek to use a limited number of core carriers. By increasing the number of services offered to our customers, we enhance our position as a leading national full-service provider in the industry. These services include storage and warehousing, vendor managed inventory, load tendering and managing private fleets.

Enhanced Productivity, Efficiency and Customer Service through Installed Technology

We are proactive in our utilization of technology aimed at improving our customer service and operating efficiency. In contrast to many of our smaller competitors, we have equipped our drivers with various mobile communications systems which enable us to monitor our tractors and communicate with our drivers in the field and enable customers to track the location and monitor the progress of their cargo through the Internet. We have also begun installing satellite tracking devices on our trailers to enable us to increase trailer utilization. Our website allows our customers to view bills and generate customized service reports. We have implemented a centralized order entry, dispatch and billing program system, which enhances our control over our equipment and drivers. This technology is increasingly important when transporting sensitive cargo in today’s heightened security environment.

Our Strategy

Our Growth Strategy

We expect to grow as our customers continue to outsource more of their transportation management and logistics needs to full-service carriers. Beginning in 2005 under the direction of a new senior management team, we implemented several major strategic initiatives designed to enhance our operating flexibility, upgrade and standardize our business processes, improve customer service and increase profitability. During 2006 and 2007, these initiatives as described below have gained momentum and have positioned us to leverage our strengths in order to capitalize on the market opportunities that lie ahead.

Opportunistic Affiliate Conversions

We intend to continue to focus on a less capital intensive business model based on affiliates and owner-operators. However, we continually evaluate our mix of affiliate and company terminals to optimize customer service, revenue growth, profitability and return on investment. In situations where we can more efficiently operate facilities than the relevant affiliate, we may endeavor to purchase this affiliate’s business to enhance our profitability and position us for better growth in key markets. However, we are still able to maintain our asset-light structure through the use of owner-operators at company owned terminals.

Continued Focus on Safety and Training

We have made safety the main focus of our organization. We have developed comprehensive programs to further focus our safety procedures and benchmark us against the best in the industry. Tangible results of this focus have already manifested themselves in decreasing at-fault accident frequencies. We also instituted a training program for terminal, field and headquarters personnel to augment our existing driver training and have begun providing extensive technical and interpersonal training to all dispatchers, terminal managers, and supervisors.

We are committed to conducting our operations in a manner that protects our employees, surrounding communities, customers, and the environment. As a member of the American Chemistry Council (“ACC”) and partner of Responsible Care ®, it is our goal to improve the quality of our service and the level of safety. Participation in Responsible Care® is mandatory for all ACC member companies. We maintain a Responsible Care® Management System, which determines applicability and addresses the requirements of laws, regulations, company and other requirements regarding the environment and the health, safety and security of our operations. We have obtained independent certification that our management system is in place and functions according to professional standards and we continue to evaluate and continuously improve our Responsible Care® Management System performance.

Focus on Driver Recruitment and Retention

Our recruitment and retention effort is focused on providing drivers a welcoming opportunity with competitive compensation, an emphasis on professional development and an understanding that most drivers’ first priority is getting home safely to their families. Over the past four years we reduced driver turnover from 61% to approximately 49%, which we believe is well below the truckload industry average. We are committed to being a driver-focused company that provides both technical support and personal respect to these professionals. We offer competitive compensation, encourage input from our drivers when making business decisions, and utilize full-time customer service professionals who conduct both in-bound and out-bound calls to ensure driver satisfaction. Our driver organization contains field-based recruiters who augment the friendly, small business environment provided by our business model.

Expand Scope of Service Capabilities

We plan to continue to expand the scope of our service capabilities in order to serve the growing needs of our customer base. As our customers continue to focus on their core businesses, we believe that they will increasingly rely on primary service transportation companies to provide value-added services such as intermodal, tank cleaning and logistics services. Two initiatives to expand our service capabilities include the following:

Strengthen our Tank Wash Business

Over the past year, we have substantially improved our company owned tank wash facilities, installed new senior managers, trained staff and upgraded our safety program. We are focused on expanding this business by motivating our drivers, our affiliates’ drivers and third-party carriers to utilize our tank wash facilities and lessen usage of third party tank wash businesses. In 2007, we acquired Brite Clean, a tank wash

 

v


Table of Contents

operation that is expected to contribute approximately $12.0 million in revenue in 2008, for approximately $2.5 million. This acquisition further strengthened our leading market position in the tank wash business.

Expand ISO Tank Container Business

Our subsidiary, Quality Container Services, Inc. (“QCS”) currently participates in the ISO tank container business by providing transportation services and, with the Boasso acquisition, we are now the market leader in the ISO tank container transportation and depot services business in North America. We believe that growing our ISO tank container depot business offers us the opportunity to expand our service offerings to many of our existing customers and to capitalize on this fast-growing segment which is being driven by the recent trend towards the globalization of petro-chemical manufacturing capacity.

Optimize Network

We are in the process of implementing several initiatives expected to increase profitability by minimizing the number of empty miles driven by our drivers. We do this by encouraging our affiliates and owner-operators to pursue additional revenue opportunities in their respective markets thereby increasing asset utilization. For example, we intend to move our pricing towards a revenue per mile compensation structure with our owner-operators instead of the existing percentage of revenue structure. We believe this change will help align owner-operators’ interests with ours and encourage them to increase load counts and improve backhaul rates resulting in increased revenue and operating income. Additionally, where necessary and when economically appropriate, we have expanded our company-owned transportation capacity by investing in new trailers through various methods, including purchases and leases.

Targeted Acquisitions

Our industry is highly fragmented, providing us with the opportunity to grow our distribution network and further develop our tank wash business through acquisitions. Smaller chemical bulk transport operators are seeking to strengthen their competitive position by becoming part of a larger service network. We believe that we are favorably positioned to benefit from this trend. In early 2006, we acquired two transportation companies for $4.1 million. In 2007, we acquired Brite Clean for $2.5 million, a small tank truck carrier for $0.5 million and Boasso for $58.8 million and the Boasso Note. We expect these acquired businesses to generate approximately $90.0 million in revenue in 2008. We intend to continue pursuing attractive acquisition opportunities that augment our position in key markets at attractive multiples.

Risk Factors

An investment in the notes involves a high degree of risk. Potential investors should carefully consider the risk factors set forth under “Risk Factors” beginning on page 1 and the other information contained in this prospectus prior to participating in the exchange offer.

Corporate Information

Our principal executive offices are located at 4041 Park Oaks Blvd., Suite 200, Tampa, Florida, 33610, and our telephone number is (813) 630-5826.

Summary of the Terms of the Exchange Offer

We and the guarantors of the old Senior Floating Rate Notes due 2012, Series B (the “Old Series B Notes”) have entered into a registration rights agreement with the initial purchaser of the Old Series B Notes in which we agreed to file a registration statement relating to an offer to exchange the Old Series B Notes for exchange Senior Floating Rate Notes due 2012, Series B (the “Exchange Series B Notes”) within 120 days of the issuance of the Old Series B Notes. The registration statement, of which this prospectus forms a part, was filed pursuant to this obligation. We also agreed to use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the registration statement to be declared effective within 180 days following the issuance of the Old Series B Notes and to use our best efforts to consummate the exchange offer within 40 days following the effective date of the registration statement. In the exchange offer, you are entitled to exchange your Old Series B Notes for Exchange Series B Notes which are identical in all material respects to the Old Series B Notes except that:

 

   

the Exchange Series B Notes have been registered under the Securities Act and will be freely tradable by persons who are not affiliated with us;

 

   

the Exchange Series B Notes are not entitled to registration rights which are applicable to the Old Series B Notes under the registration rights agreement; and

 

   

our obligation to pay additional interest on the Old Series B Notes because (a) the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part was not declared effective by June 15, 2008 or (b) the exchange offer was not consummated by July 25, 2008, in each case, at incremental rates ranging from 0.25% per annum to 1.0% per annum depending on how long we fail to comply with these deadlines, does not apply to the Exchange Series B Notes.

For purposes of this and other sections in this prospectus, we refer to the Old Series B Notes and the Exchange Series B Notes together as the “Series B Notes.”

 

The Exchange Offer

   We are offering to exchange up to $50,000,000 aggregate principal amount at maturity of our Senior Floating Rate Notes due 2012, Series B, which have been registered under the Securities Act for up to $50,000,000 aggregate principal amount at maturity of our Senior Floating Rate Notes due 2012, Series B, which were issued on December 18, 2007. Old Series B Notes may be exchanged only in integral multiples of $1,000.

Resales

  

We believe that the Exchange Series B Notes issued in the exchange offer may be offered for resale, resold and otherwise transferred by you without compliance with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act provided that:

 

•        the Exchange Series B Notes are being acquired in the ordinary course of your business;

 

vi


Table of Contents
  

•        you are not participating, do not intend to participate, and have no arrangement or understanding with any person to participate, in the distribution of the Exchange Series B Notes issued to you in the exchange offer; and

 

•        you are not an affiliate of ours.

 

If any of these conditions are not satisfied and you transfer any Exchange Series B Notes issued to you in the exchange offer without delivering a prospectus meeting the requirements of the Securities Act or without an exemption from registration of your Exchange Series B Notes from these requirements, you may incur liability under the Securities Act. We will not assume, nor will we indemnify you against, any such liability.

 

Each broker-dealer that is issued Exchange Series B Notes in the exchange offer for its own account in exchange for Old Series B Notes that were acquired by that broker-dealer as a result of market-marking or other trading activities, must acknowledge that it will deliver a prospectus meeting the requirements of the Securities Act in connection with any resale of the Exchange Series B Notes. A broker-dealer may use this prospectus for an offer to resell, resale or other retransfer of the Exchange Series B Notes issued to it in the exchange offer.

Expiration Date; Withdrawal of Tenders    The exchange offer will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, [_____], 2008, or such later date and time to which we extend it. A tender of Old Series B Notes pursuant to the exchange offer may be withdrawn at any time prior to the expiration date. Any Old Series B Notes not accepted for exchange for any reason will be returned without expense to the tendering holder promptly after the expiration or termination of the exchange offer.
Conditions to the Exchange Offer    The exchange offer is subject to customary conditions, some of which we may waive. See “The Exchange Offer—Certain Conditions to the Exchange Offer.”
Procedures for Tendering Old Notes   

If you wish to accept the exchange offer, you must complete, sign and date the accompanying letter of transmittal, or a copy of the letter of transmittal, according to the instructions contained in this prospectus and the letter of transmittal. You must also mail or otherwise deliver the letter of transmittal, or the copy, together with the Old Series B Notes and any other required documents, to the exchange agent at the address set forth on the cover of the letter of transmittal. If you hold Old Series B Notes through The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) and wish to participate in the exchange offer, you must comply with the Automated Tender Offer Program procedures of DTC, by which you will agree to be bound by the letter of transmittal.

 

By signing or agreeing to be bound by the letter of transmittal, you will represent to us that, among other things:

 

•        any Exchange Series B Notes that you receive will be acquired in the ordinary course of your business;

 

•        you have no arrangement or understanding with any person or entity to participate in the distribution of the Exchange Series B Notes;

 

•        if you are a broker-dealer that will receive Exchange Series B Notes for your own account in exchange for Old Series B Notes that were acquired as a result of market-making activities, that you will deliver a prospectus, as required by law, in connection with any resale of the Exchange Series B Notes; and

 

•        you are not our “affiliate” as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act.

Guaranteed Delivery Procedures    If you wish to tender your Old Series B Notes and your Old Series B Notes are not immediately available or you cannot deliver your Old Series B Notes, the letter of transmittal or any other documents required by the letter of transmittal or comply with the applicable procedures under DTC’s Automated Tender Offer Program prior to the expiration date, you must tender your Old Series B Notes according to the guaranteed delivery procedures set forth in this prospectus under “The Exchange Offer—Guaranteed Delivery Procedures.”
Effect on Holders of Old Notes    As a result of the making of, and upon acceptance for exchange of all validly tendered Old Series B Notes pursuant to the terms of, the exchange offer, we will have fulfilled a covenant contained in the registration rights agreement and, accordingly, we will not be obligated to pay additional interest as described in the registration rights agreement. If you are a holder of Old Series B Notes and do not tender your Old Series B Notes in the exchange offer, you will continue to hold the Old Series B Notes and you will be entitled to all the rights and limitations applicable to the Old Series B Notes in the indenture governing the Series B Notes, except for any rights under the registration rights agreement that by their terms terminate upon the consummation of the exchange offer.
Consequences of Failure to Exchange    All untendered Old Series B Notes will continue to be subject to the restrictions on transfer provided for in the Old Series B Notes and in the indenture. In general, the Old Series B Notes may not be offered or sold unless registered under the Securities Act, except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. Other than in connection with the exchange offer, or as otherwise required under certain limited circumstances pursuant to the terms of the registration rights agreement, we do not currently anticipate that we will register the Old Series B Notes under the Securities Act.

Accounting Treatment

   We will record the Exchange Series B Notes in our accounting records at the same carrying value as the Old Series B Notes, as reflected in our accounting records on the date of exchange. Accordingly, we will not recognize any gain or loss for accounting purposes in connection with the exchange offer. We will capitalize the expenses of the exchange offer as deferred financing costs and expense these costs over the life of the Exchange Series B Notes.

 

vii


Table of Contents
Certain U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations    The exchange of Old Series B Notes for Exchange Series B Notes in the exchange offer should not be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes. See “Certain U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations.”

Use of Proceeds

   We will not receive any cash proceeds from the issuance of the Exchange Series B Notes. In consideration for issuing the Exchange Series B Notes as contemplated in this prospectus, we will receive in exchange Old Series B Notes in like principal amount, which will be canceled and as such will not result in any increase in our indebtedness. The net proceeds from the Old Series B Notes offering were used to repay a portion of the term loan under our previous credit facility in connection with the financing of the Boasso acquisition and our entry into the ABL Facility.

Exchange Agent

   The Bank of New York Trust Company, N.A. is the exchange agent for the exchange offer. The address and telephone number of the exchange agent are set forth in the section entitled “The Exchange Offer—Exchange Agent.”

 

viii


Table of Contents

Summary of the Terms of the Exchange Series B Notes

 

Issuers

   Quality Distribution, LLC and QD Capital Corporation.
Exchange Series B Notes Offered    $50.0 million aggregate principal amount at maturity of Senior Floating Rate Notes due 2012, Series B. As of April 1, 2008, we are not authorized to issue any additional Senior Floating Rate Notes due 2012, Series B.

Maturity Date

   January 15, 2012.

Interest

  

The Exchange Series B Notes will bear interest at a rate equal to LIBOR plus 4.50%, payable quarterly in arrears, on January 15, April 15, July 15 and October 15 of each year.

 

Holders who exchange their Old Series B Notes for Exchange Series B Notes will receive the same interest payment on July 15, 2008, which will be the first interest payment date following consummation of the exchange offer with respect to the Old Series B Notes and the Exchange Series B Notes, that they would have received if they had not accepted the exchange offer. Holders of Old Series B Notes whose Old Series B Notes are accepted for exchange in the exchange offer will be deemed to have waived the right to receive any payment in respect of interest on the Old Series B Notes accrued from April 15, 2008 (the most recent date to which interest on the Old Series B Notes was paid prior to the consummation of the exchange offer).

Guarantees

   Our obligations under the Series B Notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed, jointly and severally, on an unsecured and unsubordinated basis by our parent company, QDI, and each of our existing and certain future U.S. restricted subsidiaries. The Series B Notes are not and will not be, however, guaranteed by our foreign subsidiaries or our unrestricted subsidiaries. Investors should not rely on the QDI guarantee in evaluating an investment in the Series B Notes as QDI currently has no material assets other than the ownership of 100% of our membership interests, and the covenants contained in the indenture governing the Series B Notes will not apply to QDI.

Ranking

  

The Exchange Series B Notes will be our unsecured and unsubordinated obligations and will rank:

 

•        equally in right of payment with all of our existing and future unsecured and unsubordinated debt, including the Series A Notes and the Old Series B Notes;

 

•        effectively junior to all of our existing and future secured debt, including borrowings under the ABL Facility, to the extent of the value of the assets securing such debt;

 

•        senior in right of payment to all of our existing and future subordinated debt, including the 9% Notes and the Boasso Note; and

 

•        structurally subordinated to all liabilities, including trade payables, of our subsidiaries that are not guarantors, which are principally our subsidiaries in Mexico and Canada, which provided less than 1.0% of our operating revenues in 2007.

 

Similarly, the guarantees of the Exchange Series B Notes will be unsecured and unsubordinated obligations and will rank:

 

•        equally in right of payment to all of the applicable guarantor’s existing and future unsecured and unsubordinated debt, including its guarantee of the Series A Notes and the Old Series B Notes;

 

•        effectively junior to all of the applicable guarantor’s existing and future secured debt, including obligations of the applicable guarantor under the ABL Facility, to the extent of the value of the assets securing such debt; and

 

•        senior in right of payment to any of the applicable guarantor’s existing and future subordinated debt, including its guarantee of the 9% Notes.

 

As of December 31, 2007:

 

•        we and our guarantors had $89.4 million of secured indebtedness, consisting of borrowings outstanding under the ABL Facility, and capital lease obligations, and approximately $52.1 million in availability under the ABL Facility;

 

•        we had $135.0 million principal amount of unsecured and unsubordinated debt, consisting of the Series A Notes and the Series B Notes;

 

•        we had $125.0 million principal amount of senior subordinated debt, consisting of the 9% Notes; and

 

•        we had $4.3 million in principal amount outstanding under the Boasso Note and other notes.

   As of the date of this prospectus, our only non-guarantor subsidiaries are our foreign subsidiaries, which as of December 31, 2007, had approximately $3.8 million of liabilities, including trade payables but excluding intercompany balances.

Optional Redemption

   We may redeem the Series B Notes, in whole or in part, at 101% of the principal amount outstanding on or before January 14, 2009 and at 100% of the principal amount outstanding thereafter, plus, in each case, accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the date of redemption.

 

ix


Table of Contents
Mandatory Offer to Repurchase    If we sell all or substantially all of our assets or undergo other types of changes in control, each holder will have the right to require us to repurchase all or any part of such holder’s Series B Notes at 101% of the aggregate principal amount of the Series B Notes.

Certain Covenants

  

The indenture governing the Series B Notes, among other things, limits our ability and the ability of our restricted subsidiaries to:

 

•        incur or guarantee additional indebtedness;

 

•        pay dividends or distributions on, or redeem or repurchase, capital stock;

 

•        make investments;

 

•        consummate certain asset sales;

 

•        engage in transactions with affiliates;

 

•        grant or assume liens; and

 

•        consolidate, merge or transfer all or substantially all of our assets.

 

These limitations are subject to a number of important qualifications and exceptions.

Limited Market

   The Exchange Series B Notes generally will be freely transferable. However, we do not currently intend to list the Exchange Series B Notes on any exchange, and there can be no assurance as to the development or liquidity of any market for the Exchange Series B Notes.

 

x


Table of Contents

Summary Financial Information

The following table sets forth summary historical financial information, and other historical financial data of QDI. QDI is or will be a guarantor of the Old Series B Notes, the Exchange Series B Notes, the Series A Notes and the ABL Facility and has no material assets or operations other than its ownership of 100% of our membership interests. As a result, the consolidated financial position and results of operations of QDI are substantially the same as ours. The summary historical consolidated financial information set forth below is qualified in its entirety by reference to, and should be read in conjunction with, our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus and the section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

The consolidated statements of operations data set forth below for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2007, 2006 and 2005 and the historical balance sheet data as of December 31, 2007 and 2006 are derived from QDI’s audited financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The historical statements of operations data for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004 and the historical balance sheet data as of December 31, 2005 and 2004 are derived from QDI’s audited financial statements that are not included in this prospectus.

In 2007, QDI changed its accounting policy for tires. The change was retroactively applied to prior period financial statements. Refer to Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements for the impact of the change for years 2005 through 2007. The impact to operating income and net loss was an increase of $0.2 million for 2004.

 

     2007     2006     2005     2004  
           (As adjusted)     (As adjusted)     (As adjusted)  

Statements of Operations Data

        

Operating revenues

   $ 751,558     $ 730,159     $ 678,076     $ 622,015  

Operating expenses:

        

Purchased transportation

     471,531       493,686       471,238       420,565  

Depreciation and amortization

     17,544       16,353       7,278       23,266  

Other operating expenses

     238,630       171,842       149,741       162,936  
                                

Operating income

     23,853       48,278       39,819       15,248  

Interest expense, net

     (30,524 )     (29,388 )     (26,712 )     (22,343 )

Transaction fees

     —         —         —         —    

Interest expense, preferred stock conversion

     —         —         —         —    

Gain on debt extinguishment

     —         —         —         —    

Write-off of debt issuance costs

     (2,031 )     —         (1,110 )     —    

Other (expense) income

     (940 )     (888 )     222       (857 )
                                

Income (loss) before taxes

     (9,642 )     18,002       12,219       (7,952 )

(Benefit from) provision for income taxes

     (2,079 )     (38,168 )     352       2,421  
                                

Net (loss) income

     (7,563 )     56,170       11,867       (10,373 )

Preferred stock dividends and accretions

     —         —         —         (145 )
                                

Net (loss) income attributable to common shareholders

   $ (7,563 )   $ 56,170     $ 11,867     $ (10,518 )
                                

 

xi


Table of Contents
     2007     2006     2005     2004  
           (As adjusted)     (As adjusted)     (As adjusted)  

Other Data

        

Cash paid for interest

   $ 28,850     $ 27,034     $ 24,645     $ 19,293  

Net cash provided by operating activities

     14,052       28,236       9,039       15,945  

Net cash used in investing activities

     (63,399 )     (10,591 )     (16,063 )     (8,081 )

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

     52,194       (12,474 )     5,858       (6,070 )

Number of terminals at end of period (1)

     169       165       165       161  

Number of trailers operated at end of period (2)

     7,506       7,769       7,461       7,377  

Number of tractors operated at end of period(3)

     3,927       3,829       3,539       3,550  

Balance Sheet Data at Year End:

        

Working capital(4)

   $ 67,093     $ 59,673     $ 43,079     $ 4,926  

Total assets

     493,976       417,873       377,053       373,952  

Total indebtedness, including current maturities

     349,271       279,122       289,116       276,550  

Shareholders’ equity (deficit)

     27,300       31,774       (27,462 )     (39,446 )

 

(1) Excludes transload facilities but includes tank-wash facilities.

 

(2) Excludes trailers held-for-sale.

 

(3) Excludes tractors held as inventory.

 

(4) Working capital consists of current assets minus current liabilities.

 

xii


Table of Contents

RISK FACTORS

You should carefully consider the risks described below before participating in the exchange offer. Although the risks described below are all of the risks that we believe are material, they are not the only risks relating to our business and the Series B Notes. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial may also materially and adversely affect our business operations. Any of the following risks could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. In such case, you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to the Exchange Offer

Your Old Series B Notes will not be accepted for exchange if you do not follow the exchange offer procedures described in this prospectus.

We will not accept your Old Series B Notes for exchange if you do not follow the exchange-offer procedures described in this prospectus. We will issue Exchange Series B Notes as part of the exchange offer only after a timely receipt of your Old Series B Notes, a properly completed and duly executed letter of transmittal or agent’s message and all other required documents. Therefore, if you want to tender your Old Series B Notes for exchange, you should comply with the exchange procedures and allow sufficient time for your Old Series B Notes or agent’s message to be received by the exchange agent. If we do not receive your Old Series B Notes, letter of transmittal or agent’s message and other required documents by the expiration date of the exchange offer, we will not accept your Old Series B Notes for exchange. We are under no duty to notify you of defects or irregularities in your tender of Old Series B Notes for exchange. If there are defects or irregularities in your tender of your Old Series B Notes, we may not accept your Old Series B Notes for exchange.

If you choose not to exchange your Old Series B Notes in the exchange offer or do not validly tender your Old Series B Notes, the transfer restrictions currently applicable to your Old Series B Notes will remain in force, which could inhibit your ability to sell your Old Series B Notes.

If you do not exchange your Old Series B Notes for Exchange Series B Notes in the exchange offer or fail to validly tender your Old Series B Notes, then your Old Series B Notes will continue to be subject to certain transfer restrictions. In general, the restrictions prevent the Old Series B Notes from being offered or sold unless they are registered or exempt from registration under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. Except as required by the registration rights agreement, we do not intend to register resales of the Old Series B Notes under the Securities Act.

There is no existing market for the Series B Notes. If one develops, it may not be liquid.

We do not intend to list the Exchange Series B Notes on a national securities exchange. Although the initial purchaser of the Old Series B Notes has advised us that it currently intends to make a market in the Series B Notes, it is not obligated to do so and may discontinue such market-making activity at any time without notice. In addition, market-making activity will be subject to the limits imposed by the Securities Act and the Exchange Act and may be limited during the exchange offer. If a trading market does not develop, you may not be able to sell the Exchange Series B Notes. If any of the Exchange Series B Notes are traded after their issuance, they may trade at a discount from the initial offering price of the Old Series B Notes, depending upon:

 

   

prevailing interest rates;

 

   

the market for similar securities; and

 

   

other factors, including general economic conditions and our financial condition, performance and prospects.

The market for non-investment grade debt securities has historically been subject to disruptions that have caused volatility in their prices independent of the operating and financial performance of the issuers of these securities. It is possible that the market for the Old Series B Notes or the Exchange Series B Notes will be subject to these kinds of disruptions regardless of our prospects and financial performance. Accordingly, declines in the liquidity and market price of the Old Series B Notes or the Exchange Series B Notes may occur independent of our operating and financial performance. We cannot assure you that any liquid market for the Old Series B Notes or the Exchange Series B Notes will develop.

Certain persons who participate in the exchange offer must deliver a prospectus in connection with resales of the Exchange Series B Notes.

Based on interpretations of the staff of the SEC contained in Exxon Capital Holdings Corp., SEC no-action letter (April 13, 1988), Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., SEC no-action letter (June 5, 1991) and Shearman & Sterling, SEC no-action letter (July 2, 1983), we believe that you may generally offer for resale, resell or otherwise transfer the Exchange Series B Notes without compliance with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act. However, in some instances described in this prospectus, certain holders of Exchange Series B Notes will remain obligated to comply with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act to transfer the Exchange Series B Notes. If such a holder transfers any Exchange Series B Notes without delivering a prospectus meeting the requirements of the Securities Act or without an applicable exemption from registration under the Securities Act, the holder could incur liability under the Securities Act. We do not and will not assume, or indemnify such holders against, this liability.

 

1


Table of Contents

Risks Relating to an Investment in the Series B Notes

Our high level of debt creates a risk of default.

We are and will be, following this offering, a highly leveraged company. As December 31, 2007, our consolidated long-term indebtedness and capital lease obligations, including current maturities, was $353.7 million.

We also have the ability to incur additional debt, subject to limitations imposed by the ABL Facility and the indentures governing the 9% Notes, the Series A Notes and the Series B Notes. Our high level of indebtedness may restrict our ability to fund or obtain financing for working capital, capital expenditures and other business activities, making us more vulnerable to economic and industry downturns, competition and other market pressures. In addition, the debt service requirements of our other indebtedness could make it more difficult for us to make payments on the Series B Notes. This high degree of leverage could also prevent us from repurchasing Series B Notes tendered to us upon the occurrence of a change of control, or could prevent us from making any required redemptions of the Series B Notes. Further, there can be no assurance that the terms of the ABL Facility or our other indebtedness will permit us to make any such repurchases or redemptions of the Series B Notes, or that we will have sufficient funds available at such time to make any required repurchases or redemptions of the Series B Notes.

If our operating cash flow decreases, we may be unable to service our debt, including the Series B Notes, without refinancing or restructuring our debt, selling assets or operations or raising additional debt or equity capital. If these alternatives are not available in a timely manner or on satisfactory terms, or are not permitted under our existing agreements, we may default on our debt obligations. Such a default would have serious adverse consequences for the holders of the Series B Notes.

Floating interest rates may increase interest payable on a portion of our borrowings under the ABL Facility and the Series B Notes.

The Series A Notes, the Series B Notes and our borrowings under the ABL Facility bear interest at floating rates. Accordingly, the interest payable under the floating rate borrowings under the Series A Notes, the Series B Notes and the ABL Facility may increase. Based on amounts outstanding at December 31, 2007, an increase of 1.0% in the interest rates payable on the floating rate portion of our indebtedness on December 31, 2007 would increase our debt service requirements in 2008 by approximately $2.2 million. If interest rates on our floating rate borrowings increase significantly, our cash flows would be significantly reduced.

Our failure to make scheduled payments, to replace or refinance indebtedness or to observe restrictions imposed by the ABL Facility may lead to acceleration of indebtedness.

The ABL Facility restricts, among other things, our ability to incur additional indebtedness and make acquisitions and capital expenditures beyond a certain level. If we fail to repay borrowings or other amounts due under the ABL Facility when due or fail to comply with the restrictions contained in the ABL Facility or we, our subsidiaries or QDI fail to pay when due certain other obligations which mature prior to the maturity date of the ABL Facility, the lenders under the ABL Facility can declare the entire amount owed thereunder immediately due and payable, and, in the case of a default under the ABL Facility, may prohibit us and our subsidiaries from making cash payments of interest and/or principal on the Series B Notes for certain specified periods.

The ABL Facility matures June 18, 2013. However, the maturity date of the ABL Facility is also advanced to a date 91 days prior to the maturity date of the Series A Notes, the Series B Notes or the 9% Notes (and replacement indebtedness) if the aggregate principal amount of the notes maturing in the 91-day period exceeds $50.0 million. Currently, all three classes of notes exceed $50.0 million, and the earliest maturity is November 15, 2010. Accordingly, each class of note will trigger an advanced maturity of the ABL Facility unless the notes are earlier replaced or repaid prior to maturity as and to the extent permitted under the ABL Facility.

If the debt under the ABL Facility is accelerated, our assets may not be sufficient to repay in full all of our indebtedness, including the ABL Facility and the Series B Notes.

The Series B Notes and the guarantees of the Series B Notes will be effectively subordinated to the ABL Facility and our other secured debt.

The obligations under the Series B Notes and the guarantees of the Series B Notes will be unsecured and effectively are subordinated to all of our existing and future secured debt to the extent of the value of the assets securing such debt, including all amounts borrowed or available for borrowing under the ABL Facility. In the event of a foreclosure, dissolution, winding-up, liquidation, reorganization, bankruptcy or similar proceeding involving us or a guarantor, the assets which serve as collateral for any secured indebtedness will be used to satisfy the obligations under the secured indebtedness before any payments are made on the Series B Notes and other senior unsecured indebtedness. In any such event, it is possible that there would be no assets remaining from which your claims could be satisfied or, if any assets remained, they might be insufficient to satisfy your claims on the Series B Notes fully.

As of December 31, 2007, we had:

 

   

$89.4 million of secured indebtedness, consisting of debt under the ABL Facility and capital lease obligations; and

 

   

approximately $52.1 million in availability under the ABL Facility.

The indenture governing the Series B Notes will permit us, the guarantors and our other restricted subsidiaries to incur significant additional indebtedness, including secured indebtedness.

We may not be able to make a change of control payment.

In the event of a change of control, we will be required to make an offer for cash to repurchase the Series B Notes at 101% of the principal amount thereof plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, thereon to the repurchase date. However a change of control will cause an event of default under the ABL Facility and may cause an acceleration of the borrowings thereunder. There can be no assurance that the terms of the ABL Facility will permit us to make any required repurchases of the Series B Notes or that we will have sufficient funds available at the time of any change of control to make any required repurchases of the Series B Notes.

 

2


Table of Contents

The Series B Notes will be effectively junior to liabilities of certain subsidiaries.

We conduct substantially all of our operations through our subsidiaries. As a result, we are required to rely upon its subsidiaries for the funds necessary to meet our obligations, including the payment of interest on and principal of the Series B Notes. The ability of the subsidiaries to make these payments will be subject to, among other things, applicable state laws. Although the guarantees of the Series B Notes provide the holders of the Series B Notes with a direct claim against the assets of the guarantors, the subsidiary non-guarantors have not guaranteed the obligations under the Series B Notes. Claims of creditors of our subsidiary non-guarantors, including trade creditors and the lenders under the ABL Facility, generally will have priority with respect to the assets and earnings of these subsidiaries over the claims of our creditors, including holders of the Series B Notes. For 2007, less than 1.0% of our consolidated revenues and our consolidated operating income was generated by our non-guarantor subsidiaries. Such non-guarantor subsidiaries had approximately $3.8 million of liabilities, including trade payables but excluding intercompany balances, at December 31, 2007. In addition, enforcement of the guarantees of the Series B Notes against any guarantor may be subject to legal challenge in a bankruptcy or reorganization case or a lawsuit by or on behalf of creditors of any guarantor and would be subject to certain defenses available to guarantors generally. Although the indenture contains waivers of most guarantor defenses, certain of those waivers may not be enforced by a court in a particular case. To the extent that the guarantees of the Series B Notes are not enforceable, the Series B Notes would be effectively subordinated to all liabilities of the guarantors, including trade payables of any guarantors.

The guarantees of the Series B Notes may be limited by fraudulent conveyance considerations.

The Series B Notes are guaranteed on an unsecured senior basis by QDI and all of our existing and certain future U.S. restricted subsidiaries. The terms of each note guarantee provide that such guarantee is limited and subject to automatic reduction to the extent necessary to prevent such guarantee from constituting a fraudulent conveyance. However, our creditors or the creditors of the guarantors could challenge the of the Series B Notes guarantees as fraudulent conveyances. We cannot assure you that a court would not conclude that the guarantees of the Series B Notes constitute fraudulent conveyances. If a court declares the guarantees of the Series B Notes to be void, or if the guarantees of the Series B Notes must be limited or voided in accordance with their contractual terms, any claim that you may make against us for amounts payable on the Series B Notes would be subordinated to the debt and other liabilities of the applicable guarantors, including trade payables.

The guarantee of our parent company is of limited value.

Investors should not rely on the QDI guarantee in evaluating an investment in the Series B Notes as QDI currently has no material assets other than the ownership of 100% of our membership interests and the covenants contained in the indenture governing the Series B Notes will not apply to QDI.

We may be limited in our ability to offset future income with our current net operating loss.

We have a net operating loss for Federal income tax purposes. If we undergo a change of control as described in Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code, our ability to use those net operating losses to offset future income will be limited. This will have the effect of reducing our after tax cashflow.

You may be impacted by original issue discount.

The Series B Notes will be considered to be issued with original issue discount for United States federal income tax purposes. Accordingly, certain holders of the Series B Notes will be required to include original issue discount in gross income for United States federal income tax purposes in advance of receipt of the cash payments to which the income is attributable.

In addition, if a bankruptcy case is commenced by or against us under the United States Bankruptcy Code, the claims of holders of the Series B Notes may be limited to an amount equal to the sum of (1) the price for the Series B Notes that the holder originally paid and (2) that portion of the original issue discount that is not deemed to constitute “unmatured interest” for purposes of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Any original issue discount that was not accreted as of the date of any such bankruptcy filing would constitute “unmatured interest.”

Risks Related to Our Business

Our business is subject to general and industry specific economic factors that are largely out of our control and could affect our operations and profitability.

Our business is dependent on various economic factors over which we have little control, that include:

 

   

the availability of qualified drivers

 

   

changes in regulations concerning shipment of material we transport,

 

   

increases in fuel taxes and tolls,

 

   

interest rate fluctuations,

 

   

excess capacity in the tax trucking industry,

 

   

changes in license and regulatory fees,

 

   

potential disruptions at U.S. ports of entry,

 

   

downturns in customers’ business cycles,

 

   

reduction in customers’ shipping requirements, and

 

   

the U.S. economy generally.

As a result, we may experience periods of overcapacity, declining prices and lower profit margins in the future. We have a large number of customers in the chemical-processing and consumer-goods industries. If these customers experience fluctuations in their business activity due

 

3


Table of Contents

to an economic downturn, work stoppages or other industry conditions, the volume of freight transported by us on behalf of those customers may decrease. The trucking industry has experienced a slowdown in recent months due to slowing economic conditions.

Loss of qualified drivers or other personnel could limit our growth and negatively affect operations.

There is substantial competition for qualified drivers in the trucking industry. Furthermore, certain geographic areas have a greater shortage of qualified drivers than other areas. We operate in many of these geographic areas where there is a shortage of drivers and have turned down new business opportunities as a result of the lack of qualified new drivers. Difficulty in attracting qualified personnel, particularly qualified drivers, could require us to increase driver compensation, forego available customer opportunities and underutilize the tractors and trailers in our network. These actions could result in increased costs and decreased revenues. In addition, we may not be able to recruit other qualified personnel in the future.

Loss of affiliates and owner-operators could adversely affect our operations and profitability.

We rely on participants in our affiliate program and independent owner-operators. A reduction in the number of owner-operators, whether due to capital requirements related to the expense of obtaining, operating and maintaining equipment or for other reasons, could have a negative effect on our operations and profitability. Similarly the loss of our more robust affiliates could adversely affect our profitability. Contracts with affiliates are for various terms and contracts with owner-operators may be terminated by either party on short notice. Although affiliates and owner-operators are responsible for paying for their own equipment and other operating costs, significant increases in these costs could cause them to seek a higher percentage of the revenue generated if we are unable to increase our rates commensurately. Conversely, a continued decline in the rates we pay to our affiliates and owner-operators could adversely affect our ability to maintain our existing affiliates and owner-operators and attract new affiliates, owner-operators and drivers.

We are self-insured and have exposure to certain claims and are subject to the insurance marketplace, all of which could affect our profitability.

The primary accident risks associated with our business are:

 

   

motor-vehicle related bodily injury and property damage,

 

   

workers’ compensation claims,

 

   

cargo loss and damage, and

 

   

general liability claims.

We currently maintain insurance for:

 

   

motor-vehicle related bodily injury and property damage claims, covering all employees, owner operators and affiliates,

 

   

workers’ compensation insurance coverage on our employees and company drivers, and

 

   

general liability claims.

Our insurance program includes a self insured deductible, in most cases, of $2.0 million per incident for both auto and general liability and a $1.0 million deductible for workers’ compensation. In addition, we currently maintain an umbrella insurance policy covering claims in excess of $5.0 million, up to an aggregate loss of $40.0 million per incident. The per incident deductible, could adversely affect our profitability, particularly in the event of an increase in the number or severity of incidents. Additionally, we are self-insured for damage to the equipment that we own and lease, for cargo losses, and for non-trucking pollution legal liability and such self-insurance is not subject to any maximum limitation. We extend insurance coverage to our affiliates for (i) motor vehicle related bodily injury, (ii) property damage, and (iii) cargo loss and damage. Under this extended coverage, affiliates are responsible for only a small portion of the applicable deductibles.

We are subject to changing conditions and pricing in the insurance marketplace and we cannot assure you that the cost or availability of various types of insurance may not change dramatically in the future. To the extent these costs cannot be passed on to our customers in increased freight rates, increases in insurance costs could reduce our future profitability and cash flow.

The trucking industry is subject to regulation, and changes in trucking regulations may increase costs.

As a motor carrier, we are subject to regulation by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation and by various state, federal and provincial agencies. These regulatory authorities exercise broad powers governing activities such as operating authority, safety, hours of service, hazardous materials transportation, financial reporting and acquisitions. There are additional regulations specifically relating to the trucking industry, including testing and specification of equipment, product-handling requirements and drug testing of drivers. The trucking industry is subject to possible regulatory and legislative changes that may affect the economics of the industry by requiring changes in operating practices or by changing the demand for common or contract carrier services or the cost of providing truckload services. Possible changes include:

 

   

increasingly stringent environmental regulations,

 

   

increasing control over the transportation of hazardous materials,

 

   

changes in the hours-of-service regulations, which govern the amount of time a driver may drive in any specific period,

 

   

onboard black box recorder devices,

 

   

requirements leading to accelerated purchases of new trailers,

 

4


Table of Contents
   

mandatory limits on vehicle weight and size, and

 

   

mandatory regulations imposed by the Department of Homeland Security.

From time to time, various legislative proposals are introduced, including proposals to increase federal, state, or local taxes, including taxes on motor fuels, which may increase our costs or adversely impact the recruitment of drivers.

Increased unionization could increase our operating costs or constrain operating flexibility.

Although only approximately 4.4% of our driver workforce, including owner-operators and employees of affiliates, is currently subject to collective bargaining agreements, unions such as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have traditionally been active in the U.S. trucking industry. Unionized workers could disrupt our operations by strike, work stoppage or other slowdown. In addition, our non-union workforce has been subject to unionization efforts in the past, and we could be subject to future unionization. Increased unionization of our workforce could result in higher compensation and working condition demands that could increase our operating costs or constrain our operating flexibility.

Our operations involve hazardous materials, which could create environmental liabilities.

Our activities, particularly those relating to our handling, transporting and storage of bulk chemicals, are subject to environmental, health and safety laws and regulation by governmental authorities in the United States as well as foreign governmental authorities. Among other things, those environmental laws address emissions to the air, discharges to land or water, the generation, handling, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of waste materials, and the health and safety of our employees. These laws generally require us to obtain and maintain various licenses and permits. Most environmental laws provide for substantial fines and potential criminal sanctions for violations. Environmental laws and regulations are complex, change frequently and have tended to become stricter over time. Some of these laws and regulations are subject to varying and conflicting interpretations. There can be no assurance that violations of such laws or regulations will not be identified or occur in the future, or that such laws and regulations will not change in a manner that could impose material costs on us.

As a handler of hazardous substances, we are potentially subject to strict, joint and several liability for investigating and rectifying the consequences of spills and other environmental releases of these substances. We have incurred remedial costs and regulatory penalties for chemical or wastewater spills and releases at our facilities or over the road, and, notwithstanding the existence of our environmental management program and insurance applicable to these risks, we expect that additional similar obligations will be incurred in the future. As a result of environmental studies conducted at our facilities or at third party sites, we have identified environmental contamination at certain sites that will require remediation and we are currently conducting investigation and remediation projects at eight of our facilities. Future liabilities and costs under environmental, health, and safety laws are not easily predicted, and such liabilities could result in a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or business reputation.

In addition, we have been named a potentially responsible party at various sites under the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 and other similar state statutes including the Lower Passaic River Study Area in New Jersey and at two Quanta Resources sites in New York. Our current reserves provided for these sites may prove insufficient, which would result in future charges against earnings. Further, we could be named a potentially responsible party at other sites in the future and the costs associated with such future sites could be material.

Potential disruptions at U.S. ports of entry could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Any disruption of the delivery of ISO tank containers to those ports where we do business would reduce the number of ISO tank containers that we transport, store, clean or maintain. This reduced activity may have a material adverse effect on our operations.

If fuel prices increase significantly, our results of operations could be adversely affected.

We are subject to risk with respect to purchases of fuel. Prices and availability of petroleum products are subject to political, economic and market factors that are generally outside our control. Political events in the Middle East, Venezuela, and elsewhere, as well as hurricanes and other weather-related events, also may cause the price of fuel to increase. Because our operations are dependent upon diesel fuel, significant increases in diesel fuel costs could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition if we are unable to pass increased costs on to customers through rate increases or fuel surcharges. Historically, we have recovered the majority of the increases in fuel prices from customers through fuel surcharges. Fuel surcharges that can be collected may not always fully offset the increase in the cost of diesel fuel. To the extent fuel surcharges are insufficient to offset our fuel costs, our results of operations may be adversely affected.

Our substantial leverage and restrictions contained in our debt agreements, including the ABL Facility and our indentures, could hamper our operations.

At December 31, 2007, we had consolidated long-term indebtedness and capital lease obligations, including current maturities, of $353.7 million. The amount of our indebtedness could have important consequences, including the following:

 

   

using a portion of our cash flow to pay interest on our indebtedness will reduce the availability of our cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures and other business activities,

 

   

it increases our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions,

 

   

it limits our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry in which we operate,

 

   

it limits our ability in making strategic acquisitions or exploiting business opportunities, and

 

   

it limits our operational flexibility, including our ability to borrow additional funds.

Our variable interest rate debt was $219.1 million as of December 31, 2007. Therefore, increases in market rates of interest will increase our interest expense, which would decrease our earnings. A 1% increase in the interest rate for our variable debt would increase our annual interest expense by approximately $2.2 million.

 

5


Table of Contents

The loss of one or more significant customers may adversely affect our business.

We are dependent upon a limited number of large customers. Our top ten customers accounted for approximately 34.1% of our total revenues during 2007. In particular, our largest customer, Dow Chemical Company, accounted for 8.3% of our total revenues during 2007. The loss of Dow Chemical Company or one or more of our other major customers, or a material reduction in services performed for such customers, may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

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 are implementing various security measures, including checkpoints and travel restrictions on large trucks and fingerprinting of drivers in connection with new hazardous materials endorsements on their licenses. Such existing measures and future measures may have significant costs associated with them which a motor carrier is forced to bear. Moreover, large trucks carrying toxic chemicals are a potential terrorist target, and we will be obligated to take measures, including possible capital expenditures, to harden our trucks. In addition, the insurance premiums charged for some or all of the coverage currently maintained by us could continue to increase dramatically or such coverage could be unavailable in the future.

Although we expect the Boasso acquisition to be beneficial, its expected benefits may not be realized, in the time frame anticipated or at all, because of integration or other challenges and we may become liable for liabilities of which we are currently unaware.

Achieving the expected benefits of the Boasso acquisition will depend on the timely and efficient integration of Boasso’s operations, business culture, technology and personnel with our Company. The integration may not be completed as quickly as expected, and if we fail to effectively integrate the companies or the integration takes longer than expected, we may not achieve the expected benefits of the acquisition. The challenges involved in this integration include, among others:

 

   

potential disruption on our ongoing business and distraction of management,

 

   

unexpected loss of key employees or customers of Boasso,

 

   

conforming Boasso’s standards, processes, procedures and controls with our operations,

 

   

hiring additional management and other critical personnel, and

 

   

increasing the scope, geographic diversity and complexity of our operations.

We conducted a due diligence investigation of Boasso’s operations prior to agreeing to acquire Boasso. However, we cannot assure you that our efforts were sufficient to uncover all material information concerning such operations. As a result, we may be held liable for risks and liabilities (including for environmental-related costs or liabilities) as a result of such acquisition which we are not aware of at the present time, some of which may not have been discoverable from our due diligence efforts.

Boasso’s operations also depend upon a limited number of large customers. For its fiscal year ended March 31, 2007, four customers accounted for approximately 42% of their total revenues. Boasso’s largest customer, Stolt-Nielsen S.A. accounted for approximately 19% of its total revenues. The loss of Stolt-Nielsen S.A. or one or more of Boasso’s other major customers, or a material reduction in services performed for such customers, may have a material adverse effect on Boasso’s results of operations.

Boasso’s ability to successfully implement its business strategy and to operate profitably depends in large part on the continued employment of its management team. If members of management become unable or unwilling to continue in their present capacity, our business or financial results could be adversely affected.

We depend on members of our senior management.

We believe that our ability to successfully implement our business strategy and to operate profitably depends in large part on the continued employment of our senior management team. If members of senior management become unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, our business or financial results could be adversely affected.

Interests of Apollo may conflict with your interests.

At March 1, 2008, Apollo owned or controlled approximately 54.7% of QDI’s outstanding common stock and approximately 46.6% of its common stock on a fully diluted basis. As a result, Apollo can influence substantially all matters requiring shareholder approval, including the election of directors, the approval of significant corporate transactions, such as acquisitions, the ability to block an unsolicited tender offer and any other matter requiring a vote of shareholders. The interests of Apollo may conflict with your interests. For example, if we encounter financial difficulties, or are unable to pay our debts as they mature, Apollo may have an interest in pursuing acquisitions, divestitures, financings or other transactions that, in their judgment, could enhance their equity investment, even though these transactions might involve risk to our shareholders or debt holders. Similarly, if our financial performance and creditworthiness significantly improve in the future, Apollo may have an interest in pursuing reorganizations, restructurings, or other transactions that could increase our leverage or impair our creditworthiness or otherwise, in their judgment, enhance Apollo’s equity investment in QDI, even though these transactions might involve risk to our debtholders.

We may be unable to identify or realize the intended benefits of potential acquisition candidates.

As part of our business strategy, we will evaluate potential acquisitions, some of which could be material, and engage in discussions with acquisition candidates. We cannot assure you that suitable acquisition candidates will be identified and acquired in the future, that the financing of any such acquisition will be available on satisfactory terms, that we will be able to complete any such acquisition or that we will be able to accomplish our strategic objectives as a result of any such acquisition. Nor can we assure you that our acquisition strategies will be successfully received by customers or achieve their intended benefits. Often acquisitions are undertaken to improve operating results of either or both of the acquirer or the acquired company, and we cannot assure you that we will be successful in this regard. The same risks exist when an acquired company was previously one of our operating affiliates. We will encounter various risks in acquiring other companies, including the possible inability to integrate an acquired business into our operations, diversion of management’s attention and unanticipated problems or liabilities, some or all of which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

 

6


Table of Contents

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Exchange Act. All statements included in this prospectus other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that we or our management expect, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These statements represent our reasonable judgment on the future based on various factors and using numerous assumptions and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual results and financial position to differ materially. We claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. Examples of forward-looking statements include: (i) projections of revenue, earnings, capital structure and other financial items, (ii) statements of our plans and objectives, (iii) statements of expected future economic performance, and (iv) assumptions underlying statements regarding us or our business. Forward-looking statements can be identified by, among other things, the use of forward-looking language, such as “believes,” “expects,” “estimates,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “seeks,” “plans,” “intends,” “anticipates” or “scheduled to” or the negatives of those terms, or other variations of those terms or comparable language, or by discussions of strategy or other intentions.

Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the statements. The forward-looking information is based on various factors and was derived using numerous assumptions. Important factors that could cause our actual results to be materially different from the forward-looking statements include the following risks and other factors discussed under “Risk Factors” beginning on page 1. These factors include:

 

   

general economic conditions,

 

   

the availability of diesel fuel,

 

   

adverse weather conditions,

 

   

competitive rate fluctuations,

 

   

our substantial leverage and restrictions contained in our debt arrangements and interest rate fluctuations in our floating rate indebtedness,

 

   

the cyclical nature of the transportation industry due to various economic factors such as excess capacity in the industry, the availability of qualified drivers, changes in fuel and insurance prices and interest rate fluctuations,

 

   

changes in demand for our services due to the cyclical nature of our customers’ businesses and shipping requirements,

 

   

potential disruption at U.S. ports of entry could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations,

 

   

our dependence on affiliates and owner-operators and our ability to attract and retain owner-operators, affiliates and company drivers,

 

   

changes in the future, or our inability to comply with, governmental regulations and legislative changes affecting the transportation industry,

 

   

our material exposure to both historical and changing environmental regulations and the increasing costs relating to environmental compliance,

 

   

our liability as a self-insurer to the extent of our deductibles, as well as our ability or inability to reduce our claims exposure through insurance due to changing conditions and pricing in the insurance marketplace,

 

   

the cost of complying with existing and future anti-terrorism security measures enacted by federal, state and municipal authorities,

 

   

the potential loss of our ability to use net operating losses to offset future income due to a change of control,

 

   

increased unionization, which could increase our operating costs or constrain operating flexibility,

 

   

our ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses and converted affiliates, and

 

   

interests of Apollo, our largest shareholder, which may conflict with your interests.

In addition, there may be other factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to be materially different from the results referenced in the forward-looking statements.

All forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not intend to update or otherwise revise the forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this prospectus or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

 

7


Table of Contents

THE EXCHANGE OFFER

Purpose and Effect of the Exchange Offer

We hereby offer to exchange a like principal amount of Exchange Series B Notes for any and all Old Series B Notes on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in this prospectus and the accompanying letter of transmittal. You may tender some or all of your Old Series B Notes pursuant to the exchange offer. As of the date of this prospectus, $50 million of Old Series B Notes are outstanding. This prospectus, together with the letter of transmittal is first being sent to holders of the Old Series B Notes on or about [            ], 2008. Our obligation to accept the Old Series B Notes for exchange pursuant to the exchange offer is subject to certain conditions described in “—Certain Conditions to the Exchange Offer.” We currently expect that the conditions will be met and that no waivers will be necessary. We have entered into a registration rights agreement with the initial purchaser of the Old Series B Notes in which we agreed to file a registration statement relating to an offer to exchange the Old Series B Notes for Exchange Series B Notes within 120 days of the issuance of the Old Series B Notes. The registration statement, of which this prospectus forms a part, was filed pursuant to this obligation. We also agreed to use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the registration statement to be declared effective within 180 days following the issuance of the Old Series B Notes and to use our best efforts to consummate the exchange offer within 40 days following the effective date of the registration statement. The Exchange Series B Notes will have terms substantially identical to the Old Series B Notes except that the Exchange Series B Notes will not contain terms with respect to transfer restrictions, registration rights and additional interest payable for the failure to have the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part declared effective by June 13, 2008 or the exchange offer consummated by July 25, 2008. The Old Series B Notes were issued on December 18, 2007.

Under the circumstances set forth below, we will be obligated under the registration rights agreement to use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the SEC to declare effective a shelf registration statement for the resale of the Old Series B Notes and to keep the shelf registration statement effective until the earlier of (a) the date on which all outstanding Old Series B Notes held by persons that are not our affiliates may be resold without registration under the Securities Act pursuant to Rule 144 without being subject to volume restrictions or public information requirements, and (b) such time as all of the Old Series B Notes have been sold thereunder. These circumstances include:

 

   

because of any change in current law or applicable interpretations of the staff of the SEC, we are not permitted to effect the exchange offer;

 

   

the exchange offer is not consummated within 220 days after the closing date of the offering of the Old Series B Notes; or

 

   

any holder of Old Series B Notes who is not able to participate in the exchange offer so requests in writing on or before the 60th day after the consummation of the exchange offer.

Each holder of Old Series B Notes that wishes to exchange Old Series B Notes for transferable Exchange Series B Notes in the exchange offer will be required to make the following representations to us in writing:

 

   

that any Exchange Series B Notes to be received by it will be acquired in the ordinary course of its business;

 

   

that at the time of the commencement of the exchange offer it had no arrangement or understanding with any person to participate in the distribution (within the meaning of the Securities Act) of Exchange Series B Notes in violation of the Securities Act;

 

   

that it is not an “affiliate,” as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act, of ours, or if it is an affiliate of ours, that it will comply with the applicable registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act;

 

   

if such holder is not a broker-dealer, that it is not engaged in, and does not intend to engage in, the distribution of Exchange Series B Notes; and

 

   

if such holder is a broker-dealer, that it will receive Exchange Series B Notes for its own account in exchange for Old Series B Notes that were acquired as a result of market-making or other trading activities and that it will deliver a prospectus in connection with any resale of the Exchange Series B Notes.

Resale of Exchange Series B Notes

Based on interpretations of the SEC staff set forth in no-action letters issued to unrelated third parties, we believe that Exchange Series B Notes issued under the exchange offer in exchange for Old Series B Notes may be offered for resale, resold and otherwise transferred by a holder of such Exchange Series B Notes without compliance with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act, if:

 

   

such holder is not an “affiliate” of ours within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act;

 

   

such Exchange Series B Notes are acquired in the ordinary course of the holder’s business; and

 

   

the holder does not intend to participate in the distribution of such Exchange Series B Notes.

Any holder who tenders Old Series B Notes in the exchange offer with the intention of participating in any manner in a distribution of the Exchange Series B Notes:

 

   

cannot rely on the position of the staff of the SEC set forth in Exxon Capital Holdings Corp., SEC no-action letter (April 13, 1988), Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., SEC no-action letter (June 5, 1991) and Shearman & Sterling, SEC no-action letter (July 2, 1983) or similar no action letters; and

 

   

must comply with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act in connection with any resale transaction.

This prospectus may be used for an offer to resell, for the resale or for other retransfer of Exchange Series B Notes only as specifically set forth in this prospectus. With regard to broker-dealers, only broker-dealers that acquired the Old Series B Notes as a result of market-making

 

8


Table of Contents

activities or other trading activities may participate in the exchange offer. Each broker-dealer that receives Exchange Series B Notes for its own account in exchange for Old Series B Notes, where such Old Series B Notes were acquired by such broker-dealer as a result of market-making activities or other trading activities, must acknowledge that it will deliver a prospectus in connection with any resale of the Exchange Series B Notes. Please read “Plan of Distribution” for more details regarding these procedures for the transfer of Exchange Series B Notes.

Terms of the Exchange Offer

Upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in this prospectus and in the letter of transmittal, we will accept for exchange any Old Series B Notes properly tendered and not withdrawn prior to the expiration date of the exchange offer. We will issue a like principal amount of Exchange Series B Notes in exchange for the principal amount of Old Series B Notes surrendered under the exchange offer.

The form and terms of the Exchange Series B Notes will be substantially identical to the form and terms of the Old Series B Notes except the Exchange Series B Notes will be registered under the Securities Act, will not bear legends restricting their transfer and will not provide for any additional interest upon our failure to fulfill our obligations under the registration rights agreement to file, and cause to be effective, a registration statement. The Exchange Series B Notes will evidence the same debt as the Old Series B Notes. The Exchange Series B Notes will be issued under and entitled to the benefits of the same indenture that authorized the issuance of the Old Series B Notes. Consequently, both series will be treated as a single class of debt securities under that indenture.

This exchange offer is not conditioned upon any minimum aggregate principal amount of Old Series B Notes being tendered for exchange.

As of the date of this prospectus, $50,000,000 aggregate principal amount at maturity of the Old Series B Notes are outstanding. This prospectus and the letter of transmittal are being sent to all registered holders of Old Series B Notes. There will be no fixed record date for determining registered holders of Old Series B Notes entitled to participate in the exchange offer.

We intend to conduct the exchange offer in accordance with the provisions of the registration rights agreement, the applicable requirements of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations of the SEC. Old Series B Notes that are not tendered for exchange in the exchange offer will remain outstanding and continue to accrue interest and will be entitled to the rights and benefits such holders have under the indenture relating to the Old Series B Notes.

We will be deemed to have accepted for exchange properly tendered Old Series B Notes when we have given oral or written notice of the acceptance to the exchange agent. The exchange agent will act as agent for the tendering holders for the purposes of receiving the Exchange Series B Notes from us and delivering Exchange Series B Notes to such holders. Subject to the terms of the registration rights agreement, we expressly reserve the right to amend or terminate the exchange offer, and not to accept for exchange any Old Series B Notes not previously accepted for exchange, upon the occurrence of any of the conditions specified below under the caption “—Certain Conditions to the Exchange Offer.”

Holders who tender Old Series B Notes in the exchange offer will not be required to pay brokerage commissions or fees, or, except for those described below, transfer taxes with respect to the exchange of Old Series B Notes. We will pay all charges and expenses, other than those transfer taxes described below, in connection with the exchange offer. It is important that you read the section labeled “—Fees and Expenses” below for more details regarding fees and expenses incurred in the exchange offer.

Expiration Date; Extensions; Amendments

This exchange offer will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time on [            ], 2008, unless in our sole discretion, we extend it.

In order to extend the exchange offer, we will notify the exchange agent orally or in writing of any extension. We will notify in writing or by public announcement the registered holders of Old Series B Notes of the extension no later than 9:00 a.m., New York City time, on the business day after the previously scheduled expiration date.

We reserve the right, in our sole discretion:

 

   

to delay accepting for exchange any Old Series B Notes;

 

   

to extend the exchange offer or to terminate the exchange offer and to refuse to accept Old Series B Notes not previously accepted if any of the conditions set forth below under “—Certain Conditions to the Exchange Offer” have not been satisfied, by giving oral or written notice of such deal, extension or termination to the exchange agent; or

 

   

subject to the terms of the registration rights agreement, to amend the terms of the exchange offer in any manner.

Any such delay in acceptance, extension, termination or amendment will be followed as promptly as practicable by oral or written notice or public announcement thereof to the registered holders of Old Series B Notes. If we amend the exchange offer in a manner that we determine to constitute a material change, including the waiver of a material condition, we will promptly disclose such amendment in a manner reasonably calculated to inform the holders of Old Series B Notes of such amendment and will extend the exchange offer to the extent required by law, if necessary. Generally we must keep the exchange offer open for at least five business days after a material change. Pursuant to Rule 14e-1(b) under the Exchange Act, if we increase or decrease the percentage of Old Series B Notes being sought, we will extend the exchange offer for at least ten business days from the date that notice of such increase or decrease is first published, sent or given by us to holders of the Old Series B Notes. We currently do not intend to decrease the percentage of Old Series B Notes being sought.

Without limiting the manner in which we may choose to make public announcements of any delay in acceptance, extension, termination or amendment of the exchange offer, we shall have no obligation to publish, advertise, or otherwise communicate any such public announcement, other than by issuing a timely press release to a financial news service.

Certain Conditions to the Exchange Offer

Despite any other term of the exchange offer, we will not be required to accept for exchange, or exchange any Exchange Series B Notes for, any Old Series B Notes, and we may terminate the exchange offer as provided in this prospectus before accepting any Old Series B Notes for exchange if in our reasonable judgment:

 

   

the Exchange Series B Notes to be received will not be tradable by the holder without restriction under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act and without material restrictions under the blue sky or securities laws of substantially all of the states of the United States;

 

9


Table of Contents
   

the exchange offer, or the making of any exchange by a holder of Old Series B Notes, would violate applicable law or any applicable interpretation of the staff of the SEC; or

 

   

any action or proceeding has been instituted or threatened in any court or by or before any governmental agency with respect to the exchange offer that, in our judgment, would reasonably be expected to impair our ability to proceed with the exchange offer.

In addition, we will not be obligated to accept for exchange the Old Series B Notes of any holder that prior to the expiration of the exchange offer has not made:

 

   

the representations described under “—Purpose and Effect of the Exchange Offer,” “—Procedures for Tendering” and “Plan of Distribution,” and

 

   

such other representations as may be reasonably necessary under applicable SEC rules, regulations or interpretations to make available to us an appropriate form for registration of the Exchange Series B Notes under the Securities Act.

We expressly reserve the right, at any time or at various times on or prior to the scheduled expiration date of the exchange offer, to extend the period of time during which the exchange offer is open. Consequently, we may delay acceptance of any Old Series B Notes by giving oral or written notice of such extension to the registered holders of the Old Series B Notes in accordance with the notice procedures described in the following paragraph. During any such extensions, all Old Series B Notes previously tendered will remain subject to the exchange offer, and we may accept them for exchange unless they have been previously withdrawn. We will return any Old Series B Notes that we do not accept for exchange for any reason without expense to their tendering holder promptly after the expiration or termination of the exchange offer.

We expressly reserve the right to amend or terminate the exchange offer on or prior to the scheduled expiration date of the exchange offer, and to reject for exchange any Old Series B Notes not previously accepted for exchange, upon the occurrence of any of the conditions of the exchange offer specified above. We will give oral or written notice or public announcement of any extension, amendment, non-acceptance or termination to the registered holders of the Old Series B Notes as promptly as practicable. In the case of any extension, such notice will be issued no later than 9:00 a.m., New York City time, on the business day after the previously scheduled expiration date.

These conditions are for our sole benefit and we may, in our sole discretion, assert them regardless of the circumstances that may give rise to them or waive them in whole or in part at any time or at various times except that all conditions to the exchange offer, other than those described in the first sentence of this section, must be satisfied or waived by us prior to the expiration of the exchange offer. If we fail to exercise any of the foregoing rights, that failure in itself will not constitute a waiver of such right. Each such right will be deemed an ongoing right that we may assert at any time or at various times except that all conditions to the exchange offer, other than those described in the first sentence of this section, must be satisfied or waived by us prior to the expiration of the exchange offer.

In addition, we will not accept for exchange any Old Series B Notes tendered, and will not issue Exchange Series B Notes in exchange for any such Old Series B Notes, if at such time any stop order will be threatened or in effect with respect to the registration statement of which this prospectus constitutes a part or the qualification of the indenture under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939.

Procedures for Tendering

Only a holder of Old Series B Notes may tender such Old Series B Notes in the exchange offer. To tender in the exchange offer, a holder must:

 

   

complete, sign and date the letter of transmittal, or a facsimile of the letter of transmittal; have the signature on the letter of transmittal guaranteed if the letter of transmittal so requires; and mail or deliver such letter of transmittal or facsimile to the exchange agent prior to the expiration date; or

 

   

comply with DTC’s Automated Tender Offer Program procedures described below.

In addition, either:

 

   

the exchange agent must receive Old Series B Notes along with the letter of transmittal; or

 

   

the exchange agent must receive, prior to the expiration date, a timely confirmation of book-entry transfer of such Old Series B Notes into the exchange agent’s account at DTC according to the procedures for book-entry transfer described below or a properly transmitted agent’s message; or

 

   

the holder must comply with the guaranteed delivery procedures described below.

To be tendered effectively, the exchange agent must receive any physical delivery of the letter of transmittal and other required documents at the address set forth below under “—Exchange Agent” prior to the expiration date.

The tender by a holder that is not withdrawn prior to the expiration date will constitute an agreement between such holder and us in accordance with the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in this prospectus and in the letter of transmittal.

The method of delivery of Old Series B Notes, the letter of transmittal and all other required documents to the exchange agent is at the holder’s election and risk. Rather than mail these items, we recommend that holders use an overnight or hand delivery service. In all cases, holders should allow sufficient time to assure delivery to the exchange agent before the expiration date. Holders should not send us the letter of transmittal or Old Series B Notes. Holders may request their respective brokers, dealers, commercial banks, trust companies or other nominees to effect the above transactions for them.

 

10


Table of Contents

Any beneficial owner whose Old Series B Notes are registered in the name of a broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee and who wishes to tender should contact the registered holder promptly and instruct it to tender on the owners’ behalf. If such beneficial owner wishes to tender on its own behalf, it must, prior to completing and executing the letter of transmittal and delivering its Old Series B Notes, either:

 

   

make appropriate arrangements to register ownership of the Old Series B Notes in such owner’s name; or

 

   

obtain a properly completed bond power from the registered holder of Old Series B Notes.

The transfer of registered ownership may take considerable time and may not be completed prior to the expiration date.

Signatures on a letter of transmittal or a notice of withdrawal described below must be guaranteed by a member firm of a registered national securities exchange or of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., a commercial bank or trust company having an office or correspondent in the United States or another “eligible institution” within the meaning of Rule 17Ad-15 under the Exchange Act, unless the Old Series B Notes tendered pursuant thereto are tendered:

 

   

by a registered holder who has not completed the box entitled “Special Issuance Instructions” or “Special Delivery Instructions” on the letter of transmittal; or

 

   

for the account of an eligible institution.

If the letter of transmittal is signed by a person other than the registered holder of any Old Series B Notes listed on the Old Series B Notes, such Old Series B Notes must be endorsed or accompanied by a properly completed bond power. The bond power must be signed by the registered holder as the registered holder’s name appears on the Old Series B Notes and an eligible institution must guarantee the signature on the bond power.

If the letter of transmittal or any Old Series B Notes or bond powers are signed by trustees, executors, administrators, guardians, attorneys-in-fact, officers of corporations or others acting in a fiduciary or representative capacity, such persons should so indicate when signing. Unless waived by us, they should also submit evidence satisfactory to us of their authority to deliver the letter of transmittal.

The exchange agent and DTC have confirmed that any financial institution that is a participant in DTC’s system may use DTC’s Automated Tender Offer Program to tender. Participants in the program may, instead of physically completing and signing the letter of transmittal and delivering it to the exchange agent, transmit their acceptance of the exchange offer electronically. They may do so by causing DTC to transfer the Old Series B Notes to the exchange agent in accordance with its procedures for transfer. DTC will then send an agent’s message to the exchange agent. The term “agent’s message” means a message transmitted by DTC, received by the exchange agent and forming part of the book-entry confirmation, to the effect that:

 

   

DTC has received an express acknowledgment from a participant in its Automated Tender Offer Program that is tendering Old Series B Notes that are the subject of such book-entry confirmation;

 

   

such participant has received and agrees to be bound by the terms of the letter of transmittal (or, in the case of an agent’s message relating to guaranteed delivery, that such participant has received and agrees to be bound by the applicable notice of guaranteed delivery); and

 

   

the agreement may be enforced against such participant.

We will determine in our sole discretion all questions as to the validity, form, eligibility (including time of receipt), acceptance of tendered Old Series B Notes and withdrawal of tendered Old Series B Notes. Our determination will be final and binding. We reserve the absolute right to reject any Old Series B Notes not properly tendered or any Old Series B Notes the acceptance of which would, in the opinion of our counsel, be unlawful. We also reserve the right to waive any defects, irregularities or conditions of tender as to particular Old Series B Notes. Our interpretation of the terms and conditions of the exchange offer (including the instructions in the letter of transmittal) will be final and binding on all parties. Unless waived, any defects or irregularities in connection with tenders of Old Series B Notes must be cured within such time as we shall determine. Although we intend to notify holders of defects or irregularities with respect to tenders of Old Series B Notes, neither we, the exchange agent nor any other person will incur any liability for failure to give such notification. Tenders of Old Series B Notes will not be deemed made until such defects or irregularities have been cured or waived. Any Old Series B Notes received by the exchange agent that are not properly tendered and as to which the defects or irregularities have not been cured or waived will be returned to the exchange agent without cost to the tendering holder, unless otherwise provided in the letter of transmittal, promptly following the expiration date.

In all cases, we will issue Exchange Series B Notes for Old Series B Notes that we have accepted for exchange under the exchange offer only after the exchange agent timely receives:

 

   

Old Series B Notes or a timely book-entry confirmation of such Old Series B Notes into the exchange agent’s account at DTC; and

 

   

a properly completed and duly executed letter of transmittal and all other required documents or a properly transmitted agent’s message.

By signing the letter of transmittal, each tendering holder of Old Series B Notes will represent that, among other things:

 

   

any Exchange Series B Notes that the holder receives will be acquired in the ordinary course of its business;

 

   

the holder has no arrangement or understanding with any person or entity to participate in the distribution of the Exchange Series B Notes;

 

   

if the holder is not a broker-dealer, that it is not engaged in and does not intend to engage in the distribution of the Exchange Series B Notes;

 

11


Table of Contents
   

if the holder is a broker-dealer that will receive Exchange Series B Notes for its own account in exchange for Old Series B Notes that were acquired as a result of market-making or other trading activities, that it will deliver a prospectus, as required by law, in connection with any resale of such Exchange Series B Notes; and

 

   

the holder is not our “affiliate,” as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Book-Entry Transfer

The exchange agent will make a request to establish an account with respect to the Old Series B Notes at DTC for purposes of the exchange offer promptly after the date of this prospectus; and any participant in DTC’s system may make book-entry delivery of Old Series B Notes by causing DTC to transfer such Old Series B Notes into the exchange agent’s account at DTC in accordance with DTC’s procedures for transfer. Holders of Old Series B Notes who are unable to deliver confirmation of the book-entry tender of their Old Series B Notes into the exchange agent’s account at DTC or all other documents of transmittal to the exchange agent on or prior to the expiration date must tender their Old Series B Notes according to the guaranteed delivery procedures described below.

Guaranteed Delivery Procedures

Holders wishing to tender their Old Series B Notes but whose Old Series B Notes are not immediately available or who cannot deliver their Old Series B Notes, the letter of transmittal or any other required documents to the exchange agent or comply with the applicable procedures under DTC’s Automated Tender Offer Program prior to the expiration date of the exchange offer may tender if:

 

   

the tender is made through an eligible institution;

 

   

prior to the expiration date, the exchange agent receives from such eligible institution either a properly completed and duly executed notice of guaranteed delivery by facsimile transmission, mail or hand delivery or a properly transmitted agent’s message and notice of guaranteed delivery:

 

  setting forth the name and address of the holder, the registered number(s) of such Old Series B Notes and the principal amount of Old Series B Notes tendered;

 

  stating that the tender is being made thereby; and

 

  guaranteeing that, within three New York Stock Exchange trading days after the expiration date, the letter of transmittal or facsimile thereof together with the Old Series B Notes or a book-entry confirmation, and any other documents required by the letter of transmittal will be deposited by the eligible institution with the exchange agent; and

 

   

the exchange agent receives such properly completed and executed letter of transmittal or facsimile thereof, as well as all tendered Old Series B Notes in proper form for transfer or a book-entry confirmation, and all other documents required by the letter of transmittal, within three New York Stock Exchange trading days after the expiration date.

Upon request to the exchange agent, a notice of guaranteed delivery will be sent to holders who wish to tender their Old Series B Notes according to the guaranteed delivery procedures set forth above.

Withdrawal of Tenders

Except as otherwise provided in this prospectus, holders of Old Series B Notes may withdraw their tenders at any time prior to the expiration date.

For a withdrawal to be effective:

 

   

the exchange agent must receive a written notice, which notice may be by telegram, telex, facsimile transmission or letter of withdrawal at one of the addresses set forth below under “—Exchange Agent,” or

 

   

holders must comply with the appropriate procedures of DTC’s Automated Tender Offer Program system.

Any such notice of withdrawal must:

 

   

specify the name of the person who tendered the Old Series B Notes to be withdrawn;

 

   

identify the Old Series B Notes to be withdrawn, including the principal amount of such Old Series B Notes; and

 

   

where certificates for Old Series B Notes have been transmitted, specify the name in which such Old Series B Notes were registered, if different from that of the withdrawing holder.

If certificates for Old Series B Notes have been delivered or otherwise identified to the exchange agent, then, prior to the release of such certificates, the withdrawing holder must also submit:

 

   

the serial numbers of the particular certificates to be withdrawn; and

 

   

a signed notice of withdrawal with signatures guaranteed by an eligible institution unless such holder is an eligible institution.

If Old Series B Notes have been tendered pursuant to the procedure for book-entry transfer described above, any notice of withdrawal must specify the name and number of the account at DTC to be credited with the withdrawn Old Series B Notes and otherwise comply with the procedures of such facility. We will determine all questions as to the validity, form and eligibility, including time of receipt, of such notices, and our determination shall be final and binding on all parties. We will deem any Old Series B Notes so withdrawn not to have validity tendered for exchange for purposes of the exchange offer. Any Old Series B Notes that have been tendered for exchange but that are not exchanged for any reason will be returned to their holder without cost to the holder (or, in the case of Old Series B Notes tendered by book-entry transfer into the exchange agent’s account at DTC according to the procedures described above, such Old Series B Notes will be credited to an account maintained with DTC for Old Series B Notes) as soon as practicable after withdrawal, rejection of tender or termination of the exchange offer.

 

12


Table of Contents

Properly withdrawn Old Series B Notes may be retendered by following one of the procedures described under “—Procedures for Tendering” above at any time on or prior to the expiration date.

Exchange Agent

The Bank of New York Trust Company, N.A. has been appointed as exchange agent for the exchange offer. You should direct questions and requests for assistance, requests for additional copies of this prospectus or of the letter of transmittal and requests for the notice of guaranteed delivery to the exchange agent addressed as follows:

 

For Delivery by Hand, Overnight Delivery,

Registered or Certified Mail:

 

The Bank of New York Trust Company, N.A.

Corporate Trust Operations

Reorganization Unit

101 Barclay Street—7E

New York, New York 10286

 

By Facsimile Transmission

(for eligible institutions only):

 

(212) 298-1915

Corporate Trust Operations

Reorganization Unit

 

To Confirm by Telephone

or for Information Call:

 

(212) 815-2742

Corporate Trust Operations

Reorganization Unit

Delivery of the letter of transmittal to an address other than as set forth above or transmission via facsimile other than as set forth above does not constitute a valid delivery of such letter of transmittal.

Fees and Expenses

We will bear the expenses of soliciting tenders. The principal solicitation is being made by mail; however, we may make additional solicitations by telegraph, telephone or in person by our officers and regular employees and those of our affiliates.

We have not retained any dealer-manager in connection with the exchange offer and will not make any payments to broker-dealers or others soliciting acceptances of the exchange offer. We will, however, pay the exchange agent reasonable and customary fees for its services and reimburse it for its related reasonable out-of-pocket expenses.

Our expenses in connection with the exchange offer include:

 

   

SEC registration fees;

 

   

fees and expenses of the exchange agent and trustee;

 

   

accounting and legal fees and printing costs; and

 

   

related fees and expenses.

Transfer Taxes

We will pay all transfer taxes, if any, applicable to the exchange of Old Series B Notes under the exchange offer. The tendering holder, however, will be required to pay any transfer taxes, whether imposed on the registered holder or any other person, if:

 

   

certificates representing Old Series B Notes for principal amounts not tendered or accepted for exchange are to be delivered to, or are to be issued in the name of, any person other than the registered holder of Old Series B Notes tendered;

 

   

tendered Old Series B Notes are registered in the name of any person other than the person signing the letter of transmittal; or

 

   

a transfer tax is imposed for any reason other than the exchange of the Old Series B Notes under the exchange offer.

If satisfactory evidence of payment of such taxes is not submitted with the letter of transmittal, the amount of such transfer taxes will be billed to that tendering holder.

Holders who instruct us to register Exchange Series B Notes in the name of, or request that Old Series B Notes not tendered or not accepted in the exchange offer be returned to, a person other than the registered tendering holder will be required to pay any applicable transfer tax.

Consequences of Failure to Exchange

Holders of Old Series B Notes who do not exchange their Old Series B Notes for Exchange Series B Notes under the exchange offer will remain subject to the restrictions on transfer of such Old Series B Notes:

 

   

as set forth in the legend printed on the Old Series B Notes as a consequence of the issuance of the Old Series B Notes pursuant to the exemptions from, or in transactions not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws; and

 

   

otherwise as set forth in the offering memorandum and consent solicitation statement distributed in connection with the offering of the Old Series B Notes.

In general, you may not offer or sell the Old Series B Notes unless they are registered under the Securities Act, or if the offer or sale is exempt from registration under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. Except as required by the registration rights agreement, we

 

13


Table of Contents

do not intend to register resales of the Old Series B Notes under the Securities Act. Based on interpretations of the SEC staff, Exchange Series B Notes issued pursuant to the exchange offer may be offered for resale, resold or otherwise transferred by their holders, other than any such holder that is our “affiliate” within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act, without compliance with the registration and prospectus delivery provisions of the Securities Act, provided that the holders acquired the Exchange Series B Notes in the ordinary course of the holders’ business and the holders have no arrangement or understanding with respect to the distribution of the Exchange Series B Notes to be acquired in the exchange offer. Any holder who tenders in the exchange offer for the purpose of participating in a distribution of the Exchange Series B Notes:

 

   

could not rely on the applicable interpretations of the SEC; and

 

   

must comply with the registration and prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act in connection with a secondary resale transaction.

Accounting Treatment

We will record the Exchange Series B Notes in our accounting records at the same carrying value as the Old Series B Notes, as reflected in our accounting records on the date of exchange. Accordingly, we will not recognize any gain or loss for accounting purposes in connection with the exchange offer. We will capitalize the expenses of the exchange offer as deferred financing costs and expense these costs over the life of the Exchange Series B Notes.

Other

Participation in the exchange offer is voluntary, and you should carefully consider whether to accept. You are urged to consult your financial and tax advisors in making your own decision on what action to take.

We may in the future seek to acquire untendered Old Series B Notes in the open market or privately negotiated transactions, through subsequent exchange offers or otherwise. We have no present plans to acquire any Old Series B Notes that are not tendered in the exchange offer or to file a registration statement to permit resales of any untendered Old Series B Notes.

 

14


Table of Contents

USE OF PROCEEDS

The exchange offer is intended to satisfy our obligations under the registration rights agreement we entered into in connection with the offering of the Old Series B Notes. We will not receive any cash proceeds from the issuance of the Exchange Series B Notes. In consideration for issuing the Exchange Series B Notes as contemplated in this prospectus, we will receive in exchange Old Series B Notes in like principal amount, which will be canceled and as such will not result in any increase in our indebtedness. The net proceeds from the Old Series B Notes offering were used to repay a portion of the term loan under our previous credit facility in connection with the financing of the Boasso acquisition and our entry into the ABL Facility.

CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth the consolidated cash and cash equivalents and capitalization of QDI as of December 31, 2007. The completion of the Exchange Offer will not change the amount of debt outstanding or otherwise affect capitalization. This table should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements, including the notes thereto, “Selected Historical Financial Information,” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Description of the ABL Facility and Other Indebtedness” included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

     As of
December 31, 2007
     (dollars in thousands)

Cash and cash equivalents

   $ 9,711
      

Debt:

  

The ABL Facility

     84,130

Series A Notes (1)

     85,000

Series B Notes (2)

     50,000

9% Notes

     125,000

Capital lease obligations

     5,283

Boasso Note

     2,500

Other Notes

     1,805
      

Total debt (including current maturities)

     353,718

Total shareholders’ equity

     27,300
      

Total capitalization

   $ 381,018
      

 

(1) Excludes discount of $982.

 

(2) Excludes discount of $3,465.

 

15


Table of Contents

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA COMBINED FINANCIAL INFOR MATION

The unaudited pro forma combined statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2007 shows the effect of the acquisition by QD LLC of all of the outstanding capital stock of Boasso on December 18, 2007. The pro forma purchase price, excluding transaction fees and costs, was $58.8 million in cash; less $3.6 million in liabilities assumed as part of the transaction, and a $2.5 million promissory note issued in favor of Walter J. Boasso, the principal stockholder of Boasso.

The unaudited pro forma combined statement of operations for year ended December 31, 2007 gives effect to the acquisition of Boasso as if it had occurred on January 1, 2007. The unaudited pro forma combined statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2007, has been prepared by combining the historical consolidated statement of operations of QDI for the year ended December 31, 2007 with Boasso’s unaudited historical statement of income for the eleven and a half months ended December 17, 2007. Boasso’s results for the period from December 18-31, 2007 are included in QDI’s historical statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2007. Appropriate pro forma adjustments have been applied to the historical accounts.

The acquisition of Boasso is accounted for under the purchase method of accounting with the assets acquired and liabilities assumed recorded at their estimated fair values. Goodwill is generated to the extent that the consideration, including transaction and closing costs, exceeds the fair value of net assets acquired. The following unaudited pro forma combined statement of operations should be read in conjunction with QDI’s historical consolidated statements of operations, including related notes thereto, which are included elsewhere in this prospectus.

The unaudited pro forma combined financial information is presented for informational purposes only and it is not necessarily indicative of the financial position and results of operations that would have been achieved had the acquisition been completed as of the dates indicated and is not necessarily indicative of our future financial position or results of operations.

 

16


Table of Contents

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA COMBINED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2007

(In 000’s, Except Per Share Amounts)

 

     Historical
QDI
    Historical
Boasso (1)
   Pro Forma
Adjustments
    Pro Forma
Combined
 

OPERATING REVENUES:

         

Transportation

   $ 580,676     $ —      $ —       $ 580,676  

Other service revenue

     76,221       64,169      —         140,390  

Fuel surcharge

     94,661       5,882      —         100,543  
                               
     751,558       70,051      —         821,609  
                               

OPERATING EXPENSES:

         

Purchased transportation

     471,531       20,973      —         492,504  

Compensation

     85,820       18,157      (240 )(2)     103,737  

Fuel, supplies and maintenance

     81,316       17,893      —         99,209  

Depreciation and amortization

     17,544       1,314      1,323 (3)(4)     20,181  

Selling and administrative

     31,291       4,028      —         35,319  

Insurance claims

     23,883       2,294      —         26,177  

Taxes and licenses

     3,980       567      —         4,547  

Communication and utilities

     11,381       837      —         12,218  

Loss on disposal of property and equipment

     601       112      —         713  

Impairment on property and equipment

     358       —        —         358  
                               

Total operating expenses

     727,705       66,175      1,083       794,963  
                               

Operating Income

     23,853       3,876      (1,083 )     26,646  

Interest expense

     31,342       188      6,068 (5)     37,598  

Interest income

     (818 )     —        —         (818 )

Write-off of debt issuance costs

     2,031       —        —         2,031  

Other expense

     940       —        —         940  
                               

Income (loss) before income taxes

     (9,642 )     3,688      (7,151 )     (13,105 )

(Benefit from) provision for income taxes

     (2,079 )     1,575      (1,771 )(6)     (2,275 )
                               

NET INCOME (LOSS)

   $ (7,563 )   $ 2,113    $ (5,380 )   $ (10,830 )
                               

PER SHARE DATA:

         

Net Loss per common share

         

Basic

   $ (0.39 )        $ (0.56 )

Diluted

   $ (0.39 )        $ (0.56 )

Weighted average number of shares

         

Basic

     19,336            19,336  

Diluted

     19,336            19,336  

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the unaudited pro forma combined statement of operations

 

17


Table of Contents

NOTES TO UNAUDITED PRO FORMA COMBINED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2007

(In 000’s)

 

(1) Reflects Boasso’s statement of income for the eleven and a half months ended December 17, 2007, which includes $1,100 for the settlement of two lawsuits, and $2,000 for employee bonuses included in insurance claims and compensation expenses, respectively. The magnitude of these expenses is not expected to recur.

 

(2) Reflects a decrease in compensation expense to a former owner of Boasso based upon the contractual arrangement entered into in connection with the acquisition.

 

(3) Reflects an increase in depreciation expense of $296 due to an increase in the fair value of Boasso’s depreciable property and equipment over their historical cost basis.

 

(4) Reflects an increase to amortization expense of $1,027 related to the amortization of the fair value of the identifiable intangible assets of Boasso resulting from the purchase price allocation. These intangible assets are being amortized over their estimated remaining useful lives.

 

(5) Reflects an increase in interest expense of $6,068 related to the issuance of $50,000 Series B Notes, borrowings of $79,411 under the ABL Facility, repayments of $64,400 in existing term loans, and the issuance of the Boasso Note. The Series B Notes carry an interest rate equal to LIBOR plus 4.5% and mature January 15, 2012. Under the ABL Facility, we can borrow at an interest rate equal to an applicable margin plus either a base rate or LIBOR. The initial applicable margin for borrowings under the current asset tranche was 1.00% with respect to base rate borrowings and 2.00% with respect to LIBOR borrowings. The ABL Facility was entered into by us on December 2007 and matures in June 2013. The Boasso Note has a term of two years, but the holder has the right to require that it be paid in full on the first anniversary of the acquisition or convert the note into shares of common stock of QDI. See “Description of the ABL Facility and Other Indebtedness.” For pro forma purposes, the Boasso Note is not treated as a common stock equivalent. The pro forma interest rates for each of the Series B Notes, the ABL Facility and the Boasso Note were 9.77%, 7.27% and 7.00%, respectively. The increase in interest expense of $6,068 consists of $168 for the Boasso Note, $7,702 for the ABL Facility (including amortization of debt issuance costs related to the ABL Facility), and $5,958 on the Series B Notes (including amortization of the original issue discount and other fees) less $5,229 in interest on the previous term loan and $2,531 related to our previous revolving credit facility.

 

(6) Reflects the adjustment to the provision for income taxes by applying a blended effective tax rate of approximately 24.8% to the pro forma adjustments identified in Notes 1 through 5 above.

 

18


Table of Contents

SELECTED HISTORICAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION

The selected historical consolidated financial information set forth below is qualified in its entirety by reference to, and should be read in conjunction with, QDI’s consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus and the section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

The consolidated statements of operations data set forth below for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2007, 2006 and 2005 and the historical balance sheet data as of December 31, 2007 and 2006 are derived from QDI’s audited financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The historical statements of operations data for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003 and the historical balance sheet data as of December 31, 2005, 2004 and 2003 are derived from QDI’s audited financial statements that are not included in this prospectus.

In 2007, QDI changed its accounting policy for tires. The change was retroactively applied to prior period financial statements. Refer to Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements for the impact of the change for years 2005 through 2007. The impact to operating income and net loss were an increase of $0.2 million and decrease of $0.9 million for 2004 and 2003, respectively.

 

      2007     2006     2005     2004     2003  
           (As adjusted)     (As adjusted)     (As adjusted)     (As adjusted)  

Statements of Operations Data

          

Operating revenues

   $ 751,558     $ 730,159     $ 678,076     $ 622,015     $ 565,440  

Operating expenses:

          

Purchased transportation

     471,531       493,686       471,238       420,565       360,303  

Depreciation and amortization

     17,544       16,353       17,278       23,266       29,671  

Other operating expenses

     238,630       171,842       149,741       162,936       157,590  
                                        

Operating income (1)

     23,853       48,278       39,819       15,248       17,876  

Interest expense, net

     (30,524 )     (29,388 )     (26,712 )     (22,343 )     (29,984 )

Transaction fees

     —         —         —         —         (700 )

Interest expense, preferred stock conversion

     —         —         —         —         (59,395 )

Gain on debt extinguishment

     —         —         —         —         4,733  

Write-off of debt issuance costs

     (2,031 )     —         (1,110 )     —         —    

Other (expense) income

     (940 )     (888 )     222       (857 )     (649 )
                                        

Income (loss) before taxes

     (9,642 )     18,002       12,219       (7,952 )     (68,119 )

(Benefit from) provision for income taxes

     (2,079 )     (38,168 )     352       2,421       (99 )
                                        

Net (loss) income

     (7,563 )     56,170       11,867       (10,373 )     (68,020 )

Preferred stock dividends and accretions

     —         —         —         (145 )     (4,540 )
                                        

Net (loss) income attributable to common shareholders

   $ (7,563 )   $ 56,170     $ 11,867     $ (10,518 )   $ (72,560 )
                                        

(Loss) income from continuing operations per share (2)

          

Basic

   $ (0.39 )   $ 2.97     $ 0.63     $ (0.56 )   $ (12.67 )

Diluted

   $ (0.39 )   $ 2.87     $ 0.61     $ (0.56 )   $ (12.67 )

Weighted average common shares outstanding (2)

          

Basic

     19,336       18,920       18,934       18,910       5,729  

Diluted

     19,336       19,571       19,301       18,910       5,729  

 

19


Table of Contents
      2007     2006     2005     2004     2003  
           (As adjusted)     (As adjusted)     (As adjusted)     (As adjusted)  

Other Data

          

Cash paid for interest

   $ 28,850     $ 27,034     $ 24,645     $ 19,293     $ 24,946  

Net cash provided by operating activities

     14,052       28,236       9,039       15,945       17,677  

Net cash used in investing activities

     (63,399 )     (10,591 )     (16,063 )     (8,081 )     (12,709 )

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

     52,194       (12,474 )     5,858       (6,070 )     (4,733 )

Number of terminals at end of period (3)

     169       165       165       161       156  

Number of trailers operated at end of period (4)

     7,506       7,769       7,461       7,377       8,253  

Number of tractors operated at end of period(5)

     3,927       3,829       3,539       3,550       3,473  

Ratio of earnings to fixed charges(6)

     —         —             1.4 x     —         —    

Balance Sheet Data at Year End:

          

Working capital(7)

   $ 67,093     $ 59,673     $ 43,079     $ 4,926     $ (230 )

Total assets

     493,976       417,873       377,053       373,952       368,849  

Total indebtedness, including current maturities

     349,271       279,122       289,116       276,550       279,509  

Shareholders’ equity (deficit)

     27,300       31,774       (27,462 )     (39,446 )     (26,201 )

 

(1) For the year ended December 31, 2003, operating income includes charges of $3.0 million relating to expenses or losses attributable to our operations prior to the 1998 acquisition of CLC for insurance claims and restructuring charges.

 

(2) Net (loss) income attributable to common shareholders per share and weighted average common shares outstanding for all periods presented gives effect to the 1.7 for 1 stock split effected on November 4, 2003.

 

(3) Excludes transload facilities but includes tank-wash facilities.

 

(4) Excludes trailers held-for-sale.

 

(5) Excludes tractors held as inventory.

 

(6) For the purpose of computing the ratio of earnings to fixed charges, earnings consist of earnings from continuing operations before income taxes and fixed charges. Fixed charges consist of interest expense including the amortization of deferred debt issuance costs. In 2007, 2006, 2004 and 2003 earnings were insufficient to cover fixed charges by approximately $11.7 million, $20.2 million, $8.0 million and $68.1 million, respectively.

 

(7) Working capital consists of current assets minus current liabilities.

 

20


Table of Contents

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

QDI does or will guarantee the 9% Notes, the Series A Notes, the Series B Notes and borrowings under the ABL Facility and has no material assets or operations other than its ownership of all of our membership interests. As a result, the discussion below of the historical results of operations and liquidity of QDI is substantially the same as ours. The following discussion of QDI’s results of operations and financial condition should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. The following discussion includes forward-looking statements. For a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ from results discussed in the forward-looking statements, see “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements” beginning on page 7.

Overview

We operate the largest for-hire chemical bulk tank truck network in North America based on revenues as reported in Bulk Transporter’s Tank Truck Carrier 2006 Annual Gross Revenue Report, the most recent such report available from Bulk Transporter, and we believe we have more than twice the revenues of our closest competitor in our primary chemical bulk transport market in the U.S. The bulk tank truck market in North America includes all products shipped by bulk tank truck carriers and consists primarily of liquid and dry bulk chemicals (which includes plastics) and bulk dry and liquid food-grade products. We primarily transport a broad range of chemical products and provide our customers with tank wash facilities, logistics and other value-added services. We are a core carrier for many of the Fortune 500 companies engaged in chemical processing, including Dow Chemical, Procter & Gamble, DuPont and PPG Industries, and we provide services to most of the top 100 chemical producers with U.S. operations.

Our revenue is principally a function of the volume of shipments by the bulk chemical industry, the number of miles driven per load, our market share, and the allocation of shipments between tank truck transportation and other modes of transportation such as rail. The volume of shipments of chemical products is, in turn, affected by many other industries, including consumer and industrial products, automotive, paints and coatings, and paper, and tends to vary with changing economic conditions. Additionally, we provide leasing, tank cleaning, logistics and transloading services.

Our bulk service network consists primarily of company operated terminals, independently owned third-party affiliate terminals and independent owner-operator drivers. Affiliates are independent companies we contract with to operate trucking terminals and tank washes exclusively on our behalf in defined markets. The affiliates provide the capital necessary to service their contracted business and are also responsible for most of the operating costs associated with servicing the contracted business. Owner-operators are generally individual drivers who own or lease their tractors and agree to drive exclusively for us and our affiliate partners. We believe the use of affiliates and independent owner-operators provides the following key competitive advantages to us in the marketplace:

 

   

Locally owned and operated affiliate terminals can provide superior, tailored customer service.

 

   

Affiliates and independent owner-operators are paid a fixed, contractual percentage of revenue for each load they transport creating a variable cost structure that provides protection against cyclical downturns.

 

   

Reliance on affiliate and independent owner-operators creates an asset-light business model that generally reduces our capital investment.

We believe the most significant factors relevant to our future business growth are the ability to (i) obtain additional business from existing customers, (ii) acquire existing transportation related businesses in strategic markets, (iii) add new customers, and (iv) recruit and retain drivers. Revenue has been partially driven by pricing increases and we expect pricing increases to continue to positively impact our revenue growth. However, the trucking industry has experienced a slowdown in recent months due to slowing economic conditions. While a number of our customers operate their own private tank truck fleets and many of our customers source some of their logistics needs with rail, we expect our customers to continue to outsource a greater proportion of their logistics needs to full service tank truck carriers. As a result of our leading market position, strong customer relationships and flexible business model, we believe we are well-positioned to benefit from customers seeking consolidation of their shipping relationships and those opting to outsource a greater portion of their logistics needs to third-party tank truck carriers.

To facilitate this growth, in December 2007 we acquired all of the outstanding capital stock of Boasso for an aggregate purchase price of (i) $58.8 million in cash less the outstanding long-term indebtedness of Boasso, subject to a working capital adjustment, and (ii) the Boasso Note, excluding fees and direct costs. Boasso is the leading provider of International Organization for Standardization, or ISO, tank container transportation and depot services in North America. The ISO tank container business generally provides services that facilitate the global movement of liquid and dry bulk chemicals, pharmaceuticals and food grade products. The ISO tank container transportation market has experienced significant recent growth as chemical manufacturers move towards greater utilization of ISO tank containers to efficiently transport their products around the world via sea, land and air. In addition to further enhancing our scope of services, we believe there are synergies to be achieved from the Boasso acquisition, including lower insurance cost for the Boasso business and reduction of duplicative overhead and facilities.

Beginning in 2005 under the direction of a new senior management team, we implemented several major strategic initiatives designed to enhance our operating flexibility, upgrade and standardize our business processes, improve customer service and increase profitability.

 

   

Opportunistic Affiliate Conversions. We intend to continue to focus on a less capital intensive business model based on affiliates and owner-operators. However, we continually evaluate our mix of affiliate and company terminals to optimize customer service, revenue growth, profitability and return on investment. In situations where we can more efficiently operate facilities than the relevant affiliate, we may endeavor to purchase this affiliate’s business to enhance our profitability and position us for better growth in key markets while maintaining our asset-light structure through the use of owner-operators at company owned terminals.

 

   

Continued Focus on Safety and Training. We have made safety the main focus of our organization. We have developed comprehensive programs to further focus our safety procedures and benchmark us against the best in the industry. Tangible results of this focus have already manifested themselves in decreasing at-fault accident frequencies. We also instituted a training

 

21


Table of Contents
 

program for terminal, field and headquarters personnel to augment our existing driver training and have began providing extensive technical and interpersonal training to all dispatchers, terminal managers, and supervisors.

 

   

Focus on Driver Recruitment and Retention. Our recruitment and retention effort is focused on providing drivers a welcoming opportunity with competitive compensation, an emphasis on professional development and an understanding that most drivers’ first priority is getting home safely to their families. Over the past four years we reduced driver turnover from 61% to approximately 49%, which we believe is well below the truckload industry average. We are committed to being a driver-focused company that provides both technical support and personal respect to these professionals. We offer competitive compensation, encourage input from our drivers when making business decisions, and utilize full-time customer service professionals who conduct both in-bound and out-bound calls to ensure driver satisfaction. Our driver organization contains field-based recruiters who augment the friendly, small business environment provided by our business model.

 

   

Expand Scope of Service Capabilities. We plan to continue to expand the scope of our service capabilities in order to serve the growing needs of our customer base. As our customers continue to focus on their core businesses, we believe that they will increasingly rely on primary service transportation companies to provide value-added services such as intermodal, tank cleaning and logistics services. Two initiatives to expand our service capabilities include the following:

Strengthen our Tank Wash Business

Over the past year, we have substantially improved our company owned tank wash facilities, installed new senior managers, trained staff and upgraded our safety program. We are focused on expanding this business by motivating our drivers, our affiliates’ drivers and third-party carriers to utilize our tank wash facilities and lessen usage of third party wash businesses. In 2007, we acquired Brite Clean, a tank wash operation that is expected to contribute approximately $12 million in revenue in 2008. This acquisition further strengthened our leading market position in the tank wash business.

Expand ISO Tank Container Business

QCS currently participates in the ISO tank container business by providing transportation services and, with the Boasso acquisition, we are now the market leader in the ISO tank container transportation and depot services business in North America. We believe that growing our ISO tank container depot business offers us the opportunity to expand our service offerings to many of our existing customers and to capitalize on this fast-growing segment which is being driven by the recent trend towards the globalization of petro-chemical manufacturing capacity.

 

   

Optimize Network. We are in the process of implementing several initiatives expected to increase profitability by minimizing the number of empty miles driven by our drivers. We do this by encouraging our affiliates and owner-operators to pursue additional revenue opportunities in their respective markets thereby increasing asset utilization. For example, we intend to move our pricing towards a revenue per mile compensation structure with our owner-operators instead of the existing percentage of revenue structure. We believe this change will help align owner-operators’ interests with ours and encourage them to increase load counts and improve backhaul rates resulting in increased revenue and operating income. Additionally, where necessary and when economically appropriate, we have expanded our company-owned transportation capacity by investing in new trailers through various methods, including purchases and leases.

 

   

Targeted Acquisitions. Our industry is highly fragmented, providing us with the opportunity to grow our distribution network and further develop our tank wash business through acquisitions. Smaller chemical bulk transport operators are seeking to strengthen their competitive position by becoming part of a larger service network. We believe that we are favorably positioned to benefit from this trend. In early 2006, we acquired two transportation companies for $4.1 million. In 2007, we acquired Brite Clean for $2.5 million, a small tank truck carrier for $0.5 million, and Boasso for $58.8 million and the Boasso Note. We expect these acquired businesses to generate approximately $90.0 million in revenue in 2008. We intend to continue pursuing attractive acquisition opportunities that augment our position in key markets at attractive multiples.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles. We believe the following are the more critical accounting policies that impact the financial statements, some of which are based on management’s best estimates available at the time of preparation. Actual future experience may differ from these estimates.

Property and equipment—Property and equipment expenditures, including tractor and trailer rebuilds that extend the useful lives of such equipment, are capitalized and recorded at cost. For financial statement purposes, these assets are depreciated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets to an estimated salvage value.

The asset lives used are presented in the following table:

 

     Average Lives
(in years)

Buildings and improvements

   10 - 25

Tractors and terminal equipment

   5 - 7

Trailers

   15 - 20

Furniture and fixtures

   3 - 5

Other equipment

     3 - 10

Tractor and trailer rebuilds, which are recurring in nature and extend the lives of the related assets, are capitalized and depreciated over the period of extension, generally 3 to 10 years, based on the type and extent of these rebuilds. Maintenance and repairs are charged directly to expense as incurred. Management estimates the useful lives of these assets based on historical trends and the age of the assets when placed in

 

22


Table of Contents

service. Any changes in the actual lives could result in material changes in the net book value of these assets. Additionally, we estimate the salvage values of these assets based on historical sales of disposals, and any changes in the actual salvage values could also affect the net book value of these assets.

Furthermore, we evaluate the recoverability of our long-lived assets whenever adverse events or changes in the business climate indicate that the expected undiscounted future cash flows from the related asset may be less than previously anticipated. If the net book value of the related asset exceeds the undiscounted future cash flows of the asset, the carrying amount would be reduced to the present value of its expected future cash flows and an impairment loss would be recognized. This analysis requires us to make significant estimates and assumptions in projecting future cash flows, and changes in facts and circumstances could result in material changes in the amount of any write-offs for impairment.

Goodwill—Goodwill is reviewed for impairment annually and whenever events or circumstances indicate that the book value of the asset may not be recoverable. We periodically evaluate whether events or circumstances indicate possible impairment. We identified three reporting units: transportation operations, insurance operations and foreign operations. We allocated goodwill to the transportation operation as it principally resulted from the acquisition of Chemical Leaman Corporation in 1998. If the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, an impairment loss is recorded to the extent the carrying amount of the goodwill within the reporting unit is greater than the implied fair value of goodwill. We performed our annual assessment during the second quarter of fiscal year 2007. We used a combination of discounted cash flows and valuation of our capital structure to estimate the fair value. Projections for future cash flows were based on our recent operating trends and projected average growth rate for revenue of approximately 5.2% over 5 years. The discount rate used to discount cash flows was based on our weighted average cost of capital of approximately 12.1%. Even if our revenue projections were to decline by 10%, we would not have an impairment of our goodwill. If actual cash flows turn out to be significantly less than projections, then the impairment analysis could change, possibly resulting in future impairment charges.

Deferred Tax Asset—We use the liability method of accounting for income taxes as prescribed by SFAS No. 109. Significant management judgment is required in determining the provision for income taxes and, in particular, any valuation allowance that is recorded or released against our deferred tax assets.

During 2006, we released approximately $45.8 million of our deferred tax valuation allowance based on our assessment that it was more likely than not that those deferred tax assets will be realizable based on income projections of future taxable income and the expiration dates and amounts of net operating loss carryforwards. These estimates of projected taxable income include price and volume increases as well as expected expansion of market share. These projections are based on assumptions which management believes to be reasonable and consistent with current operating results although the actual results achieved may differ materially from these projections.

We continue to evaluate quarterly, the positive and negative evidence regarding the realization of net deferred tax assets in accordance with SFAS No. 109, “Accounting for Income Taxes.” Included in this assessment are estimates of projected future taxable income. Significant management judgment is required in this process and although realization is not assured, based on our assessment, we concluded it is more likely than not, such assets will continue to be realized.

At December 31, 2006 positive evidence included having achieved profitability for financial reporting purposes for eight consecutive quarters beginning with the first quarter of fiscal 2005. Additionally, we were no longer in a U.S. cumulative loss position at the third quarter of fiscal 2006. We determine cumulative losses on a rolling thirty-six months basis.

We project both aggregate U.S. pre-tax income as well as aggregate U.S. taxable income for the years 2008 through 2011 sufficient to absorb $86.0 million of the $94.0 million existing net operating loss carryforwards. At December 31, 2007 we had estimated $94.0 million in federal net operating loss carryforwards, $2.6 million in alternative minimum tax credit carryforwards and $2.6 million in foreign tax credit carryforwards. The net operating loss carryforwards will expire in the years 2018 through 2027, while the alternative minimum tax credits may be carried forward indefinitely and the foreign tax credits may be carried forward for ten years. We do not have a history of net operating loss or tax credit carryforwards expiring unused; however, we have determined based on the weight of available evidence that it is more likely than not that some portion of our $2.6 million foreign tax credits may not be realized. As a result we have established a valuation allowance of $1.6 million against our foreign tax credit deferred tax asset.

We continue to believe it is more likely than not that the net deferred tax assets will be realizable because we are projecting positive future taxable income through 2011 sufficient to absorb $86 million of our $94 million net operating loss carryforwards. We will continue to review our forecast quarterly in relation to actual results and expected trends on an ongoing basis. Failure to achieve our operating income targets may change our assessment regarding the recoverability of our net deferred tax assets and such change could result in a valuation allowance being recorded against some or all of our deferred tax assets. Any increase in a valuation allowance would result in additional income tax expense.

Environmental liabilities—We have reserved for potential environmental liabilities based on the best estimates of potential clean-up and remediation for known environmental sites. We employ a staff of environmental professionals to administer all phases of our environmental programs and use outside experts where needed. These professionals develop estimates of potential liabilities at these sites based on projected and known remediation costs. These cost projections are determined through previous experiences with other sites and through bids from third-party contractors. Management believes current reserves are reasonable based on current information.

Accident claims reserves—As of December 31, 2007, we maintained liability insurance for bodily injury and property damage claims, covering all employees, owner-operators and affiliates, and workers’ compensation insurance coverage on our employees and company drivers. This insurance included deductibles of $5 million per incident for bodily injury and property damage and $1 million for workers’ compensation for periods after September 15, 2002. Auto and general liability claims incurred on or after March 31, 2008 are subject to a deductible of $2.0 million per incident. As such, we are subject to liability as a self-insurer to the extent of these deductibles under the policy. We are self-insured for damage to the equipment we own or lease, and for cargo losses. In developing liability reserves, we evaluate historical loss run data and actuarial calculations to develop our insurance reserve estimates. The most significant assumptions used in the estimation process include determining the trends in loss costs, the expected consistency in the frequency and severity of claims incurred but not yet reported to prior year claims and expected costs to settle unpaid claims. Management believes reserves are reasonable given known information, but as each case develops, estimates may change to reflect the effect of new information.

 

23


Table of Contents

Revenue recognition—Transportation revenues, including fuel surcharges and related costs are recognized on the date the freight is delivered. Other service revenues, consisting primarily of lease revenues from affiliates, owner-operators and third parties, are recognized ratably over the lease period. Tank wash revenues are recognized when the wash is completed. Service revenues on insurance policies are recorded as a contractual percentage of premiums received ratably over the period that the insurance covers. We have recognized all revenues on a gross basis as the principal and primary obligor with risk of loss in relation to our responsibility for completion of services as contracted by our customers.

Allowance for uncollectible receivables—The allowance for all potentially uncollectible receivables is based on a combination of historical data, cash payment trends, specific customer issues, write-off trends, general economic conditions and other factors. These factors are continuously monitored by our management to arrive at the estimate for the amount of accounts receivable that may be ultimately uncollectible. The receivables analyzed include trade receivables, as well as loans and advances made to owner-operators and affiliates. If the financial condition of our customers were to deteriorate, resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, an additional allowance could be required. Absent a change in our collection efforts, a $50 million increase in our receivables (aged less than 30 days) resulting from transportation billings would increase our allowance for uncollectible receivables by less than $0.2 million.

Stock compensation plans—Stock compensation is determined by the assumptions required under Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123 (revised 2004), Share-Based Payment (SFAS 123(R)). The fair values of stock option grants are based upon the Black-Scholes option-pricing model and amortized as compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the vesting period of the grants. Restricted stock awards are issued and measured at market value on the date of grant and related compensation expense is recognized over time using graded vesting, which accelerates compensation expense into the first two years of the four year vesting period. Stock-based compensation expense related to stock options and restricted stock was $1.1 million and $0.4 million, respectively, for fiscal year 2007. As of December 31, 2007, there was approximately $2.7 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to the unvested portion of our stock-based awards. The recognition period for the remaining unrecognized stock-based compensation cost is approximately four years. For further discussion on stock-based compensation, see Note 16 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in elsewhere in this prospectus.

Pension plans—We maintain two noncontributory defined-benefit plans resulting from a prior acquisition that cover certain full-time salaried employees and certain other employees under a collective bargaining agreement. Both plans are frozen and, as such, no future benefits accrue. We record annual amounts relating to these plans based on calculations specified by GAAP, which include various actuarial assumptions such as discount rates (5.50% to 5.75%) and assumed rates of return (7.50% to 8.00%) depending on the pension plan. Material changes in pension costs may occur in the future due to changes in these assumptions. Future annual amounts could be impacted by changes in the discount rate, changes in the expected long-term rate of return, changes in the level of contributions to the plans and other factors.

The discount rate is based on a model portfolio of AA rated bonds with a maturity matched to the estimated payouts of future pension benefits. The expected return on plan assets is based on our expectation of the long-term rates of return on each asset class based on the current asset mix of the funds, considering the historical returns earned on the type of assets in the funds, plus an assumption of future inflation. The current investment policy target asset allocation differs between our two plans, but it is between 50% to 67% for equities and 33% to 50% for bonds. The current inflation assumption is 3.00%. We review our actuarial assumptions on an annual basis and make modifications to the assumptions based on current rates and trends when appropriate. The effects of the modifications are amortized over future periods.

Assumed discount rates and expected return on plan assets have a significant effect on the amounts reported for the pension plan. At December 31, 2007, our projected benefit obligation (“PBO”) was $45.8 million. Our projected 2007 net periodic pension expense is $189,000. A 1.0% decrease in our assumed discount rate would increase our PBO to $50.6 million and decrease our 2007 net periodic pension expense to $169,000. A 1.0% increase in our assumed discount rate would decrease our PBO to $41.8 million and increase our 2007 net periodic pension expense to $191,000. A 1.0% decrease in our assumed rate of return would not change our PBO but would increase our 2007 net periodic pension expense to $596,000. A 1.0% increase in our assumed rate of return would not change our PBO but would decrease our 2007 net periodic pension expense to a credit of $219,000.

Change in Accounting Policy

During the fourth quarter of 2007, we changed our accounting policy for tires. Prior to this change, the cost of original and replacement tires mounted on equipment was reported as prepaid tires and depreciated based on estimated usage. Under the new policy, we capitalize the cost of tires mounted on purchased revenue equipment as a part of the total equipment cost and depreciate the cost over the useful life of the related equipment. Subsequent replacement tires are expensed at the time those tires are placed in service similar to other repairs and maintenance costs. We believe that this new policy is preferable under the circumstances because it provides a more precise and less subjective method for recognizing expenses related to tires that is consistent with industry practice. Under SFAS 154, “Accounting Changes and Error Corrections,” we are required to report a change in accounting policy by retrospectively applying the new policy to all prior periods presented, unless it is impractical to determine the prior-period effect. Accordingly, we have adjusted our previously reported financial information for all periods presented. Refer to Note 3 of our consolidated financial statements for the financial impact of this change.

New Accounting Pronouncements

In September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS No. 157, Fair Value Measurements (SFAS 157). SFAS 157 establishes a common definition for fair value to be applied to U.S. GAAP guidance requiring use of fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value, and expands disclosure about such fair value measurements. SFAS 157 is effective for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007. In February 2008, the FASB decided to issue a final Staff Position to allow a one-year deferral of adoption of SFAS 157 for nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a nonrecurring basis. The FASB also decided to amend SFAS 157 to exclude FASB Statement No. 13 and its related interpretive accounting pronouncements that address leasing transactions. We are currently evaluating the expected impact on its financial statements of adopting SFAS 157.

In February 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 159, The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities—Including an Amendment of FASB Statement No. 115, (“SFAS 159”) which permits entities to choose to measure many financial instruments and certain other items at fair value. SFAS 159 also includes an amendment to SFAS No. 115, “Accounting for Certain Investments in Debt and Equity

 

24


Table of Contents

Securities,” which applies to all entities with available-for-sale and trading securities. This statement is effective as of the beginning of an entity’s first fiscal year that begins after November 15, 2007. We are currently evaluating the impact of this standard on our consolidated financial statements.

In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 141 (revised 2007), Business Combinations (“SFAS 141R”). This statement significantly changes the financial accounting and reporting of business combination transactions. The provisions of this statement are to be applied prospectively to business combination transactions in the first annual reporting period beginning on or after December 15, 2008. The impact of adopting SFAS 141R will depend on the nature, terms and size of business combinations completed after the effective date.

In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 160, Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements—an amendment of ARB No. 51 (“SFAS 160”). SFAS 160 establishes accounting and reporting standards for noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries. This statement requires the reporting of all noncontrolling interests as a separate component of stockholders’ equity, the reporting of consolidated net income (loss) as the amount attributable to both the parent and the noncontrolling interests and the separate disclosure of net income (loss) attributable to the parent and to the noncontrolling interests. In addition, this statement provides accounting and reporting guidance related to changes in noncontrolling ownership interests. Other than the reporting requirements described above which require retrospective application, the provisions of SFAS 160 are to be applied prospectively in the first annual reporting period beginning on or after December 15, 2008. We are currently evaluating the impact of this standard on our consolidated financial statements.

The following table sets forth for the periods indicated the percentage of total revenue represented by certain items in QDI’s Consolidated Statements of Operations:

 

     2007     2006     2005  
           (As adjusted)     (As adjusted)  

OPERATING REVENUES:

      

Transportation

   77.3 %   79.1 %   80.6 %

Other service revenue

   10.1     9.1     9.9  

Fuel surcharge

   12.6     11.8     9.5  

Total operating revenues

   100.0     100.0     100.0  

OPERATING EXPENSES:

      

Purchased transportation

   62.7     67.6     69.5  

Compensation

   11.4     10.0     9.2  

Fuel, supplies and maintenance

   10.8     7.3     5.2  

Depreciation and amortization

   2.3     2.2     2.6  

Selling and administrative

   4.2     3.3     3.0  

Insurance claims

   3.2     1.8     2.8  

Taxes and licenses

   0.5     0.5     0.4  

Communication and utilities

   1.5     1.2     1.2  

Loss (gain) on disposal of property and equipment

   0.1     (0.7 )   —    

Impairment on property and equipment

   —       —       —    

PPI class action settlement and related expenses

   —       —       0.2  

Total operating expenses

   96.7     93.2     94.1  

Operating income

   3.3     6.8     5.9  

Interest expense, net

   (4.1 )   (4.0 )   (3.8 )

Write-off of debt issuance costs

   (0.3 )   —       (0.2 )

Other (expense)

   (0.1 )   (0.2 )   —    

(Loss) income before income taxes

   (1.2 )   2.6     1.9  

(Benefit from) provision for income taxes

   (0.3 )   (5.2 )   0.1  

Net (loss) income

   (0.9 )   7.8     1.8  

The following table sets forth for the periods indicated the number of terminals, tractors and trailers utilized in our business (including affiliates and owner-operators) as of December 31:

 

     2007    2006    2005

Terminals*

   169    165    165

Number of Drivers

   3,486    3,396    3,244

Trailers**

   7,506    7,769    7,461

Tractors***

   3,927    3,829    3,539

Transportation billed miles (in thousands)

   154,340    157,586    151,838

 

* excludes transload facilities but includes tank-wash facilities.

 

** excludes 151, 235 and 384 trailers that are held-for-sale as of December 31, 2007, 2006 and 2005, respectively.

 

*** excludes 45 tractors held as inventory for sale as of December 31, 2006.

 

25


Table of Contents

Year Ended December 31, 2007 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2006

Total revenues for 2007 were $751.6 million, an increase of $21.4 million or 2.9%, compared to 2006 revenues. Transportation revenue increased by $3.4 million or 0.6% compared to 2006. The increase in transportation revenue is primarily attributable to rate increases offset by a decrease in the number of loads.

Other service revenue increased by $9.6 million or 14.4% in 2007 versus 2006. This was primarily due to a $2.8 million increase in rental revenue, a $2.8 million increase from tank wash revenue, and $2.3 million due to the acquisition of Boasso. Fuel surcharge revenue increased $8.4 million from 2006 as a result of higher average fuel prices. Approximately 85% of the fuel surcharge revenue is reflected in “Purchased transportation” and was paid to our affiliates and company owner-operators during 2007 while the remaining company costs offset by the fuel surcharge are reflected in “Fuel, supplies and maintenance.”

We managed a total of approximately 7,500 trailers and 3,900 tractors at the end of 2007 compared to 7,800 trailers and 3,800 tractors at December 31, 2006. The decrease in tractors and trailers is the result of management’s decision to sell off older models and equipment that would require significant repair. We expect to either purchase or lease additional tractors and trailers in 2008.

Operating expenses totaled $727.7 million in 2007, an increase of $45.8 million or 6.7% from 2006. The increase in operating expenses was primarily attributable to a $28.0 million increase in fuel, supplies and maintenance, a $12.6 million increase in compensation, a $10.5 million increase in insurance claims, a $6.9 million increase in selling and administrative expenses and $0.6 million losses from the disposals of terminal assets and sales of tractors compared to $5.2 million net gains that resulted in 2006, partially offset by a decrease of $22.2 million in purchased transportation.

The decrease over the prior year in purchased transportation is primarily due in part to a shift of our transportation business from affiliates to company operations. We pay our affiliates approximately 85% of the transportation revenue while we pay company owner-operators approximately 62% of the transportation revenue. Since we pay our affiliates a greater percentage of revenues generated by them than is paid to company owner-operators, our purchased transportation costs will decrease more as revenues generated by affiliates decrease as a percentage of total transportation revenue. Our affiliates generated 56.7% of our transportation and fuel surcharge revenue in 2007 compared to 66.6% for the prior year. Total purchased transportation as a percentage of transportation revenue and fuel surcharge revenue decreased to 69.8% versus 74.4% for the prior year due to this shift in our revenue mix.

Compensation expense increased $12.6 million, or 17.2% primarily due to new or converted company terminals added over the prior year, and company-wide compensation increases. This increase was offset in part by a $1.4 million decrease in stock compensation expense due to stock units being fully recognized in 2006.

Fuel, supplies and maintenance increased $28.0 million or 52.5% due primarily to fuel costs associated with the shift of revenue from affiliates to company owned terminals, increased lease costs as we fund the expansion of our tractor and trailer fleet through the use of operating leases, costs associated with the purchase of tires as we expand our fleet, increased maintenance as we increase the capacity of our equipment and increased costs to clean of our trailers.

Depreciation and amortization expense increased $1.2 million, or 7.3%, due primarily to increased depreciation for assets acquired in affiliate conversions and amortization of intangible assets resulting from increased acquisition activity in 2007.

Selling and administrative expenses increased $7.2 million, or 30.2%. This increase is primarily attributable to a $1.4 million increase in bad debt expense due to credit adjustments as a result of a reduction in days sales outstanding in 2006, a $1.6 million increase in QCI and QSI expenses due to affiliate conversions and new tank wash terminals and an increase in travel costs as we add more company operations in addition to increased driver recruitment costs and increased building rental and maintenance costs associated with corporate and terminal buildings.

Insurance claims expense increased $10.6 million, or 79.5%, due primarily to the settlement of three large claims in the fourth quarter of 2007. During 2006, we recorded a $1.7 million reduction in claims on insurance policies retained by our insurance subsidiary, and $0.7 million of insurance reimbursement.

Loss on disposal of property and equipment was $1.0 million in 2007 as compared to a gain of $5.2 million in 2006, primarily due to the disposal of terminal assets and the sale of tractors and trailers at a loss compared to the sale of several real properties that generated $4.5 million of gain with the remaining net gain generated from the sale of tractors and trailers in 2006. The impairment loss on property and equipment was $0.4 million and $0.3 million in 2007 and 2006, respectively.

Operating income decreased $24.1 million, or 49.9%, compared to 2006. The operating margin for 2007 was 3.3% compared to 6.8% for 2006 as a result of the above items.

Interest expense increased by $0.4 million, or 1.3%, in 2007 compared to 2006 primarily due to the increase in borrowings to acquire Boasso. Interest income decreased by $0.7 million due primarily to the realization in 2006 of interest income arising from the payment of two subscription notes in QDI stock.

We wrote off debt issuance costs of $1.2 million due to the refinancing of our previous revolving credit facility and term loan with our new asset based loan facility in 2007 and recorded a charge of $0.8 million for bridge commitment fees related to the Boasso acquisition. We had no such costs in 2006.

Other expense in 2007 contained $1.6 million of costs related to an unconsummated acquisition and refinancing activities offset by $0.7 million in foreign currency conversions. Other expense in 2006 contained $1.0 million of expenses related to the filing of a shelf registration statement and related expenses.

The benefit from income taxes was $2.1 million in 2007 as compared to a benefit from income taxes of $38.2 million in 2006. The effective rate for the year ended December 31, 2007 was 21.5%, this rate is lower than our anticipated 39.0% effective rate in large part due to recording a $1.6 million valuation allowance against our deferred tax asset for foreign tax credits. Our effective rate would have been 38.4% if this valuation allowance had not been recorded. This change was primarily due to the release of approximately $45.8 million of our $46.7 million

 

26


Table of Contents

deferred tax valuation allowance in 2006. This release was due to improved operating results and the determination that it is more likely than not that expected future taxable income will be sufficient to utilize certain of our deferred tax assets.

Net loss was $7.6 million for 2007 versus net income of $56.2 million for 2006 for the reasons outlined above.

Year Ended December 31, 2006 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2005

Total revenues for 2006 were $730.2 million, an increase of $52.1 million or 7.7%, compared to 2005 revenues. Transportation revenue increased by $30.7 million or 5.6% compared to 2005. The increase in transportation revenue is primarily attributable to rate increases and an increase in the number of miles driven offset in part by a reduction in the total number of loads from the prior year. The decreased load count was spread across most of our customer base.

Other service revenue decreased by $0.6 million or 0.9% in 2006 versus 2005. This decrease was primarily due to a $1.8 million decrease in rental revenues resulting from reduced trailer rental revenue generated from our affiliates, partially offset by a $0.8 million increase in revenues at our QSI subsidiary. Fuel surcharge revenue increased $22.0 million from 2005 as a result of higher average fuel prices and an increase in the number of miles driven during the year. Approximately 85% of the fuel surcharge revenue is reflected in Purchased transportation” and was paid to our affiliates and company owner-operators during fiscal year 2006 while the remaining company costs offset by the fuel surcharge are reflected in “Fuel, supplies and maintenance.”

We managed a total of approximately 7,800 trailers and 3,800 tractors at the end of 2006 compared to 7,500 trailers and 3,500 tractors at December 31, 2005. The increase in trailers is primarily due to our purchase or lease of additional trailers during fiscal year 2006. The increase in tractors is partially the result of acquiring affiliates and new businesses and expanding the number of owner-operators through our tractor lease program. We expect to either purchase or lease additional tractors and trailers in 2007.

Operating expenses totaled $681.9 million in 2006, an increase of $43.6 million or 6.8% from 2005. The increase in operating expenses was primarily attributable to a $22.4 million increase in purchased transportation, a $18.0 million increase in fuel, supplies and maintenance and a $10.6 million increase in compensation.

The increase over the prior year in purchased transportation is primarily due to a majority of the $22.0 million of additional fuel surcharges being passed through to our affiliates and owner-operators offset in part by a shift of our transportation business from affiliates to more company operations. We pay our affiliates approximately 85% of the transportation revenue while we pay company owner-operators approximately 62% of the transportation revenue. Since we pay our affiliates a greater percentage of revenues generated by them than is paid to company owner-operators, our purchased transportation costs will decrease more as revenues generated by affiliates decrease as a percentage of total transportation revenue. Our affiliates generated 66.6% of our transportation and fuel surcharge revenue in 2006 compared to 76.7% for the prior year. Total purchased transportation as a percentage of transportation revenue and fuel surcharge revenue decreased to 74.4% versus 77.1% for the prior year due to this shift in our revenue mix.

Compensation expense increased $10.6 million, or 17.0% primarily due to new or converted company terminals added over the prior year, company-wide compensation increases and an increase in stock-based compensation expense offset in part by decreases from the prior year for pension, severance and hiring costs for senior executives. The increase in stock-based compensation expense is due in part to the implementation of SFAS 123R on January 1, 2006.

Fuel, supplies and maintenance increased $18.0 million or 50.9% due primarily to fuel costs associated with the shift of revenue from affiliates to company owned terminals, increased lease costs as we fund the expansion of our trailer fleet through the use of operating leases, costs associated with the purchase of tires as we expand our fleet and an increase in the number of miles driven, increased maintenance as we increase the capacity of our equipment and increased cleaning of our trailers.

Depreciation and amortization expense decreased $0.9 million, or 5.3%, due primarily to the sale of tractors in the prior year and the use of more leased trailers versus purchasing trailers as well as a number of assets becoming fully depreciated throughout 2007 and 2006.

Selling and administrative expenses increased $3.6 million, or 17.7%. This increase is primarily attributable to a $2.2 million increase in environmental costs associated with the Bridgeport, New Jersey location and our William Dick, Pennsylvania location and EPA oversight charges assessed due to a recent court decision offset by cost reductions at various smaller sites, an increase in travel costs as we add more company operations in addition to increased driver recruitment costs and increased building rental and maintenance costs associated with corporate and terminal buildings. These increases were partially offset by a $1.8 million decrease in professional fees from the prior year for tax, accounting and legal issues that did not recur in 2006 and a $1.3 million decrease in bad debt expense arising from improved collection efforts.

Insurance claims expense decreased $5.9 million, or 30.6%, due primarily to an improvement in our loss experience in 2006 and a refinement in our projection from our claims model through the use of more specific industry data and the recognition of early settlement claims offset in part by $2.0 million of cleanup costs related to a chemical release at one of our tank wash facilities. During 2006, we received $0.7 million of insurance reimbursement funds. During 2005, we received $2.9 million of insurance reimbursement funds and reversed $0.6 million of fines and penalties related to our insurance subsidiary that was initially recorded in the fourth quarter of 2004.

Gain on disposal of property and equipment was $5.2 million in fiscal year 2006 as compared to a loss of $0.3 million in fiscal year 2005, primarily due to the sale of several real properties that generated $4.5 million of gain with the remaining net gain generated from the sale of tractors and trailers. The impairment loss on property and equipment was $0.3 million and $0.1 million in fiscal years 2007 and 2006, respectively. PPI class action settlement and related expenses decreased $1.0 million in 2006 as most related expenses were accrued in 2005.

Operating income increased $8.5 million or 21.2% compared to 2005. The operating margin for 2006 was 6.8% compared to 5.9% for 2005 as a result of the above items.

Interest expense increased by $4.0 million or 14.8% in 2006 compared to 2005 primarily due to the increase in interest rates over 2005. Interest income increased by $1.3 million due primarily to the realization of $0.7 million of interest income arising from the payment of two stock subscription notes in QDI stock and interest earned on notes arising from the sale of tractors.

 

27


Table of Contents

In the first quarter of 2005, we wrote off $1.1 million of debt issuance costs associated with the $70.0 million partial repayment of our term loan using proceeds from the issuance of new debt in January 2005.

Other income decreased by $1.1 million due primarily to a $1.0 million charge for expenses related to the filing of a shelf registration statement and expenses for potentially issuing new shares and reduced foreign currency transaction exchange gain in 2006 versus 2005.

The benefit from income taxes was $38.2 million in 2006 as compared to a provision for income taxes of $0.4 million in 2005. This change was primarily due to the release of approximately $45.8 million of our $46.7 million deferred tax valuation allowance. This release is due to improved operating results and the determination that it is more likely than not that expected future taxable income will be sufficient to utilize certain of our deferred tax assets.

Net income was $56.2 million for 2006 versus $11.9 million for 2005 for the reasons outlined above.

Exchange Rates

We operate in Canada and Mexico as well as in the United States. Our results of operations are affected by the relative strength of currencies in the countries where we operate. Approximately 7.2%, 7.2% and 7.1% of our revenue in 2007, 2006 and 2005, respectively, was generated outside the United States.

In comparing the average exchange rates between 2007 and the year-ago period, the Canadian dollar appreciated against the United States dollar by approximately 5.6% while the Mexican peso depreciated against the United States dollar by approximately 0.2%. The change in exchange rates positively impacted revenue by approximately $2.8 million in 2007. The appreciation of the Canadian dollar since December 31, 2006 was the primary reason for the less than $0.3 million increase in cumulative currency translation loss in shareholders’ equity for 2007.

Gains and losses included in the consolidated statements of operations from foreign currency transactions included a $0.3 million gain in fiscal year 2007, a $0.1 million gain in fiscal year 2006, and a $0.4 million gain in fiscal year 2005.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

The following summarizes our cash flows for fiscal years 2007, 2006 and 2005 as reported in QDI’s Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows in the accompanying consolidated financial statements:

 

(In Thousands)

   2007     2006     2005  
           (As adjusted)     (As adjusted)  

Net cash provided by operating activities

   $ 14,052     $ 28,236     $ 9,039  

Net cash used in investing activities

     (63,399 )     (10,591 )     (16,063 )

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

     52,194       (12,474 )     5,858  

Effect of exchange rates

     23       34       102  
                        

Net increase (decrease) in cash

     2,870       5,205       (1,064 )

Cash at beginning of period

     6,841       1,636       2,700  
                        

Cash at end of period

   $ 9,711     $ 6,841     $ 1,636  
                        

Historically, our primary source of liquidity has been cash flow from operations and borrowing availability under our previous credit agreement. Our primary cash needs consist of capital expenditures and debt service including the ABL Facility, the 9% Notes, the Series A Notes and the Old Series B Notes. We incur capital expenditures for the purpose of purchasing tractors and trailers to meet our strategic needs during the year, and maintaining and improving our infrastructure. During 2006 and 2007, we reduced our capital expenditures required for our tractor and trailer acquisitions by entering into operating leases which will result in increased operating expenses in future periods. We plan to continue to enter into operating leases to reduce capital expenditures in 2008.

We have accrued $11.2 million for environmental claims and $31.9 million for loss and damage claims and the timing of the cash payment for such claims fluctuates from quarter to quarter.

We generated $14.1 million, $28.2 million and $9.0 million from operating activities in 2007, 2006 and 2005, respectively. The decrease in net cash provided by operating activities in 2007 as compared to 2006 is primarily due to our net loss for the year. The increase in net cash provided by operating activities in 2006 as compared to 2005 is primarily due to improved profitability, improvement of our accounts receivable collection efforts offset by funds used to purchase tractors for resale to drivers and to fund the tractor sales as notes receivable to us.

Net cash used in investing activities in 2007, 2006 and 2005 was $63.4 million, $10.6 million and $16.1 million, respectively. Capital expenditures totaled $10.6 million, $14.9 million and $15.8 million in 2007, 2006 and 2005, respectively. We used net cash of $52.4 million for the acquisition of Boasso and $6.8 million of cash to purchase two businesses and the business assets of six affiliates in 2007, issued note payables for $2.4 million and assumed $2.5 million in liabilities as part of the total consideration of these acquisitions. In 2006, we used $6.5 million of cash to purchase two businesses and the business assets of three affiliates, issued a note payable for $1.6 million and assumed $4.4 million in liabilities as part of the consideration of these acquisitions. We entered into operating leases for equipment in 2006 that would otherwise have required approximately $20.0 million to purchase various tractors and trailers. Our proceeds from the sale of property and equipment for 2006 increased by $6.5 million primarily due to the sale of various real estate properties. In 2005, we purchased the business assets of three affiliates for $4.5 million. We expect to continue to expand the number of tractors and trailers in 2008 either by purchase or through the use of operating or capital leases.

Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities was $52.2 million, $(12.5) million and $5.9 million in 2007, 2006 and 2005, respectively. We utilized the ABL Facility to finance the acquisition of Boasso in 2007. In 2006, we generated enough cash from operations and the sale of property to fully repay our revolver by year-end. In 2005, we utilized our revolver to finance the acquisition of business assets and to fund some short-term working capital needs.

 

28


Table of Contents

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We have no off-balance sheet arrangements as defined under Item 303(a)(4) of Regulation S-K.

Contractual Obligations

The following is a schedule of our long-term contractual commitments, including the current portion of our long-term indebtedness and capital leases at December 31, 2007 over the periods we expect them to be paid (in thousands):

 

     TOTAL    Year
2008
   Years
2009 & 2010
   Years
2011 & 2012
   The Five
Years after
2012

Operating leases (1)

   $ 104,239    $ 26,181    $ 41,297    $ 22,786    $ 13,975

Total indebtedness (2)

     348,435      413      128,421      135,4711      84,130

Capital leases

     5,283      1,451      3,146      686      —  

Interest on indebtedness (3)

     124,293      31,564      61,304      28,337      3,088
                                  

Total

   $ 582,250    $ 59,609    $ 234,168    $ 187,280    $ 101,193
                                  

 

(1) These obligations represent the minimum rental commitments under all non-cancelable operating leases. See Note 17 of the “Note to the Consolidated Financial Statements.” We entered into a new lease, commencing in May 2007, for our corporate headquarters that requires us to spend $15.8 million over the term of the lease. We expect that some of our operating lease obligations for tractors will be partially offset by rental revenue from sub-leasing the tractors to owner-operators or affiliates.

 

(2) Excludes a discount of $4.4 million.

 

(3) Amounts presented for interest payments assume that all long-term debt obligations outstanding as of December 31, 2007 will remain outstanding until maturity and interest rates on variable-rate debt in effect as of December 31, 2007 will remain in effect until maturity. As discussed below, the maturity date of the ABL Facility may be accelerated if we default on our obligations under the ABL Facility. The maturity date of the ABL Facility is also advanced to a date 91 days prior to the maturity date of the Series A Notes, the Series B Notes or the 9% Notes (and replacement indebtedness) if the aggregate principal amount of the notes maturing in the 91-day period exceeds $50.0 million.

Other Liabilities and Obligations

We have $11.2 million of environmental liabilities, $7.8 million of pension plan obligations and $31.0 million of insurance claim obligations. We expect to incur additional environmental costs in the future for environmental studies and remediation efforts that we will be required to undertake related to legacy Chemical Leaman sites. We also have $58.4 million in outstanding letters of credit. We are required to provide letters of credit to our insurance administrator to cover the payment of claims. The outstanding letters of credit as of December 31, 2007 for our insurance administrator was $47.1 million. The remaining $11.3 million of outstanding letters of credit relate to various leasing obligations and to satisfy certain EPA requirements. If we fail to meet certain terms of our agreement, the insurance administrator may draw down the entire letter of credit. We have $4.2 million of a long-term liability that was assumed upon the purchase of a business in 2006 that we expect to pay out over the next ten years. We have $3.2 million of total gross unrecognized tax benefits.

Long-term Debt

Our principal debt sources at December 31, 2007 comprise $125 million aggregate principal amount of 9% Notes, $135 million aggregate principal amount of the Series A Notes and Series B Notes and a $225 million ABL Facility.

The ABL Facility

The ABL Facility, which was effective December 18, 2007, consists of a current asset-based revolving facility in an initial amount of $195.0 million (the “current asset tranche”) and a fixed asset-based revolving facility in an initial amount of $30.0 million (the “fixed asset tranche”), with the total commitments under the fixed asset tranche to be reduced, and the total commitments under the current asset tranche correspondingly increased by $5.0 million on each at December 18, 2009 and 2010. Borrowings of revolving loans under the ABL Facility are allocated pro rata to the current asset tranche and the fixed asset tranche based on the then-current asset borrowing base and the then-current fixed asset borrowing base. The ABL Facility matures June 18, 2013. The maturity date of the ABL Facility may be accelerated if we default on our obligations under the ABL Facility. The maturity date of the ABL Facility is also advanced to a date 91 days prior to the maturity date of the Series A Notes, the Series B Notes or the 9% Notes (and replacement indebtedness) if the aggregate principal amount of the notes maturing in the 91-day period exceeds $50.0 million.

The ABL Facility includes borrowing capacity of up to $150.0 million for letters of credit, which are allocated pro rata between the two tranches based on the then-current borrowing base for each tranche (or, if the credit extensions under the fixed asset tranche are repaid and the commitments there under are terminated prior to the termination of the ABL Facility, to the current asset tranche), and up to $10.0 million for swingline borrowings on same-day notice, which are allocated under the current asset tranche. The proceeds of the ABL Facility were used, together with the proceeds from the offering of the Series B Notes, to finance a portion of the Boasso acquisition. The ABL facility contains a fixed charge coverage ratio of 1.0 to 1.0 which only needs to be met if borrowing availability is less than $20.0 million. At December 31, 2007, we had $52.1 million of borrowing availability under the ABL Facility.

Borrowings under the ABL Facility bear interest at a rate equal to an applicable margin plus, at our option, either a base rate or LIBOR. The initial applicable margin for borrowings under the current asset tranche are 1.00% with respect to base rate borrowings and 2.00% with respect to LIBOR borrowings. The initial applicable margin for borrowings under the fixed asset tranche are 1.25% with respect to base rate borrowings and 2.25% with respect to LIBOR borrowings. The applicable margin for such borrowings will be reduced or increased based on aggregate borrowing base availability under the ABL Facility over the life of the ABL Facility. The base rate for the ABL Facility is the higher of the prime rate and the federal funds overnight rate plus 0.50%. We are also required to pay a fee for unutilized commitments under the ABL Facility at a rate equal to 0.25% per annum. The ABL Facility is required to be prepaid only to the extent that aggregate amount of outstanding

 

29


Table of Contents

borrowings, unreimbursed letter of credit drawings and undrawn letters of credit under the relevant tranche exceeds the lesser of the applicable commitments and the applicable borrowing base in effect at such time for such tranche. The borrowing base for the current asset tranche consists of eligible accounts receivable, eligible inventory and eligible truck and trailer fleet, and the borrowing base for the fixed asset tranche consists of eligible real property and certain eligible equipment. We may voluntarily repay outstanding loans under the ABL Facility at any time without premium or penalty, other than customary “breakage” costs with respect to LIBOR loans. The interest rate on the ABL Facility at December 31, 2007 was 7.0%. The weighted average interest rate during fiscal year 2007 was 7.0%.

All obligations under the ABL Facility are guaranteed by QDI and each of our wholly owned domestic restricted subsidiaries (other than our immaterial subsidiaries). Obligations under the current asset tranche, and the guarantees of those obligations (as well as cash management obligations and any interest hedging or other swap agreements), are secured by a first priority lien on certain of our and the subsidiary guarantors’ assets, including eligible accounts, eligible inventory and eligible truck and trailer fleet (“current asset tranche priority collateral”) and a second priority lien on all other assets of OWS and the subsidiary guarantors, including eligible real property and certain eligible equipment (“fixed asset tranche priority collateral”). Obligations under the fixed asset tranche, and the guarantees of those obligations, are secured by a first-priority lien on fixed asset tranche priority collateral and a second priority lien on current asset tranche priority collateral.

See “Description of the ABL Facility and Other Indebtedness—The ABL Facility” beginning on page 59 for additional information about the ABL Facility.

We incurred $6.4 million in debt issuance costs relating to the ABL Facility. We are amortizing these costs over the term of the ABL Facility. The balance of the debt issuance costs as of December 31, 2007 was approximately $6.4 million.

The Series A Notes and the Series B Notes

On January 28, 2005, we consummated the private offering of $85 million of the Series A Notes, guaranteed by QDI and our domestic subsidiaries at 98% of the face value of the Series A Notes. On December 18, 2007, we consummated a private offering of $50 million of the Series B Notes guaranteed by QDI and domestic subsidiaries, at 93% of the face value of the Series B Notes. The Series A Notes and the Series B Notes, due January 15, 2012, each pay interest quarterly on January 15, April 15, July 15, and October 15. Interest accrues at a floating rate per annum, reset quarterly, equal to LIBOR plus 4.5%. The net proceeds from the offering of the Series A Notes were used to repay approximately $70 million of a previous term loan and to make a distribution to QDI, which in turn used such proceeds to redeem all $7.5 million principal amount outstanding under then-existing promissory notes. The balance was used for general corporate purposes, including the repayment of $5.8 million of indebtedness under the revolving credit portion of our previous credit facility. The previous credit facility was amended to incorporate this reduction in the term-loan portion of the facility and to modify the covenants. The net proceeds from the Old Series B Notes offering were used to repay a portion of the term loan under our previous credit facility in connection with the financing of the Boasso acquisition and the entry into the ABL Facility. The interest rate on the $85.0 million of the Series A Notes at December 31, 2007 and 2006 was 9.7% and 9.9%, respectively. The weighted average interest rate during fiscal year 2007 and 2006 was 9.9% and 9.4%, respectively. The interest rate on the $50 million of the Series B Notes at December 31, 2007 was 9.7%. The weighted average interest rate during fiscal year 2007 was 9.7%.

We incurred $2.4 million in debt issuance costs relating to the $85 million of the Series A Notes and $1.9 million related to the $50 million of the Series B Notes. We are amortizing these costs over the term of the Series A Notes and Series B Notes. The balance of the debt issuance costs as of December 31, 2007 was $3.3 million.

We may redeem the Series A Notes and Series B Notes, in whole or in part from time to time, upon not less than 30 nor more than 60 days’ notice at the following redemption prices, expressed as percentages of the principal amount thereof, if redeemed during the twelve-month period commencing on January 15 of the year set forth below, plus, in each case, accrued and unpaid interest thereon, if any, to the date of redemption:

 

Year

   Percentage

2008

   101.00

2009 and thereafter

   100.00

See “Description of the ABL Facility and Other Indebtedness—The Series A Notes and the Series B Notes” beginning on page 61 for additional information on the Series A Notes and the Series B Notes, and “Description of the Series B Notes” beginning on page 62 for additional information on the Series B Notes.

Previous Term Loan

Prior to entering into the ABL Facility, our term loan carried interest at our option at (a) 2.00% in excess of the defined Base Rate or (b) 3.00% in excess of the Eurodollar rate for Eurodollar Loans, subject in each case, to adjustment based upon the achievement of certain financial ratios and matured on November 12, 2009. The principal payments were payable quarterly on March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15. The interest rate on the term loan at December 31, 2006 was 8.4%. The weighted average interest rate during fiscal year 2006 was 8.0%. The interest rate on the term loan upon refinancing with the new ABL Facility on December 18, 2007 was 9.7% and the weighted average interest rate during 2007 was 8.6%.

We incurred $3.4 million in debt-issuance costs relating to the term loan and wrote-off $1.1 million of the debt-issuance costs upon the $70 million partial repayment of the term loan in January 2005. We amortized the $2.3 million remaining debt-issuance costs over the term of the term loan to interest expense using the effective-interest method until we wrote off the balance of $0.7 million upon refinancing the term loan with the new ABL Facility.

Previous Revolving Credit Facility

Prior to entering into the ABL Facility, our revolving credit facility comprised a $75.0 million revolver that was available until November 12, 2008 and a $20 million pre-funded letter of credit facility that was available until November 12, 2009. The revolver was used for

 

30


Table of Contents

working capital and general corporate purposes, including permitted acquisitions and additional letters of credit. At December 31, 2006, we had $39.7 million available under the revolver and $55.3 million in outstanding letters of credit.

Interest on the revolver was, at our option, (a) 2.50% in excess of the Base Rate provided in the credit agreement or (b) 3.50% in excess of the Eurodollar rate for Eurodollar Loans, in each case subject to adjustments based upon the achievement of certain financial ratios. The interest rate on the revolver at December 31, 2006 was 10.8%. The weighted average interest rate on the revolver during fiscal year 2006 was 9.8%. The interest rate on the revolver upon refinancing with the new ABL Facility on December 18, 2007 was 9.6% and the weighted average interest rate during 2007 was 10.6%.

The credit facility provided for payment by us in respect of outstanding letters of credit of an annual fee equal to the spread over the Eurodollar rate for Eurodollar Loans under the revolver from time to time in effect on the aggregate outstanding stated amounts of such letters of credit and a fronting fee equal to  1/4 of 1.0% on the aggregate outstanding stated amounts of such letters of credit. We paid a commitment fee equal to  1/2 of 1.0% per annum on the undrawn portion of the available commitment under the revolver, subject to decreases based on the achievement of certain financial ratios.

Voluntary prepayments and commitment reductions were permitted in whole or in part, subject to minimum prepayment or reduction requirements, without premium or penalty, provided that voluntary prepayments of Eurodollar Loans on a date other than the last day of the relevant interest period will be subject to payment of customary breakage costs, if any.

We incurred $1.5 million in debt-issuance costs relating to the revolver and we amortized these costs over the term of the revolver. Upon the refinancing of the revolver with the new ABL Facility, we wrote off a balance of the debt issuance costs of $0.4 million.

9% Notes

The 9% Notes are unsecured obligations, due 2010, guaranteed on a senior subordinated basis by QDI and all of our direct and indirect domestic subsidiaries. The guarantees are full, unconditional, joint and several obligations of the guarantors.

We incurred $5.5 million in debt issuance costs relating to the 9% Notes. We are amortizing these costs over the term of the 9% Notes. The balance of the debt issuance costs as of December 31, 2007 was $2.2 million.

We may redeem the 9% Notes, in whole or in part from time to time, upon not less than 30 nor more than 60 days notice at the following redemption prices, expressed as percentages of the principal amount thereof, if redeemed during the twelve-month period commencing on November 15 of the year set forth below, plus, in each case, accrued and unpaid interest thereon, if any, to the date of redemption:

 

Year

   Percentage

2008

   102.25

2009 and thereafter

   100.00

See “Description of the ABL Facility and Other Indebtedness—The 9% Notes” for additional information about the 9% Notes.

Boasso Note

Included in the aggregate purchase price of the Boasso acquisition is a $2.5 million 7% promissory note with a maturity on December 18, 2009 for the benefit of a former Boasso shareholder. The shareholder has the right to demand payment on December 18, 2009. The Boasso Note is convertible into shares of QDI’s common stock following the first anniversary of the acquisition at the election of the holder at a price of $4.47 per share (the closing price of the shares reported on NASDAQ on the day before the acquisition). If the conversion option is exercised, we have the right, instead of issuing shares to pay the holder a cash amount equal to the number of shares of common stock into which the Boasso Note is then convertible multiplied by the 10-day trailing average closing price of QDI’s common stock plus any accrued and unpaid interest.

Collateral, Guarantees and Covenants

The ABL Facility contains a number of covenants that, among other things, restrict, subject to certain exceptions, our ability, and the ability of QDI and our subsidiaries, to sell assets; incur additional indebtedness; prepay other indebtedness (including the Series A Notes, the Series B Notes and the 9% Notes); pay dividends and distributions or repurchase their capital stock; create liens on assets; make investments; make certain acquisitions; engage in mergers or consolidations; engage in certain transactions with affiliates; amend certain charter documents and material agreements governing subordinated indebtedness, including the Series A Notes, the Series B Notes and the 9% Notes; change the business conducted by us and our subsidiaries; and enter into agreements that restrict dividends from subsidiaries. The ABL Facility also contains certain customary affirmative covenants and events of default.

The term loan and revolver under the previous credit facility were guaranteed by all of our existing and future direct and indirect domestic subsidiaries. Our obligations under the term loan and revolver and our subsidiary guarantor obligations were collateralized by a first priority perfected lien on substantially all of our properties and assets and the subsidiary guarantors, including a pledge of all capital stock and notes owned by us and the subsidiary guarantors, subject to certain exceptions. In addition, in certain cases, no more than 65.0% of the stock of our foreign subsidiaries was required to be pledged. Such assets pledged also collateralize certain interest rate protection and other hedging agreements permitted by the credit facility that may be entered into from time to time by us.

The previous credit agreement contained restrictions on debt incurrence, investments, transactions with affiliates, creation of liens, asset dispositions, redeemable common stock, and preferred stock issuance, capital expenditures, and the payment of dividends. At the time of refinancing our previous credit facility with the new ABL Facility, we were in compliance with all these debt covenants. The previous credit agreement included one financial covenant, the ratio of Senior Secured Debt (as defined therein) to Consolidated EBITDA (as defined therein), which we were in compliance at the time of refinancing.

We were in compliance with all covenants under the ABL Facility at December 31, 2007.

 

31


Table of Contents

Debt Retirement

The following is a schedule of our indebtedness at December 31, 2007 over the periods we are required to pay such indebtedness:

 

(in 000’s)

   2008    2009    2010    2011    2012 and
after
   Total

Boasso Note (1)

   $ —      $ 2,500    $ —      $ —      $ —      $ 2,500

Capital lease obligations

     1,451      1,593      1,553      575      111      5,283

ABL Facility (2)

     —        —        —        —        84,130      84,130

9% Senior Subordinated Notes, due 2010

     —        —        125,000      —        —        125,000

Senior Floating Rate Notes, due 2012

     —        —        —        —        135,000      135,000

Other Notes

     413      444      477      402      69      1,805
                                         

Total

   $ 1,864    $ 4,537    $ 127,030    $ 977    $ 219,310    $ 353,718
                                         

 

(1) The holder of the Boasso Note has the right to require that we repay the Boasso Note in full on the first anniversary of the Boasso acquisition.

 

(2) The maturity date of the ABL Facility may be accelerated if we default on our obligations under the ABL Facility. The maturity date of the ABL Facility is also advanced to a date 91 days prior to the maturity date of the Series A Notes, the Series B Notes or the 9% Notes (and replacement indebtedness) if the aggregate principal amount of the notes maturing in the 91-day period exceeds $50.0 million.

The above table does not include the remaining unamortized original issue discount of $4.4 million relating to the Series A Notes and the Series B Notes.

The following table is our debt issuance costs at December 31, 2007:

 

     Issuance
Costs
   Accumulated
Amortization
   Balance

ABL Facility

   $ 6,395    $ 39    $ 6,356

9% Senior Subordinated Notes, due 2010

     5,496      3,271      2,225

Senior Floating Rate Notes, due 2012

     4,403      1,060      3,343
                    

Total

   $ 16,294    $ 4,370    $ 11,924
                    

We have the ability to incur additional debt, subject to limitations imposed by the indentures governing the 9% Notes, the Series A Notes and the Series B Notes. Under the indentures governing the 9% Notes, the Series A Notes and the Series B Notes, in addition to specified permitted indebtedness, we will be able to incur additional indebtedness so long as, on a pro forma basis, our consolidated fixed charge coverage ratio (the ratio of Consolidated EBITDA (as defined in the respective indentures for the notes) to consolidated fixed charges) is 2.25 to 1.0 or less. As of December 31, 2007, we were in compliance with this covenant.

Liquidity

We believe that, based on current operations and anticipated growth, our cash flow from operations, together with available sources of liquidity, including borrowings under the revolver, will be sufficient to fund anticipated capital expenditures, make required payments of principal and interest on our debt, including obligations under the ABL Facility, and satisfy other long-term contractual commitments for the next twelve months.

However, for periods extending beyond twelve months, if our operating cash flow and borrowings under the ABL Facility are not sufficient to satisfy our capital expenditures, debt service and other long-term contractual commitments, we would be required to seek alternative financing. These alternatives would likely include another restructuring or refinancing of our long-term debt, the sale of a portion or all of our assets or operations, or the sale of additional debt or equity securities. If these alternatives were not available in a timely manner or on satisfactory terms, or were not permitted under our existing agreements, we might default on some or all of our obligations. If we default on our obligations and the debt under the indentures for the 9% Notes, the Series A Notes and the Series B Notes were to be accelerated, our assets might not be sufficient to repay in full all of our indebtedness, and we might be forced into bankruptcy.

Other Issues

We have historically sought to acquire smaller local operators as part of our program of strategic growth. We continue to evaluate potential accretive acquisitions in order to capitalize on the consolidation occurring in the industry and expect to fund such acquisitions from available sources of liquidity, including borrowings under the ABL Facility.

While uncertainties relating to environmental, labor and other regulatory matters exist within the trucking industry, management is not aware of any trends or events likely to have a material adverse effect on liquidity or the accompanying financial statements. Our credit rating is affected by many factors, including our financial results, operating cash flows and total indebtedness.

 

32


Table of Contents

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

We are subject to market risks from (i) interest rates due to our variable interest rate indebtedness, (ii) foreign currency fluctuations due to our international operations and (iii) increased commodity prices due to the diesel consumption necessary for our operations. During the last three years, we have not held derivative instruments or engaged in other hedging transactions to reduce our exposure to such risks.

Interest Rate Risk

We are exposed to the impact of interest rate changes primarily through our variable-rate borrowings under the ABL Facility, the Series A Notes and the Series B Notes. With regard to the ABL Facility at QD LLC’s option, the initial applicable margin for borrowings under the current asset tranche will be 1.00% with respect to base rate borrowings and 2.00% with respect to LIBOR borrowings. The initial applicable margin for borrowings under the fixed asset tranche will be 1.25% with respect to base rate borrowings and 2.25% with respect to LIBOR borrowings. The applicable margin for such borrowings will be reduced or increased based on aggregate borrowing base availability under the ABL Facility over the life of the ABL Facility. The base rate under the ABL Facility is equal to the higher of the prime rate and the federal funds overnight rate plus 0.50%. The base rate for the Series A Notes and Series B Notes is LIBOR plus 4.50%.

 

     Balance at
December 31,
2007
   Interest Rate at
December 31,
2007
    Effect of 1%
Increase
     ($ in 000s)          ($ in 000s)

ABL Facility

   $ 84,130    7.00 %   $ 841

Senior Floating Rate Notes - $50M

     50,000    9.72 %     500

Senior Floating Rate Notes - $85M

     85,000    9.84 %     850
               

Total

   $ 219,130      $ 2,191
               

At December 31, 2007, a 1% point increase in the current per annum interest rate for each would result in $2.2 million of additional interest expense during the next year. The foregoing calculation assumes an instantaneous one percentage point increase in the rates of all of our indebtedness and that the principal amount of each is the amount outstanding as of December 31, 2007. The calculation therefore does not account for the differences in the market rates upon which the interest rates of our indebtedness are based, our various options to elect the lower of two different interest rates under our borrowings or other possible actions, such as prepayment, that we might take in response to any rate increase.

Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Risk

Operating in international markets involves exposure to the possibility of volatile movements in foreign exchange rates. The currencies in each of the countries in which we operate affect:

 

   

the results of our international operations reported in United States dollars; and

 

   

the value of the net assets of our international operations reported in United States dollars.

These exposures may impact future earnings or cash flows. Revenue from foreign locations (Canada and Mexico) represented approximately 7.2% of our consolidated revenue in 2007 and 7.2% of our consolidated revenue in 2006. The economic impact of foreign exchange rate movements is complex because such changes are often linked to variability in real growth, inflation, interest rates, governmental actions and other factors. These changes, if material, could cause us to adjust our financing and operating strategies. Therefore, to isolate the effect of changes in currency does not accurately portray the effect of these other important economic factors. As foreign exchange rates change, translation of the income statements of our international subsidiaries into U.S. dollars affects year-over-year comparability of operating results. While we may hedge specific transaction risks, we generally do not hedge translation risks because we believe there is no long-term economic benefit in doing so.

Assets and liabilities for our Canadian operations are matched in the local currency, which reduces the need for dollar conversion. Our Mexican operations use the United States dollar as their functional currency. Any foreign currency impact on translating assets and liabilities into dollars is included as a component of shareholders’ equity. Our revenue results for fiscal year 2007 were positively impacted by a $2.8 million foreign currency movement, primarily due to the strengthening of the Canadian dollar against the United States dollar.

Changes in foreign exchange rates that had the largest impact on translating our international operating profits for 2007 related to the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar. We estimate that a 1% adverse change in the Canadian dollar foreign exchange rate would have decreased our revenues by approximately $0.5 million in 2007, assuming no changes other than the exchange rate itself. Our inter-company loans are subject to fluctuations in exchange rates primarily between the United States dollar and the Canadian dollar. Based on the outstanding balance of our inter-company loans at December 31, 2007, a change of 1% in the exchange rate for the Canadian dollar would cause a change in our foreign exchange result of less than $0.1 million.

Commodity Price Risk

The price and availability of diesel fuel are subject to fluctuations due to changes in the level of global oil production, seasonality, weather, global politics and other market factors. In 2007, diesel fuel prices rose to near record levels. Historically, we have been able to recover a majority of fuel price increases from our customers in the form of fuel surcharges. The price and availability of diesel fuel can be unpredictable as well as the extent to which fuel surcharges could be collected to offset such increases. In 2007 and 2006, a majority of fuel price fluctuations were covered through fuel surcharges.

 

33


Table of Contents

BUSINESS

Overview

We operate the largest for-hire chemical bulk tank truck network in North America based on revenues as reported in Bulk Transporter’s Tank Truck Carrier 2006 Gross Revenue Report, the most recent such report available from Bulk Transporter, and we believe we have more than twice the revenues of our closest competitor in our primary chemical bulk transport market in the U.S. The bulk tank truck market in North America includes all products shipped by bulk tank truck carriers and consists primarily of liquid and dry bulk chemicals (including plastics) and bulk dry and liquid food-grade products. We primarily transport a broad range of chemical products and provide our customers with tank wash facilities, ISO depot services, leasing, transloading services, logistics and other value-added services. We are a core carrier for many of the Fortune 500 companies engaged in chemical processing, including Dow Chemical, Procter & Gamble, DuPont and PPG Industries, and we provide services to most of the top 100 chemical producers with U.S. operations.

Our bulk service network consists primarily of company operated terminals, independently owned third-party affiliate terminals and independent owner-operator drivers. Affiliates are independent companies we contract with to operate trucking terminals and tank washes exclusively on our behalf in defined markets. The affiliates provide the capital necessary to service their contracted business and are also responsible for most of the operating costs associated with servicing the contracted business. Owner-operators are generally individual drivers who own or lease their tractors and agree to drive exclusively for us and our affiliate partners. We believe the use of affiliates and independent owner-operators provides the following key competitive advantages to us in the marketplace:

 

   

Locally owned and operated affiliate terminals can provide superior, tailored customer service.

 

   

Affiliates and independent owner-operators are paid a fixed, contractual percentage of revenue for each load they transport creating a variable cost structure that provides protection against cyclical downturns.

 

   

Reliance on affiliate and independent owner-operators creates an asset-light business model that generally reduces our capital investment.

Our revenue is principally a function of the volume of shipments by the bulk chemical industry, the number of miles driven per load, our market share, and the allocation of shipments between tank truck transportation and other modes of transportation such as rail. The volume of shipments of chemical products is, in turn, affected by many other industries, including consumer and industrial products, automotive, paints and coatings, and paper, and tends to vary with changing economic conditions.

Our Industry

We estimate, based on industry sources, that the highly fragmented North American for-hire segment of the chemical bulk transport market generated revenues of approximately $6.5 billion in 2006. We specifically operate in the for-hire chemical and food grade bulk transport market (estimated at $4.0 billion in 2006) where we believe, based on published reports, we have achieved leading market share (estimated at 18%), based on revenues. Our competition in the for-hire segment is comprised of more than 200 smaller, primarily regional carriers. Based on revenues as reported in Bulk Transporter’s Tank Truck Carrier 2006 Annual Gross Revenue Report, we operate the largest for-hire chemical bulk tank truck network comprising terminals, tractors and trailers in North America and therefore believe we are well-positioned to expand our business by increasing our market share.

The chemical bulk tank truck industry growth is generally dependent on (i) volume growth in the industrial chemical industry, (ii) the rate at which chemical companies outsource their transportation needs, (iii) the overall capacity of the rail system, and, in particular (iv) the extent to which chemical companies make use of the rail system for their bulk chemical transportation needs. As competitive pressures force chemical companies to reduce costs and focus on their core businesses, we believe that chemical companies will consolidate their shipping relationships and outsource a greater portion of their logistics needs to third-party tank truck carriers. We believe that large, national full-service carriers will benefit from any such consolidation of relationships and outsourcing of logistics needs and will be able to grow faster than the overall bulk tank truck industry. As a result of our leading market position, breadth of customer services, flexible business model and decentralized operating structure, we believe we are well positioned to benefit from current industry outsourcing trends.

As the chemical industry continues the recent trend towards the globalization of petro-chemical manufacturing capacity, greater quantities of chemicals are being imported into the United States. Consequently, the ISO tank container transportation and depot services business has seen double digit growth rates over the past five years and this growth is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. Boasso is the market leader in the North American ISO tank container transportation and depot services business, which we estimate is a $250 million market.

Our industry is characterized by high barriers to entry such as (i) the time and cost required to develop the operational infrastructure necessary to handle sensitive chemical cargo, (ii) the financial and managerial resources required to recruit and train drivers, (iii) substantial industry regulatory requirements, and (iv) the significant capital investments required to build a fleet of equipment and establish a network of terminals. In addition, the industry continues to experience consolidation due to economic and competitive pressures, increasing operating costs for driver recruitment and insurance, and increasing capital investments for equipment and technology. As the cost and complexity of operating a bulk tank truck business increase, we believe that large, well-established carriers like ourselves will gain market share.

Development of Our Company

We are a Delaware limited liability company formed on April 14, 2002. Our sole member is QDI. QDI is a holding company with no significant assets or operations other than the ownership of 100% of our membership interests. QD Capital, our wholly owned subsidiary, is a Delaware corporation, formed on May 1, 2003 and is a co-issuer of the Old Series B Notes and will be a co-issuer of the Exchange Series B Notes. QD Capital has nominal assets and no operations.

In addition, we are the primary obligor under our the ABL Facility, the 9% Notes, the Series A Notes, the Series B Notes and the Boasso Note, and QDI is a guarantor under the ABL Facility, the 9% Notes, the Series A Notes and the Series B Notes.

QDI was formed in 1994 as a holding company known as MTL, Inc. and consummated its initial public offering on June 17, 1994. On June 9, 1998, MTL, Inc. was recapitalized through a merger with a corporation controlled by Apollo. As a result of the recapitalization, MTL,

 

34


Table of Contents

Inc. became a private company. On August 28, 1998, we completed our acquisition of CLC. Through the 1998 acquisition, we combined two of the then-leading bulk transportation service providers, namely, Montgomery Tank Lines, Inc. and Chemical Leaman Tank Lines, Inc., under one operating company, QCI. In 1999, QDI changed its name from “MTL, Inc.” to “Quality Distribution, Inc.” On May 30, 2002, QDI transferred all of its assets (other than certain contract rights which by their terms could not be assigned without the consent of the other parties thereto) to us, consisting principally of the capital stock of QDI’s operating subsidiaries. On November 13, 2003, QDI consummated the initial public offering of its common stock.

QDI is owned principally by Apollo. As of March 1, 2008, Apollo owned or controlled approximately 54.7% of our outstanding common stock, and approximately 46.6% of our common stock on a fully diluted basis.

Acquisition

On December 18, 2007, we acquired all of the outstanding capital stock of Boasso for an aggregate purchase price of (i) $58.8 million in cash less the outstanding long-term indebtedness of Boasso, subject to a working capital adjustment, and (ii) the Boasso Note, excluding fees and direct costs.

Boasso is the leading provider of ISO tank container over-the-road transportation and depot services in North America. The ISO tank container transportation and depot services market has experienced significant recent growth as chemical manufacturers have moved toward greater utilization of standardized ISO tank containers to efficiently transport their products around the world via sea, land and air. Boasso’s tank container depots, which provide transportation, cleaning, heating, testing, maintenance and storage services, are located at or near the ports of Chalmette, Louisiana; Houston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan and Jacksonville, Florida. In addition to further enhancing our scope of services, we believe there are synergies to be achieved from the Boasso acquisition, including lower insurance cost for the Boasso business and reduction of duplicative overhead and facilities.

Market Opportunity

We expect the complexities and operational challenges faced by chemical manufacturers to continue to grow as the chemical industry evolves. These complexities and challenges are driven by a variety of industry trends including customer demand for constantly lower prices, global import/export of bulk liquid products and the need to get product into the pipeline. In order to meet these challenges, we believe chemical producers will sell more through distribution as they look for ways to further reduce their costs by streamlining the supply chain. We believe supply chain efficiencies will be one of the necessary fundamentals for chemical manufacturers’ competitiveness.

In addition, the proliferation of global import/export of bulk liquid chemicals has driven the movement of basic manufacturing out of the United States and has resulted in an increase in chemical plant infrastructure to service these off-shore industries. Driven by this globalization, the ISO tank container market is a rapidly growing sector of the overall liquid bulk chemical transportation sector.

The resulting demand for distributors that can offer a broad range of services within the supply chain is expected to drive future industry growth in the bulk transportation sector.

Our Competitive Strengths

Following are our strengths that we believe will allow us to successfully exploit the market opportunities described above.

Largest Tank Truck Network in a Fragmented Industry

We provide our customers with access to the largest tractor and tank trailer network in the North American bulk tank truck industry. In addition, our nationwide network of 121 trucking terminals, 38 tank wash facilities and 10 ISO depot services terminals covers all major North American chemical markets and enables us to serve customers with international, national and regional shipping requirements. Our size allows us, our affiliates and our owner-operators to benefit from economies of scale in the purchasing of supplies and services, including fuel, tires and insurance coverage. Our greater network density allows us to create efficiencies by increasing utilization through reduced “empty miles” with more opportunities to generate backhaul loads. Our size also enables us to invest in new technologies that increase our operating efficiency, improve customer service and lower our costs.

Capital Efficient Business Model

Our extensive use of affiliates and owner-operators results in a highly variable cost structure and significantly reduces our capital investment, thereby allowing us to increase our asset utilization. This model also contributes to the stability of our cash flow and margins and increases our return on capital. Affiliates are responsible for the necessary capital investments, the operating expenses related to their terminals, and most of the operating expenses related to the business they service. Typically, affiliates purchase or lease tractors for their business directly from the manufacturers and lease trailers from us. However, some affiliates purchase their own trailers or lease trailers from independent third parties. Owner-operators are independent contractors who supply one or more tractors and drivers for our own or our affiliates’ exclusive use. As with affiliates, owner-operators are responsible for most of the operating expenses related to the business they transport (excluding costs related to the acquisition and maintenance of trailers). With our extensive use of owner-operators and affiliates, we can reduce the high capital costs of purchasing and maintaining tractors.

Core Carrier to Most Top 100 Chemical Companies

We provide services to most of the top 100 chemical producers with U.S. operations. Our ability to maintain these business relationships reflects our service performance and commitment to safety and reliability. We have established long-term customer relationships with these clients, which help us attract and retain experienced affiliate terminal operators and drivers. We expect to continue to benefit from the overall growth of the largest chemical companies while targeting new revenue opportunities from smaller chemical companies and will continue to explore opportunities to expand the scope of services we offer.

 

35


Table of Contents

Broad Menu of Complementary Services

Our ability to provide value-added services that complement our core service differentiates us from smaller competitors and enables us to gain market share, particularly with large customers that seek to use a limited number of core carriers. By increasing the number of services offered to our customers, we enhance our position as a leading national full-service provider in the industry. These services include storage and warehousing, vendor managed inventory, load tendering and managing private fleets.

Enhanced Productivity, Efficiency and Customer Service through Installed Technology

We are proactive in our utilization of technology aimed at improving our customer service and operating efficiency. In contrast to many of our smaller competitors, we have equipped our drivers with various mobile communications systems which enable us to monitor our tractors and communicate with our drivers in the field and enable customers to track the location and monitor the progress of their cargo through the Internet. We have also begun installing satellite tracking devices on our trailers to enable us to increase trailer utilization. Our website allows our customers to view bills and generate customized service reports. We have implemented a centralized order entry, dispatch and billing program system, which enhances our control over our equipment and drivers. This technology is increasingly important when transporting sensitive cargo in today’s heightened security environment.

Our Growth Strategy

We expect to grow as our customers continue to outsource more of their transportation management and logistics needs to full-service carriers. Beginning in 2005 under the direction of a new senior management team, we implemented several major strategic initiatives designed to enhance our operating flexibility, upgrade and standardize our business processes, improve customer service and increase profitability. During 2006 and 2007, these initiatives as described below have gained momentum and have positioned us to leverage our strengths in order to capitalize on the market opportunities that lie ahead.

Opportunistic Affiliate Conversions

We intend to continue to focus on a less capital intensive business model based on affiliates and owner-operators. However, we continually evaluate our mix of affiliate and company terminals to optimize customer service, revenue growth, profitability and return on investment. In situations where we can more efficiently operate facilities than the relevant affiliate, we may endeavor to purchase this affiliate’s business to enhance our profitability and position us for better growth in key markets. However, we are still able to maintain our asset-light structure through the use of owner-operators at company owned terminals.

Continued Focus on Safety and Training

We have made safety the main focus of our organization. We have developed comprehensive programs to further focus our safety procedures and benchmark us against the best in the industry. Tangible results of this focus have already manifested themselves in decreasing at-fault accident frequencies. We also instituted a training program for terminal, field and headquarters personnel to augment our existing driver training and have begun providing extensive technical and interpersonal training to all dispatchers, terminal managers, and supervisors.

We are committed to conduct its operations in a manner that protects our employees, surrounding communities, customers, and the environment. As a member of the American Chemistry Council (“ACC”) and partner of Responsible Care®, it is our goal to improve the quality of our service and the level of safety. Participation in Responsible Care® is mandatory for all ACC member companies. We maintain a Responsible Care ® Management System, which determines applicability and addresses the requirements of laws, regulations, company and other requirements regarding the environment and the health, safety and security of our operations. We have obtained independent certification that our management system is in place and functions according to professional standards and we continue to evaluate and continuously improve our Responsible Care® Management System performance.

Focus on Driver Recruitment and Retention

Our recruitment and retention effort is focused on providing drivers a welcoming opportunity with competitive compensation, an emphasis on professional development and an understanding that most drivers’ first priority is getting home safely to their families. Over the past four years we reduced driver turnover from 61% to approximately 49%, which we believe is well below the truckload industry average. We are committed to being a driver-focused company that provides both technical support and personal respect to these professionals. We offer competitive compensation, encourage input from our drivers when making business decisions, and utilize full-time customer service professionals who conduct both in-bound and out-bound calls to ensure driver satisfaction. Our driver organization contains field-based recruiters who augment the friendly, small business environment provided by our business model.

Expand Scope of Service Capabilities

We plan to continue to expand the scope of our service capabilities in order to serve the growing needs of our customer base. As our customers continue to focus on their core businesses, we believe that they will increasingly rely on primary service transportation companies to provide value-added services such as intermodal, tank cleaning and logistics services. Two initiatives to expand our service capabilities include the following:

Strengthen our Tank Wash Business

Over the past year, we have substantially improved our company owned tank wash facilities, installed new senior managers, trained staff and upgraded our safety program. We are focused on expanding this business by motivating our drivers, our affiliates’ drivers and third-party carriers to utilize our tank wash facilities and lessen usage of third party tank wash businesses. In 2007, we acquired Brite Clean, a tank wash operation that is expected to contribute approximately $12 million in revenue in 2008, for approximately $2.5 million. This acquisition further strengthened our leading market position in the tank wash business.

 

36


Table of Contents

Expand ISO Tank Container Business

QCS participates in the ISO tank container business by providing transportation services and, with the Boasso acquisition, we are now the market leader in the ISO tank container transportation and depot services business in North America. We believe that growing our ISO tank container depot business offers us the opportunity to expand our service offerings to many of our existing customers and to capitalize on this fast-growing segment which is being driven by the recent trend towards the globalization of petro-chemical manufacturing capacity.

Optimize Network

We are in the process of implementing several initiatives expected to increase profitability by minimizing the number of empty miles driven by our drivers. We do this by encouraging our affiliates and owner-operators to pursue additional revenue opportunities in their respective markets thereby increasing asset utilization. For example, we intend to move our pricing towards a revenue per mile compensation structure with our owner-operators instead of the existing percentage of revenue structure. We believe this change will help align owner-operators’ interests with ours and encourage them to increase load counts and improve backhaul rates resulting in increased revenue and operating income. Additionally, where necessary and when economically appropriate, we have expanded our company-owned transportation capacity by investing in new trailers through various methods, including purchases and leases.

Targeted Acquisitions

Our industry is highly fragmented, providing us with the opportunity to grow our distribution network and further develop our tank wash business through acquisitions. Smaller chemical bulk transport operators are seeking to strengthen their competitive position by becoming part of a larger service network. We believe that we are favorably positioned to benefit from this trend. In early 2006, we acquired two transportation companies for $4.1 million. In 2007, we acquired Brite Clean for $2.5 million, a small tank truck carrier for $0.5 million and Boasso for $58.8 million and the Boasso Note. We expect these acquired businesses to generate approximately $90.0 million in revenue in 2008. We intend to continue pursuing attractive acquisition opportunities that augment our position in key markets at attractive multiples.

Services Provided

Bulk Transportation Service

We are primarily engaged in the business of bulk transportation of liquid and dry chemical products through our subsidiary, QCI. Transportation services are provided through company and affiliate terminals. As of December 31, 2007, 66 of 121 locations were company operations and the remaining locations were affiliate operations. Owner-operators are heavily relied upon to fulfill driver and tractor needs at both company and affiliate terminals. At December 31, 2007, 62% of the drivers in our network were owner-operators and another 19% were affiliate company employees. We believe the combination of the affiliate program and the emphasis on the use of owner-operators results in an efficient and flexible operating structure that provides superior customer service.

Affiliate Program

Affiliates are established and maintained by their owners as independent companies with individualized, parochial profit incentives designed to stimulate and preserve the entrepreneurial motivation common to small business owners. Each affiliate enters into a comprehensive contract with QCI pursuant to which the affiliate is required to operate its bulk tank truck enterprise exclusively for and on behalf of QCI, subject to limited exceptions. Each affiliate is supported by our corporate staff and is linked via computer to central management information systems located at our Tampa, Florida headquarters. Affiliates gain multiple benefits from their relationship with QCI, such as improved equipment utilization through access to our network of operating terminals, access to our broad national and local customer relationships, national driver recruitment, standardized safety training (for drivers, tankwashers and mechanics) and expanded marketing and sales resources. Affiliates gain further value from QCI’s management information systems, which provide essential operating and financial reports while simplifying daily operating situations with system-wide technology support through TMW dispatch/billing platforms and various mobile communication technologies for en-route electronic linkage. Affiliates also derive significant financial benefit through our purchasing leverage on items such as insurance coverage, tractors, fuel and tires.

Affiliates predominantly operate under the marketing identity of QCI and typically receive a percentage of gross revenues from each shipment they transport. Affiliates are responsible for their own operating expenses, such as maintenance and workers’ compensation insurance. This operating model creates a highly variable cost structure for QCI. We pay affiliates each week on the basis of completed billings to customers from the previous week. Our weekly settlement program deducts any amounts advanced to affiliates (and their individual drivers) for fuel, insurance, loans or other miscellaneous operating expenses, including rental charges for QCI’s tank trailers. We reimburse affiliates for certain expenses billed back to customers, including fuel, tolls and scaling charges.

Affiliate contracts generally contain restrictive covenants prohibiting them from competing directly with QCI for a period of one year following termination of the contract. In addition, affiliates are required to meet all QCI standard operating procedures as well as being required to submit regular financial statements. Affiliates employ their own drivers and personnel as well as engage owner-operators who are contracted with QCI. All affiliate owner-operators and affiliate employee drivers must meet QCI’s operating standards and requirements.

Affiliates are required to pay for and provide evidence of their own workers’ compensation coverage, which must meet both company-established and statutory coverage levels. Affiliates are provided, as part of their contract, property damage and general liability insurance, subject to certain deductibles per incident. Expenses exceeding the prescribed deductible limits of the affiliate are the responsibility of QCI or its insurer.

Owner-Operators

QCI terminals and affiliates extensively utilize owner-operators. Owner-operators are independent contractors who, through a contract with QCI, supply one or more tractors and drivers for QCI or affiliate use. QCI retains owner-operators under contracts generally terminable by either party upon short notice.

In exchange for the services rendered, owner-operators are normally paid a fixed percentage of the revenues generated for each load hauled or on a per mile rate. The owner-operator pays all tractor operating expenses such as fuel, physical damage insurance, tractor

 

37


Table of Contents

maintenance, fuel taxes and highway use taxes. However, we reimburse owner-operators for certain expenses passed through to our customers, such as fuel surcharges, tolls and scaling charges. QCI attempts to enhance the profitability of our owner-operators through purchasing programs offered by us directly or indirectly through outsourcing arrangements that take advantage of our significant purchasing power. These programs cover such operating expenses as tractors, fuel, tires, occupational accident insurance and physical damage insurance.

Drivers utilized by QCI or an affiliate must meet specified guidelines for driving experience, safety records, tank truck experience and physical examinations in accordance with DOT regulations. We emphasize safety to our owner-operators, affiliate drivers and employee drivers and maintain driver safety inspection programs, safety awards, terminal safety meetings and stringent driver qualifications.

Tank Wash Operations

To maximize equipment utilization and efficiency we rely on tank wash facilities owned and operated by our subsidiaries, QSI and Boasso, and affiliate-owned tank wash facilities located throughout our operating network. These facilities allow us to generate tank washing fees from owner-operators and affiliates as well as from other carriers and shippers. We believe that the availability of these facilities enables us to provide an integrated service package to our customers and minimizes the risk of cost escalation associated with sole reliance on third-party tank wash vendors.

Owner-Operator and Affiliate Services

We offer purchasing programs that take advantage of our significant purchasing power for products and services such as fuel, tractors, and tires as well as physical damage, occupational-accident and workers’ compensation insurance. We believe that these programs strengthen our relationship with our owner-operators and improve driver recruitment.

Intermodal and Transloading

In support of our liquid and dry bulk truck operations, we offer our customers supplementary services in the areas of import/export container drayage to and from major port operations, domestic intermodal door-to-door service, and railcar to truck transloading services.

Boasso Services

Intermodal Tank Container Services

In addition to intermodal ISO tank transportation services, Boasso provides tank cleaning, heating, testing, maintenance and storage services to customers in the rail, road and marine shipping industries, with particular focus on the chemical industry. Tank containers are among the most specially configured and regulated vessels in the intermodal industry, requiring experienced and specialized technicians for cleaning, inspection, repair, testing, modification and refurbishment. Boasso provides these services, plus product heating and storage services, at most of its container depots. Boasso has heavy lifting, transloading and other specialty equipment to provide a wide range of services for the tank container niche of the intermodal transportation industry.

Transportation Services

Boasso utilizes its fleet of approximately 280 company-owned and independent owner-operated tractors, as well as a fleet of approximately 800 chassis to provide local and over-the-road trucking primarily within the proximity of the port cities where its depots are located, with a special emphasis on the handling of intermodal tank containers. Boasso uses radio dispatch to provide local transportation needs, at any time of the day, to meet its customers’ production schedule and/or shipping departure requirements. We believe that our customers are attracted to Boasso’s service offerings by its well maintained equipment, special training, safety programs and regulatory compliance.

Equipment Sales

Boasso’s equipment sales division provides its customers with intermodal shipping containers, tank containers, special equipment or custom containers with different characteristics as to construction, sizes or types that its customers use for portable alternative storage or office space.

Operations

Driver Recruitment and Retention

QCI and its affiliates dedicate significant resources to recruiting and retaining owner-operators and employee drivers. Prospective employee drivers and owner-operators are subject to specific eligibility guidelines regarding safety records and driving experience as well as a personal evaluation by our staff. We utilize only qualified drivers who meet our standards. These drivers are required to attend a rigorous safety training program administered by us.

Driver recruitment and retention is a primary focus for all operations personnel. Each terminal manager has direct responsibility for hiring and retaining drivers. QCI also has centralized recruiting departments at our Tampa corporate office and regional field offices. We use many of the traditional methods of driver recruitment as well as using many newer methods of driver recruitment, including the use of the Internet.

From time to time, we facilitate driver recruitment by offering tractors through lease or purchase agreements. We also offer assistance to owner-operators and affiliate drivers to purchase the specialized equipment needed to handle liquid chemicals.

Drivers and Owner-Operators

At December 31, 2007, we utilized 3,486 drivers. Of this total, 2,149 were owner-operators, 666 were affiliate company employee drivers, and 671 were company employee drivers.

Company Personnel

At December 31, 2007, we employed 1,892 personnel, including 671 company employee drivers.

 

38


Table of Contents

We provide our employees with health, dental, vision, life, and other insurance coverage subject to certain premium sharing and deductible provisions.

Union Labor

At December 31, 2007, we had 259 employees (122 drivers) in trucking, maintenance or tank wash facilities and approximately 30 drivers at three affiliate terminals who were members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Tractors and Trailers

As of December 31, 2007, we managed a fleet of approximately 3,900 tractors and 7,500 tank trailers. The majority of our tanks are single compartment, chemical-hauling trailers. The balance of the fleet is made up of multi-compartment trailers, dry bulk trailers, and special use equipment. The chemical transport units typically have a capacity between 5,000 and 7,800 gallons and are designed to meet DOT specifications for transporting hazardous materials. Each trailer is designed for a useful service life of 15 to 20 years, though this can be extended through upgrades and modifications. Each tractor is designed for a useful life of five to seven years, though this can be extended through upgrades and modifications. We acquire new tractors for an initial utilization period of seven years.

Many of our terminals and our affiliate terminals perform preventative maintenance and receive computer-generated reports that indicate when inspection and servicing of units are required. Our maintenance facilities are registered with the DOT and are qualified to perform trailer inspections and repairs for our fleet and for equipment owned by third parties. We also rely on unaffiliated repair shops for many major repairs.

The following table shows the age of trailers and tractors we managed as of December 31, 2007. All numbers are approximated as of such date:

 

TRAILERS (1)

   LESS THAN
3 YEARS
   3-5
YEARS
   6- 10
YEARS
   11- 15
YEARS
   16- 20
YEARS
   GREATER
THAN
20 YEARS
   TOTAL

Company

   319    102    823    1,728    1,323    1,700    5,995

Affiliate

   179    35    303    276    124    285    1,202

Owner-Operator

   —      —      1    4    3    1    9

Shipper Owned

   114    41    34    32    37    42    300
                                  

Total

   612    178    1,161    2,040    1,487    2,028    7,506

 

(1) We also had 151 trailers that were held-for-sale.

 

TRACTORS (1)

   LESS THAN
3 YEARS
   3- 5
YEARS
   6- 10
YEARS
   GREATER
THAN 10
YEARS
   TOTAL

Company (2)

   270    512    426    81    1,289

Affiliate

   296    226    270    91    883

Owner-Operator

   163    284    846    462    1,755
                        

Total

   729    1,022    1,542    634    3,927

 

(1) Age based upon original date of manufacture; tractor/trailer may be substantially refurbished or re-manufactured.

 

(2) Included 230 sub-leased or lease/purchased to owner-operators or affiliates, leaving a net 1,059 available for use at company terminals.

Leasing

We lease and sub-lease tractors to owner-operators and affiliates and also lease and sub-lease trailers to affiliates and other third parties, including shippers. Tractor lease and sub-lease terms range from 6 to 60 months and generally include a purchase option. Trailer lease and sub-lease terms range from 1 day to 84 months and do not include a purchase option. We derive a portion of our income from leasing these units to owner-operators, customers and affiliates.

Customer Service, Quality Assurance and Billing

Our quality assurance program is designed to achieve superior customer service through the development and implementation of standardized operating procedures for each area within our Company. The procedures provide guidance in such areas as marketing, contracts, dispatch and terminal operations, driver hiring, safety and training, trailer operations, tractor operations, administrative functions, payroll, settlements, insurance, data processing and fuel tax administration. We also have an internal audit department that helps monitor and ensure compliance with company policies and procedures. We have also implemented a quality corrective action procedure to identify, document and correct safety and service non-conformance. We collect data on all incidents in order to better understand what occurred and, where appropriate, analyze where processes broke down, causing a non-conformance. This information is also reported back to many of our customers in the form of monthly service reports. Service reporting is required by an increasing number of chemical shippers.

Technology

We operate a system for dispatching trucks that enhances our ability to track our drivers, tractors, trailers and manage the business at a tactical level. Our system handles order entry, resource planning, dispatch and communications through various mobile communications platforms including Qualcomm OmniTRACS®, through our proprietary system, EDGE, for communication and equipment location updates, and through TMW platforms for resource tracking. We are also in the process of deploying GPS tracking devices for our trailer fleet. We provide document imaging at all locations and incorporate data accessible through our website at www.qualitydistribution.com. Information contained on

 

39


Table of Contents

our website does not constitute a part of this prospectus. These systems add to the productivity of our employees and increase integration of our equipment, which we believe results in improved value to our customers.

Sales and Marketing

We conduct our marketing activities at both the national and local levels. We employ geographically dispersed sales managers who market our services primarily to regional accounts. These sales managers have extensive experience in marketing specialized tank truck transportation services. The national corporate sales staff concentrates on selling to a defined national account base. In addition, significant portions of our marketing activities are conducted by regional sales directors in conjunction with our terminal managers and dispatchers who act as local customer service representatives. These managers and dispatchers maintain regular contact with shippers and are well-positioned to identify the changing transportation needs of customers in their respective geographic areas.

Administration

As of December 31, 2007, we operated approximately 121 trucking terminals, 38 tank wash facilities and 10 ISO depot services terminals throughout the United States as well as in Canada. Company and affiliate terminals operate as separate profit centers and terminal managers are responsible and accountable for most operational decisions. Effective supervision requires maximum personal contact with customers and drivers. Therefore, to accomplish mutually defined operating objectives, the functions of customer service, dispatch and general administration typically rest within each terminal. Cooperation and coordination is further encouraged by our backhaul program.

From the corporate offices in Tampa, Florida, management monitors each terminal’s operating and financial performance, safety and training record, accounts receivable and customer service efforts. Terminal managers are responsible for ensuring their terminals remain in compliance with safety, maintenance, customer service and other operating procedures. Senior corporate executives, safety department personnel and audit department personnel conduct unannounced visits to verify terminal compliance. We strive to achieve uniform service and safety at all company and affiliate terminals, while simultaneously affording terminal managers the freedom to focus on generating business in their regions.

Customers

Our revenue base consists of customers located throughout North America, including many Fortune 500 companies such as Dow Chemical Company, Procter & Gamble, PPG Industries, and DuPont. During 2007, 2006 and 2005, Dow Chemical accounted for approximately 8.3%, 9.7%, and 10.2% of total revenue, respectively. In 2007, 2006, and 2005 our 10 largest customers accounted for 34.1%, 29.8%, and 31.2% respectively of total revenues.

Competition

The tank truck business is competitive and fragmented. We compete primarily with other tank truck carriers and dedicated private fleets in various states within the United States and Canada. With respect to certain aspects of our business, we also compete with intermodal transportation and railroads. Intermodal transportation has increased in recent years.

Competition for the freight transported by us is based primarily on rates and service. Management believes that we enjoy significant competitive advantages over other tank truck carriers because of our variable cost structure, overall fleet size, national terminal network and tank wash facilities.

Our largest competitors are Trimac Transportation Services Ltd., Superior Carriers, Inc., Groendyke Transport, Inc., Schneider National, Inc. and the Dana Companies. However, there are many other smaller recognized tank truck carriers, most of which are primarily regional operators.

We also compete with other motor carriers for the services of our drivers and owner-operators. Our overall size and our reputation for good relations with affiliates and owner-operators have enabled us to attract qualified professional drivers and owner-operators.

Competition from non-trucking modes of transportation and from intermodal transportation would likely increase if state or federal fuel taxes were to increase without a corresponding increase in taxes imposed upon other modes of transportation.

Risk Management, Insurance And Safety

The primary insurable risks associated with our business are motor vehicle related bodily injury and property damage, workers’ compensation and cargo loss and damage (which includes spills and chemical releases). We maintain insurance against these risks and are subject to liability as a self-insurer to the extent of the deductible under each policy. We currently maintain liability insurance for bodily injury and property damage with an aggregate limit on the coverage in the amount of $40 million, with a per incident deductible of $2.0 million in most cases for auto and general liability.

We currently maintain a $1.0 million per incident deductible for workers’ compensation insurance coverage. We are insured over our deductible up to the statutory requirement by state. We are self-insured for damage or loss to the equipment we own or lease, and for cargo losses.

We employ personnel to perform compliance checks and conduct safety tests throughout our operations. We conduct a number of safety programs designed to promote compliance with rules and regulations and to reduce accidents and cargo claims. These programs include training programs, driver recognition programs, safety awards, driver safety meetings, distribution of safety bulletins to drivers and participation in national safety associations.

Environmental Matters

It is our policy to be in compliance with all applicable environmental, safety, and health laws. We also are committed to the principles of Responsible Care®, an international chemical industry initiative to enhance the industry’s responsible management of chemicals. We have obtained independent certification that our management system is in place and functions according to professional standards and we continue to evaluate and continuously improve our Responsible Care ® Management System performance.

 

40


Table of Contents

Our activities involve the handling, transportation and storage of bulk chemicals, both liquid and dry, many of which are classified as hazardous materials or hazardous substances. Our tank wash and terminal operations engage in the generation, storage, discharge and disposal of wastewater that may contain hazardous substances, the inventory and use of cleaning materials that may contain hazardous substances and the control and discharge of storm-water from industrial sites. In addition, we may store diesel fuel, materials containing oil and other hazardous products at our terminals. As such, we and others who operate in our industry or own and operate real property, are subject to environmental, health and safety laws and regulation by U.S. federal, state and local agencies as well as foreign governmental authorities. Environmental laws and regulations are complex, and address emissions to the air, discharge onto land or water, and the generation, handling, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of waste materials. These laws change frequently and generally require us to obtain and maintain various licenses and permits. Environmental laws have tended to become more stringent over time, and most provide for substantial fines and potential criminal sanctions for violations. Some of these laws and regulations are subject to varying and conflicting interpretations.

Facility managers are responsible for environmental compliance at each operating location. Audits conducted by our staff assess operations, safety training and procedures, equipment and grounds maintenance, emergency response capabilities and waste management. We may also, if circumstances warrant, contract with independent environmental consulting firms to conduct periodic, unscheduled, compliance assessments that focus on unsafe conditions with the potential to result in releases of hazardous substances or petroleum, and that also include screening for evidence of past spills or releases. Our staff includes environmental professionals who develop guidelines and procedures, including audits of our terminals, tank cleaning facilities, and certain historical operations.

We have incurred in the past, and expect to incur in the future, capital and other expenditures related to environmental compliance for current and planned operations. Such expenditures are generally included in our overall capital and operating budgets and are not accounted for separately. However, we do not anticipate that compliance with existing environmental laws in conducting current and planned operations will have a material adverse effect on our capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position.

We are potentially subject to strict, joint and several liability for investigating and rectifying the consequences of spills and other environmental releases of such substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (“CERCLA”), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (“RCRA”), the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, and comparable state and foreign laws. Under certain of these laws, we could also be subject to allegations of liability for the activities of our affiliates or owner-operators. From time to time, we have incurred remedial costs and regulatory penalties with respect to chemical or wastewater spills and releases at our facilities and on the road, and, notwithstanding the existence of our environmental management program, we cannot assure that such obligations will not be incurred in the future, predict with certainty the extent of future liabilities and costs under environmental, health, and safety laws, or assure that such liabilities will not result in a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or business reputation.

In addition, we may face liability for alleged personal injury or property damage due to exposure to chemicals and other hazardous substances at our facilities or as the result of accidents and spills. Although these types of claims have not historically had a material impact on our operations, a significant increase in these claims could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results or cash flow.

As the result of environmental studies conducted at our facilities or third party sites in conjunction with our environmental management program, we have identified environmental contamination at certain sites that will require remediation. In addition, we have been named a potentially responsible party at various sites under the CERCLA and other similar state statutes.

Reserves

Our policy is to accrue remediation expenses when it is probable that such efforts will be required and the related expenses can be reasonably estimated. Estimates of costs for future environmental compliance and remediation are necessarily imprecise due to such factors as the continuing evolution of environmental laws and regulatory requirements, the availability and application of technology, the identification of currently unknown potential remediation sites and the allocation of costs among the potentially responsible parties under applicable statutes. As of December 31, 2007 and 2006, we had reserves in the amount of $11.2 million and $11.8 million, respectively, for all environmental matters discussed below.

Property Contamination Liabilities

We have been named as (or are alleged to be) a potentially responsible party (“PRP”) under CERCLA and similar state laws at approximately 28 sites. At 17 of these sites, we are one of many parties with alleged liability and are negotiating with either Federal, State or private parties on the scope of our obligations, if any. For example, we have been notified of potential liabilities involving the Lower Passaic River Study Area in New Jersey and two Quanta Resources sites in New York. We will be participating in the initial studies of these sites to determine site remediation objectives, goals and technologies. Since our overall liability cannot be estimated at this time, we have set reserves for only the initial remedial investigation phase at the three sites. Of the 17 sites, we have explicitly denied any liability for three sites and since there has been no subsequent demand for payment we have not established a reserve for these matters. We estimated as of December 31, 2007 future expenditures for these off-site multi-party environmental matters, to be in the range of $1.7 million to $3.8 million.

We and our predecessors have also been named in three civil actions related to property contamination. One of these matters has been settled, subject to a $25,000 payment. The second matter involves plaintiffs seeking contribution for remediation at an offsite chemical distribution and re-packaging facility and the third matter involves claims for the remediation of and diminution in value of privately owned property near the Omega Chemical Superfund Site. However, we are seeking indemnification from the PRP Group in accordance with a previous de-minimis settlement agreement with the Omega PRP Group.

At eight sites, we are the only responsible party and are in the process of conducting investigations and/or remediation projects. Six of these projects relate to operations conducted by CLC and its subsidiaries prior to our acquisition of and merger with CLC in 1998. These six sites are: Bridgeport, New Jersey; William Dick, Pennsylvania; Charleston, West Virginia; Tonawanda, New York; Scary Creek, West Virginia; and East Rutherford, New Jersey. Each of these sites is discussed in more detail below. The remaining two investigations and remediations were triggered by the New Jersey Industrial Site Remediation Act (“ISRA”), which requires such investigations and remediations following the sale of industrial facilities. In addition to these eight sites, the current owner of one of our leased tank wash sites has agreed to take responsibility for

 

41


Table of Contents

complying with the investigation and remediation required by ISRA, and is currently investigating the site. We have estimated future expenditures for these eight properties to be in the range of $8.8 million to $16.7 million.

Bridgeport, New Jersey

QDI is required under the terms of two federal consent decrees to perform remediation at this operating truck terminal and tank wash site. CLC entered into consent orders with USEPA in May 1991 for the treatment of groundwater (operable unit one or “OU1”) and October 1998 for the removal of contamination in the wetlands (“OU3”). In addition, we were required to assess the removal of contaminated soils (“OU2”).

In connection with OU1, USEPA originally required us to construct a large treatment plant with discharge via a two mile pipeline to the Delaware River watershed with construction to be completed by the end of 2001. We have negotiated an alternative remedy with USEPA which would call for a significantly smaller treatment facility, in place treatment of groundwater contamination via in-situ treatment and a local discharge. The treatment facility has been approved and construction was completed in early 2007. The plant is going through the start-up phase. USEPA has also approved an OU3 remedy for approximately 2.5 acres of affected wetland. This reflects a reduction from an approximate seven acre area that had been under negotiation. Site mobilization for the OU3 work took place in late May 2004 but was delayed due to weather-related issues. Field work was re-started in May 2005 has been completed. Monitoring of the restoration work is on-going. Additional contamination has been identified since December 31, 2005. In regard to OU2, USEPA is now in the process of finalizing a Feasibility Study for the limited areas that show contamination and warrant additional investigation or work. USEPA also wants to include in OU2 the in-situ treatment previously described as part of OU1. The environmental projections for OU1 and OU2 have been changed to reflect the reallocation of the in-situ costs to OU2 and the proposed contract amount for the OU1 work. We have estimated expenditures to be in the range of $4.8 million to $8.5 million.

William Dick, Pennsylvania

CLC entered into a consent order with the Pennsylvania DEP (“PADEP”) and USEPA in October 1995 obligating it to provide a replacement water supply to area residents (“OU1”), treat contaminated groundwater (“OU2”), and perform remediation of contaminated soils (“OU3”) at this former wastewater disposal site. OU1 is complete. With respect to OU2, PADEP and USEPA have approved an interim remedy, which involves the construction of a treatment facility and discharge locally. We began construction of this facility in November 2006 and the work was completed in the fourth quarter 2007. The plant is going through the start-up phase. Based on recent data showing reduction in site groundwater contamination due to natural attenuation and the more extensive handling and removal of contaminated soils, we believe that the groundwater project can be completed over the five-year term of this interim remedy. The agencies have approved an OU3 remedy, which requires both thermal treatment of contaminated soils and treatment of residuals via soil vapor extraction (“SVE”). The OU3 remedy expanded in April 2004 to off-site shipment of contaminated soils because these soils were found to be incompatible with the thermal treatment unit, which started full-scale operation in May 2004. In 2004, we also discovered buried drums and associated contaminated material and soils, which required off-site disposal. In the third quarter of 2004, we determined that a latex liner waste material was present in the third pond, which needed to be excavated and removed for disposal offsite. This work was completed in early 2005. We also determined that the soils in pond three needed to be excavated to determine if they will be suitable for the originally planned SVE treatment. We excavated the pond’s soils into three discrete piles and determined the best approach to treat these soil piles. It was determined that most of the soil piles could be treated on site using SVE as originally planned. However, some modifications to the design had to be made in order to treat a limited number of soil piles. The SVE work began in 2006 and was completed in September 2007. Final site sampling will be conducted to determine if soil clean-up objectives have been achieved. We have estimated expenditures to be in the range of $1.4 million to $3.4 million.

Other Properties

Scary Creek, West Virginia: CLC received a clean up notice from the State authority in August 1994 requiring remediation of contaminated soils and groundwater at this former wastewater disposal facility. However, the State and we have agreed that remediation can be conducted under the State’s voluntary clean-up program (instead of the state superfund enforcement program). We are currently completing the originally planned remedial investigation and the additional site investigation work that is required to completely delineate the extent of site contamination. Upon completion of the site investigation phase, a remedial feasibility study and design will be prepared to address contaminated soils, and, if applicable, groundwater. The expectation is that a remedy utilizing primarily in-situ treatment with limited soil removal will be conducted.

Tonawanda, New York: CLC entered into a consent order with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation on June 22, 1999 obligating it to perform soil and groundwater remediation at this former truck terminal and tank wash site. We have completed a remedial investigation and a feasibility study with the expectation that we will conduct a remedy that may include in-situ treatment, limited soil removal and monitored natural attenuation of the groundwater.

We have estimated future expenditures for Scary Creek and Tonawanda to be in the range of $2.6 million to $4.8 million.

Charleston, West Virginia: CLC completed a remediation of a former drum disposal area in 1995 at its active truck terminal and tank wash site under the terms of a State hazardous waste permit. The State has required supplemental groundwater monitoring in connection with the same permit. We have completed this work and believe that no additional remediation will be required.

East Rutherford, New Jersey: CLC entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the State of New Jersey on June 11, 1996 obligating it to perform a Remedial Investigation and Remedial Action with respect to a subsurface loss of an estimated 7,000 gallons of fuel oil at this former truck terminal and tank wash site. We have completed the recovery of free product and conducted groundwater monitoring and are awaiting final approval of a plan to terminate further remedial action with some limited contamination left in place.

ISRA New Jersey Facilities: We are obliged to conduct investigations and remediation at three current or former New Jersey tank wash and terminal sites pursuant to the state’s Industrial Sites Remediation Act, which requires such remediation following the sale of facilities after 1983. The former owner has agreed to take responsibility for one of the sites and the other two are in the process of remedial investigation with projections set in contemplation of limited soil remediation expense for contaminated areas.

 

42


Table of Contents

There can be no assurance that additional issues or sites for which we are responsible will not be discovered, that violations by us of environmental laws or regulations will not be identified or occur in the future, or that environmental, health and safety laws and regulations will not change in a manner that could impose material costs on us.

Motor Carrier Regulation

As a motor carrier, we are subject to regulation by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”), and the Surface Transportation Board (“STB”), both of which are units of the Department of Transportation (“DOT”). The FMCSA enforces comprehensive trucking safety regulations and performs certain functions relating to such matters as motor carrier registration, cargo and liability insurance, extension of credit to motor carrier customers, and leasing of equipment by motor carriers from owner-operators. The STB has authority to resolve certain types of pricing disputes and authorize certain types of intercarrier agreements. There are additional regulations specifically relating to the tank truck industry, including testing and specifications of equipment and product handling requirements. We may transport most types of freight to and from any point in the United States over any route selected by us. The trucking industry is subject to possible regulatory and legislative changes that may affect the economics of the industry by requiring changes in operating practices or by changing the demand for common or contract carrier services or the cost of providing truckload services. Some of these possible changes may include increasingly stringent environmental regulations, increasing control over the transportation of hazardous materials, changes in the hours-of-service regulations which govern the amount of time a driver may drive in any specific period of time, mandatory onboard black box recorder devices or limits on vehicle weight and size. In addition, our tank wash facilities are subject to stringent local, state and federal environmental regulation.

Interstate motor carrier operations are subject to safety requirements prescribed by the DOT. To a large degree, intrastate motor carrier operations are subject to safety and hazardous material transportation regulations that mirror federal regulations. Such matters as weight and dimension of equipment are also subject to federal and state regulations. DOT regulations mandate drug and alcohol testing of drivers and other safety personnel.

Title VI of The Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994, generally prohibits individual states, political subdivisions thereof and combinations of states from regulating price, entry, routes or service levels of most motor carriers. However, the states retained the right to continue to require certification of carriers, based upon two primary fitness criteria—safety and insurance—and retained certain other limited regulatory rights. Prior to January 1, 1995, we held intra-state authority in several states. Since that date, we have either been “grandfathered” or have obtained the necessary certification to continue to operate in those states. In states in which we were not previously authorized to operate intra-state, we have obtained certificates or permits allowing us to operate.

We are subject to compliance with cargo security and transportation regulations issued by the Transportation Security Administration and by the Department of Homeland Security, including regulation by the new Bureau of Customs and Border Protection. We believe that we will be able to comply with pending Bureau of Customs and Border Protection rules, which will require pre-notification of cross-border shipments, with no material effect on our operations. We are also subject to the motor carrier laws of Canada and Mexico.

From time to time, various legislative proposals are introduced including proposals to increase federal, state, or local taxes, including taxes on motor fuels, which may increase our costs and adversely impact the recruitment of drivers. We cannot predict whether, or in what form, any increase in such taxes applicable to us will be enacted.

Seasonality

Our business is subject to limited seasonality due to the nature of the business of our customers, with revenues generally declining slightly during winter months, namely the first and fourth fiscal quarters, and over holidays. Highway transportation can be adversely affected depending upon the severity of the weather in various sections of the country during the winter months. Our operating expenses also have been somewhat higher in the winter months, due primarily to decreased fuel efficiency, increased utility costs and increased maintenance costs of equipment in colder months.

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

In addition to those items disclosed under “Business—Environmental Matters” and Note 17 to QDI’s consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus, “Commitments and Contingencies—Environmental Matters,” we are from time to time involved in routine litigation incidental to the conduct of our business. We believe that no such routine litigation currently pending against us, if adversely determined, would have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

PROPERTIES

Currently we lease approximately 68,000 square feet for our administrative and corporate office headquarters in Tampa, Florida. The lease for our corporate headquarters expires in December 2017. Boasso’s corporate headquarters, located in Chalmette, Louisiana, consists of 20,000 square feet of office space. The lease expires April 2013.

We have no other location that is material to our operations. We engage in bulk transportation of liquid and dry chemical products through our subsidiary, QCI. Our tank wash business is operated through our subsidiary, QSI. Our ISO depot services are operated through our subsidiaries, QCS and Boasso.

 

43


Table of Contents

As of December 31, 2007, our terminals and facilities consisted of the following:

 

     Terminals
Operated
   Physical
Locations
   Owned by
QCI

QCI trucking terminals

   66    63    21

QSI tank wash facilities

   36    22    14

QCI Affiliate trucking terminals*

   55    45    2

QSI Affiliate tank wash facilities

   2    1    0

QCS ISO depot services

   4    3    1

Boasso ISO depot services

   6    6    0

Total

   169    140    38

 

* Affiliates operate 11 tank wash facilities as part of their operations.

In many instances, we operate different types of terminals out of the same physical location. For example, one terminal also operates a separate physical location as a sub-terminal. We have excluded from the above totals, three Company transload terminals (includes two separate physical locations of which we own one location) and three affiliate transload terminals.

In addition to the properties listed above, we also own property in Mobile, Alabama; Croydon, Pennsylvania; Downingtown, Pennsylvania; Parker, Pennsylvania; Greensboro, North Carolina; Chesnee, South Carolina and Port Houston, Texas.

In addition to the properties listed above, we also have a property held-for-sale located in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

We consider our properties to be in good condition generally and believe that our facilities are adequate to meet our anticipated requirements.

 

44


Table of Contents

MANAGEMENT

Directors and Managers

Set forth below is biographical information for each member of our Board of Managers and director of QDI, our parent company. Our Board of Managers and QDI’s Board of Directors are each currently composed of twelve members. There are no family relationships among any of our managers or executive officers.

Marc E. Becker (35) has been a director of QDI since June 1998 and a member of our Board of Managers since May 2002. Mr. Becker is a partner of Apollo Management, L.P. He has been employed with Apollo since 1996 and has served as an officer of certain affiliates of Apollo since 1999. Prior to that time, Mr. Becker was employed by Smith Barney Inc. within its investment banking division. Mr. Becker serves on several boards of directors including Affinion Group, Inc., Realogy Corporation, SourceCorp, Inc. and Countrywide, plc.

Richard B. Marchese (66) has been a director of QDI and a member of our Board of Managers since January 2004. Mr. Marchese served as QDI’s interim Chief Financial Officer from September through November, 2004. Mr. Marchese served as Vice President Finance, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Georgia Gulf Corporation from 1989 until his retirement at the end of 2003. Prior to 1989, Mr. Marchese served as the Controller of Georgia Gulf Corporation and prior to that as the Controller of the Resins Division of Georgia Pacific Corporation. Mr. Marchese is a director of Nalco Holding Company and BlueLinx Holdings, Inc.

Thomas R. Miklich (61) has been a director of QDI since May 13, 2005 and is a member of our Board of Managers. He was Chief Financial Officer of OM Group, Inc., a chemical company specializing in nickel and cobalt products, from 2002 until his retirement in 2004. Prior to that he was Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel of Invacare Corporation from 1993 to 2002. He is a director of UAP Holding Corp. and Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation.

M. Ali Rashid (31) has been a director of QDI since June 28, 2005, and is a member of our Board of Managers. He is a principal of Apollo and he has been employed with Apollo since 2000. Prior to joining Apollo, Mr. Rashid was employed by the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. in the Financial Institutions Group of its Investment Banking Division from August 1998 to July 2000. He received an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.S. from Georgetown University. He is a director of Metals USA, Inc., Realogy Corporation, Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation and Countrywide, plc.

Alan H. Schumacher (61) has been a director of QDI and a member of our Board of Managers since May 2004. Mr. Schumacher is a member of the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board. From 1977 to 2000, he served in various financial positions at American National Can and American National Can Group, the last four years serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Schumacher is a director of BlueLinx Holdings, Inc. and Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation.

Thomas M. White (50) has been a director of QDI since November 6, 2007 and is a member of our Board of Managers. Mr. White joined Apollo in May 2007 as an operating executive in the distribution and transportation industries. Mr. White currently serves on the board of directors of FTD Group, Inc., Landauer, Inc. and Hilex-Poly Company. From 2002 to 2007, Mr. White served as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Hub Group, Inc. From 1979 to 2002, Mr. White served in several positions with Arthur Andersen, most recently serving as Global Managing Partner, Business Process Outsourcing.

Gerald L. Detter (64) has been a director of QDI since June 6, 2005 and currently serves as Chairman of the Board of QDI. He is also a member of our Board of Managers. Mr. Detter served as our Chief Executive Officer from June 6, 2005 until June 14, 2007, when he relinquished the title of Chief Executive Officer of QDI to Gary R. Enzor as part of a Board-approved succession plan. Mr. Detter also served as President of QDI from June 6, 2005 until November 9, 2005. Prior to his employment by QDI, Mr. Detter served as Senior Vice President of CNF, Inc. and President and Chief Executive Officer of Con-Way Transportation Services, Inc., a trucking subsidiary of CNF from 1997 until his retirement in December 2004.

Robert H. Falk (69) has been a director of QDI since May 13, 2005 and has been a partner in Apollo since 1992. He is also a member of our Board of Managers. Prior to joining Apollo, Mr. Falk was a senior partner in the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, heading legal teams in a wide range of commercial transactions, including public and private corporate financing, leveraged acquisitions and financial restructuring.

Robert E. Gadomski (61) has been a director of QDI since May 13, 2005 and is a member of our Board of Managers. Mr. Gadomski has recently become CEO for Taylor Wharton International, LLC, a provider of containers and storage equipment for the industrial gases and propane industries. From 2004 to 2007 he was an M&A consultant to private equity firms. From 1970 to 2004 he spent his career with Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., a $10 billion industrial gas and chemical company, until his retirement in 2004. He served as Executive Vice President, Chemicals Group from 1996 to 1999, and Executive Vice President, Gases and Equipment Group, from 1999 to 2004. Mr. Gadomski served as the Halsey Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Virginia in 2006. He is a director of Reeb Millwork and Taylor Wharton International.

Donald C. Orris (66) has been a director of QDI since 1999 and a member of our Board of Managers since May 2002. Since November 2007, Mr. Orris has served as the interim President of Pacer International’s Intermodal Division. From March 2007 to November 2007, Mr. Orris was retired. From May 1999 to March 2007, Mr. Orris has been Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pacer International, Inc. From Pacer Logistics’ inception in March 1997 until May 1999 he served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pacer Logistics. Mr. Orris served as President of Pacer International Consulting LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pacer Logistics, since September 1996. From January 1995 to September 1996, Mr. Orris served as President and Chief Operating Officer and from 1990 until January 1995 he served as Executive Vice President of Southern Pacific Transportation Company. Mr. Orris was the President and Chief Operating Officer of American Domestic Company and American President Intermodal Company from 1982 until 1990.

 

45


Table of Contents

Eric L. Press (42) has been a director of QDI since May 2004 and a member of our Board of Managers since June 2004. Mr. Press is a partner of Apollo. He has been employed with Apollo since 1998 and has served as an officer of certain affiliates of Apollo. From 1992 to 1998, Mr. Press was associated with the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz specializing in mergers, acquisitions, restructurings and related financing transactions. From 1987 to 1989, Mr. Press was a consultant with The Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Press currently serves on the board of directors of Harrah’s Entertainment, Innkeepers USA, Prestige Cruise Holdings, Noranda Aluminum, Affinion Group and Metals USA, Inc. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of The Rodeph Sholom School in New York City. Mr. Press graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with an A.B. in Economics and from Yale Law School.

John J. Suydam (48) has been a director of QDI and a member of our Board of Managers since September 15, 2006. Mr. Suydam joined Apollo in April of 2006 as its Chief Legal and Administrative Officer. From 2002 until April 2006, Mr. Suydam was a partner at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, where he served as head of Mergers & Acquisitions and co-head of the Corporate Department. Prior to that, Mr. Suydam served as Chairman of the law firm O’Sullivan, LLP which specialized in representing private equity investors. Mr. Suydam received his J.D. from New York University and graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in History from the State University of New York at Albany. Mr. Suydam serves on the Board of Directors of the Big Apple Circus.

Executive Officers

The following table sets forth certain information as of April 16, 2008 with respect to executive officers of our parent, QDI, substantially all of whom hold similar positions with us:

 

Name

   Age   

Position

Gary R. Enzor    45    President and Chief Executive Officer
Dennis R. Copeland    58    Senior Vice President—Administration
Jonathan C. Gold    44    Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Virgil T. Leslie    53    Executive Vice President—Sales
Timothy B. Page    55    Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Gary R. Enzor has served as QDI’s Chief Executive Officer since June 2007 and as President of QDI since November 2005. Mr. Enzor joined QDI in December 2004 as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining QDI, Mr. Enzor served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Swift Transportation Company, Inc. since August 2002. Prior to Swift, he served as the Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of Honeywell Aerospace Electronic Systems. Prior to Honeywell, Mr. Enzor worked for Dell Computer and Allied Signal.

Dennis R. Copeland has served as QDI’s Senior Vice President, Administration since April, 2001. He joined QDI in 1998 in connection with the acquisition of CLC, at which time he assumed the position of Vice President Labor Relations and Human Resources. From October 1988 until he joined QDI, Mr. Copeland served as Vice President of Human Resources and Labor Relations for CLC. Prior to that time, he held various management positions with Lukens Steel Company.

Jonathan C. Gold has served as QDI’s Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary since April 2007. Mr. Gold joined QDI in January 2005 as Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary. Prior to his employment with QDI, Mr. Gold served as counsel with CSX Transportation Inc. (a transportation company that operates the largest railroad in the eastern United States) from February 2002 through January 2005. Prior to that, Mr. Gold served as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary to Softmart Inc. and was in private practice in Washington, D.C. Mr. Gold also served as Judicial Clerk to the Honorable Harvey E. Schlesinger, Senior United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida.

Virgil T. Leslie joined QDI in April 2000 and serves as QDI’s Executive Vice President, Sales. Prior to joining QDI, he served as Vice President of Sales with Triple Crown Services in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Mr. Leslie also spent 16 years with Roadway Express holding various sales and operating positions.

Timothy B. Page joined QDI in December 2004 as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining QDI, Mr. Page served as Chief Financial Officer of Perry Ellis International, Inc. since May 2001. From 1998 through 2001, Mr. Page was a private investor and entrepreneur in the telecommunications and industrial gas and specialty chemical industries. From 1989 through 1997, Mr. Page was a director of Farah, Inc., an apparel company, and served in various executive positions, including Executive Vice President and Chief Operational Officer.

QDI is a “controlled company” as defined by the rules of the NASDAQ Stock Market, LLC because more than 50% of QDI’s voting power is controlled by Apollo. Therefore, we are exempt from the NASDAQ requirements to have (1) a majority of independent directors on QDI’s Board, (2) the compensation of QDI’s executive officers determined by a majority of independent directors or a compensation committee composed solely of independent directors, and (3) nominees for directors elected or recommended for selection by a majority of the independent directors or a committee composed solely of independent directors.

Compensation Discussion and Analysis

General Philosophy

We are committed to providing a total compensation package that allows us to recruit and retain superior talent and to create a significant direct relationship between compensation and corporate performance. QDI’s Board believes that compensation payable to our executives should provide overall competitive pay and benefit levels and create proper incentives to enhance shareholder value. Our primary compensation policy is that a significant portion of the compensation of each executive officer should be based upon their individual contribution to our financial performance. Thus, a significant portion of the compensation for each executive officer is “at risk.” We also believe that executive compensation should serve to attract and retain key employees and provide them with incentives to assist us in achieving strategic and financial goals that ultimately enhance the value of our stock.

 

46


Table of Contents

Compensation Objectives and Process

Our compensation program is administered by QDI’s Compensation Committee. The primary goal of the executive compensation program is to attract, motivate and retain highly qualified executives to enhance long-term profitability and increase shareholder value by linking significant elements of executive compensation to our operating and financial performance. Pursuant to its charter, the Compensation Committee is responsible for developing our overall compensation policies that seek to achieve these goals through the appropriate balance of cash and equity compensation. The Compensation Committee is responsible for reviewing and approving base salary and equity awards to executive officers, while our annual bonus target and payment ranges for performance below or above the target are approved by the entire Board of Directors as a part of the annual budget process.

QDI’s President and Chief Executive Officer, with the assistance of QDI’s Senior Vice President of Administration, recommends annually to the Compensation Committee salary increases and equity compensation awards for QDI’s officers. The Compensation Committee is responsible for making final determinations for salary increases and awards to executive officers. Although none of QDI’s or our officers participate in the Compensation Committee’s deliberations, the Compensation Committee considers their recommendations. As with salary and equity compensation award decisions, management recommends an annual bonus target and payment ranges. After considering management’s recommendations, the Board of Directors approves the annual bonus target and payment ranges.

The Compensation Committee emphasizes pay for performance and believes that when the company exceeds performance goals, executive compensation should reflect the exceptional performance. Conversely, when the company does not meet the targeted business goals, executive compensation should reflect the under-performance. The performance of the executives and their contribution to our success provides the basis for decisions related to the compensation award process. We have a formal performance management program, which measures the executive’s individual performance and contributions to the achievement of our strategic initiatives. The executives’ base pay increases are linked to the performance management system. Executives’ increases as a group in 2007 were in line with company-wide increases.

Design and Components of Compensation

The total compensation package provided to each executive officer comprises base salary, cash bonus, equity compensation and other benefits. Each component is specific in its purpose and relevance to meeting the objectives of our executive compensation program. In allocating compensation among these elements, we believe that the compensation of our senior-most levels of management, the levels of management having the greatest ability to influence our performance, should be more performance-based than lower levels of management. Our executive compensation program is designed to compensate the executive for job knowledge, individual expertise and increasing shareholder value through the achievement of short-term and long-term performance goals. The cash compensation program provides financial stability and opportunities for higher pay levels tied to performance while the equity based awards provide for recognition of long-term success and alignment with shareholder interests.

While we consider the overall compensation of other transportation companies relevant to our executive compensation decisions, we have not identified a peer group of companies for this purpose or attempted to benchmark the total compensation or any compensation element of our executives to the compensation provided by other transportation companies. Neither the Compensation Committee nor management engaged any compensation consultant during 2007. The Compensation Committee believes that perquisites should be limited in scope and value, and we generally do not provide significant perquisites or personal benefits to our executive officers.

QDI’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, former Chief Executive Officer, and three other most highly compensated executive officers during the year ended December 31, 2007 are described as Named Executive Officers in this prospectus and detailed information regarding their compensation is provided below. All but one of our Named Executive Officers have entered into employment agreements with QDI since the beginning of 2004. Four of these Named Executive Officers were not employed by QDI prior to executing employment agreements with QDI. We consider the employment agreements resulting from our discussions with these individuals to be highly reliable indicators of compensation that was competitive at the time of execution for such positions with companies such as us. An annual bonus target and minimum base salary for each of the Named Executive Officers has been established under his respective employment agreement. QDI’s President and Chief Executive Office and QDI’s Chief Financial Officer are also entitled to annual stock compensation awards under their employment agreements. The base salaries and annual bonuses for other executive officers are also determined in accordance with their employment agreements and the compensation policies outlined in this Compensation Discussion and Analysis.

Based on the foregoing, the overall compensation eligibility of QDI’s Chief Executive Officer for 2007 was $744,244 (excluding certain stock compensation, which we discuss below). We believe that the targeted overall compensation for QDI’s Chief Executive Officer for 2008 will remain at approximately $745,000. The following table demonstrates the approximate mix of compensation eligibility for Named Executive Officers for 2008:

 

     Base Salary     Bonus Target     Equity Target  

President and Chief Executive Officer

   46 %   37 %   17 %(1)

Chief Financial Officer

   60 %   21 %   19 %(1)

Senior and Executive Vice Presidents

   68 %   20 %   12 %

 

(1) Includes grants required under employment agreement.

 

47


Table of Contents

Changes in Management

Under a board-approved succession plan, Gary Enzor assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer from Gerald L. Detter effective June 14, 2007. Pursuant to Mr. Enzor’s accession, his base salary was increased to $350,000 per annum, his maximum bonus eligibility was increased to eighty percent of his base salary and his severance payment period was increased to two years in order to reflect Mr. Enzor’s higher position, service and responsibility. These increases made Mr. Enzor’s salary and bonus eligibility more comparable to Mr. Detter’s former salary and bonus, but the amounts are less because Mr. Detter was an experienced CEO and Mr. Enzor has not previously served as one. Additionally, Mr. Enzor was granted 40,000 shares of restricted stock. Mr. Gold’s salary and bonus eligibility were increased upon his promotion to Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary effective April 1, 2007. In addition, he was granted 20,000 options.

Base Salary

Base salary is generally the fixed-cash portion of executive officers’ compensation payable in even installments throughout the year. Generally, base salary levels are assigned to positions based on job responsibilities, personal performance, historical salary levels for that position, contractual minimum requirements and an informal review of salaries paid by similar enterprises for similarly situated employees. Each of QDI’s Named Executive Officers has an employment agreement that provides for a minimum base salary payable in cash. For certain of QDI’s Named Executive Officers, minimum base salary levels were determined when they were recruited to accept certain key positions after consideration of, with no specific weighting, the importance of the position being filled, the experience and background of the candidate, the level of compensation required to induce the executive to leave his then current position and the compensation paid historically to executives recruited for that position. When approving base salary levels, the Compensation Committee considers each person’s value based on his or her contributions to the organization. In early 2007, the Compensation Committee increased the base salaries of the Named Executive Officers as part of company-wide salary increases of three to four percent. The only additional increases occurred when Messrs. Enzor and Gold assumed positions of greater responsibility.

Annual Bonus

Individual bonus awards are a function of an executive’s bonus eligibility and the applicable annual bonus plan. While the bonus plan is overseen by the Compensation Committee, annual bonus targets are recommended by management and approved each year by the Board as part of its annual budgeting process.

The annual cash bonus eligibility in 2007 for each of our Named Executive Officers as a percentage of their base salary was as follows:

 

Named Executive Officer

   Bonus
Eligibility
 

President and Chief Executive Officer

   80 %

Chief Financial Officer

   35 %

Senior and Executive Vice Presidents

   30 %

The percentage of base salary that Messrs. Page, Copeland and Gold are eligible to receive is set by their respective employment agreements. Mr. Enzor’s annual cash bonus eligibility was increased from 60% to 80% of his base salary upon his appointment to Chief Executive Officer. This percentage is similar to the percentage eligibility of our former Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Leslie’s bonus eligibility derives from his position as Executive Vice President. Mr. Gold’s bonus eligibility was increased in connection with his promotion inline with the bonus eligibility of all of our Senior Vice Presidents.

The annual bonus plan for 2007 in which most of QDI’s executives, including the Named Executive Officers, participated provided for executive bonuses that were determined based upon the executive’s level of base compensation and the achievement of our adjusted earnings per share (“EPS”) thresholds. EPS thresholds directly link the annual cash bonus our overall financial and operating performance. We believe an annual bonus linked to EPS helps us achieve our objective to retain highly qualified talent and increase shareholder value by linking executive pay and company performance. For 2007, all of the executives could achieve 100% of their bonus eligibility if we achieved adjusted EPS of $1.00 per diluted share based on the plan as indicated in the table below.

 

Adjusted
EPS
  Bonus %
Payout
    Adjusted
EPS
  Bonus %
Payout
    Adjusted
EPS
  Bonus %
Payout
    Adjusted
EPS
  Bonus %
Payout
 
0.85   0.0 %   0.93   53.0 %   1.01   106.5 %   1.09   160.0 %
0.86   6.5 %   0.94   60.0 %   1.02   113.0 %   1.10   166.5 %
0.87   13.0 %   0.95   66.5 %   1.03   120.0 %   1.11   173.0 %
0.88   20.0 %   0.96   73.0 %   1.04   126.5 %   1.12   180.0 %
0.89   26.5 %   0.97   80.0 %   1.05   133.0 %   1.13   186.5 %
0.90   33.0 %   0.98   86.5 %   1.06   140.0 %   1.14   193.0 %
0.91   40.0 %   0.99   93.0 %   1.07   146.5 %   1.15   200.0 %
0.92   46.5 %   1.00   100.0 %   1.08   153.0 %    

The above bonus plan was aggressive given the difficult business climate we were in during the time in which the plan was approved by the Board. For 2007, we generated a net loss per diluted share which resulted in no bonus being paid to any of the Named Executive Officers.

 

48


Table of Contents

Equity Compensation

Equity incentives are a key component of at-risk compensation and are intended, in general, to help further our growth and success by permitting QDI’s executive officers, employees and directors to acquire shares of common stock, thereby increasing their personal stake in the company’s growth and success, to help further link the interests of award recipients with those of QDI’s shareholders and to reward outstanding contributions by the award recipients. In order to meet the motivation and retention objectives of the compensation program, QDI provides equity incentives to executives and other key employees through the grant of stock options and restricted stock under the 2003 Stock Option Plan and the 2003 Restricted Stock Incentive Plan.

QDI has generally awarded equity compensation to its employees through stock options and restricted stock awards. QDI also awarded stock units to its former Chief Executive Officer under the terms of the employment agreement that he negotiated to join QDI. For options, we determine the fair value based upon the Black-Scholes option pricing model. For restricted stock, we determine the fair market value based upon the closing price of our stock on the day of determination.

With the exception of significant promotions, new hires and employee contracts, QDI generally makes these awards effective on the first trading day of the year. These grants are generally approved in December of the prior year and are issued on the first trading day of the new year (e.g. January 3, 2007 and on January 2, 2008). This timing has been selected because it reflects past historical awards. The Compensation Committee’s schedule is determined several months in advance and the proximity of any awards to earnings announcements or other market events is coincidental. The Compensation Committee approves all stock option awards.

Restricted Stock

Under the terms of our 2003 Restricted Stock Incentive Plan, restricted stock issuances to persons initially receiving a grant generally vest by December 31, 2008 regardless of when issued. The vesting periods for other grant recipients are at the discretion of the Compensation Committee. Of the Named Executive Officers, only Mr. Leslie and Mr. Copeland were initial recipients. In subsequent years, participants in the plan may be granted an annual, aggregate amount of up to $1 million of shares, valued at our common stock closing price at the date of grant, at the direction of the Board of Directors. No more than 700,000 shares of common stock and no more than $7.5 million of stock may be issued under this plan.

Except for the awards described below, awards under the Restricted Stock Incentive Plan are discretionary. The Compensation Committee has limited discretionary awards of restricted stock to our executives in the past because it believes that stock options provide better incentives to executives. However, in keeping with our focus to attract highly qualified professionals, we agreed to make annual grants of restricted stock to Messrs. Enzor and Page when we hired them. Under their employment agreements, Mr. Enzor and Mr. Page are entitled to receive $50,000 and $35,000 of restricted stock, respectively, based on the closing price of our stock on the anniversary of the effective date of their employment agreement. In addition, Mr. Enzor was issued 40,000 shares of restricted stock upon his appointment to Chief Executive Officer. The Compensation Committee does award restricted stock to directors regularly as a part of their compensation.

Stock Options

The Compensation Committee believes that stock options provide a means to help further align the interests of management and our shareholders and as a tool to retain qualified and talented employees. Options with an exercise price no less than the market value of the underlying stock on the date of grant provide for executives to participate in stock price increases that benefit QDI’s shareholders while maintaining an element of risk in the event QDI stock price does not increase. QDI currently maintains two stock option plans, the 1998 Stock Option Plan and the 2003 Stock Option Plan, although awards have not been issuable under the 1998 Stock Option Plan since 2003. The 2003 Stock Option Plan provides for the grant of nonqualified stock options. The number of shares available for issuance under this plan automatically increases on January 1 of each year commencing with January 1, 2004 unless otherwise determined by the Board of Directors. The increase is 2.5% of the outstanding shares as of December 31 of the prior year. No more than 6,500,000 shares of common stock may be issued under the 2003 Stock Option Plan. The exercise price of each option will be no less than the market value of the underlying stock on the date of grant of the award.

Over the last two years, the Compensation Committee has utilized vesting schedules for stock option grants that the Compensation Committee believes will make the stock option awards an effective tool for employee retention, in addition to rewarding employees for increases in shareholder value. The Compensation Committee granted awards on the first business day of 2008 that vest 33% on the second, third and fourth anniversaries of the grant date. The Compensation Committee granted awards on the first business day of 2007 that vest 50% on the third and fourth anniversaries of the grant date. On the first business day of 2006, options awarded generally vested ratably over four years.

In deciding whether, when and how many stock options to award, the Compensation Committee considers a number of factors, including the recipients’ total compensation packages, existing equity ownership, the potential dilutive effects of the grants, respective executive accountability levels, future potential stock values, creation of proper incentives to enhance our long-term performance and the executives’ respective contributions towards the achievement of company goals and objectives.

Retirement Plans

QDI maintains a 401(k) plan, which is generally available to employees including QDI’s Named Executive Officers. QDI’s 401(k) plan allows executives and other participants to defer income taxation on a portion of their compensation, subject to IRS regulations. We believe that a 401(k) plan with a matching feature is common for companies of our size and therefore essential to maintaining a compensation package competitive with other potential employers. QDI makes a contribution equal to $0.34 for each dollar that an employee contributes to the plan through salary deferral. The maximum deferral that may be matched is 6% of each employee’s salary. Differences in amounts of our 401(k) contributions reflected in the Summary Compensation Table reflect the contribution decisions of individual officers rather than a decision to treat employees disparately.

 

49


Table of Contents

In addition, QDI has a Key Employee Deferred Compensation Plan. QDI’s initial deferred compensation plan was established in 2001 to allow executives who might desire to save far more for retirement than possible under our 401(k) plan and to save in a tax-effective way at minimal cost to QDI. In 2005, QDI adopted a new deferred compensation plan in order to address changes in the Internal Revenue Code since 2001, particularly the adoption of Section 409A, because we believed that we should continue an existing benefit for qualifying participants. The deferred compensation plan allows participants to defer payment of a portion of their salary or bonus. Amounts deferred are reflected by us as bookkeeping accounts in the name of each participant. The plan is an unfunded, unsecured and nonqualified deferred compensation arrangement. QDI may credit the account of any participant with additional contributions in our discretion, which amounts vest over four years. QDI has not made any contribution to any participant since the initial plan was established in 2001. In addition, QDI is obligated to credit the account of each participant with interest at a rate determined by the Compensation Committee. The interest rate paid under the Key Employee Deferred Compensation Plan for 2007 was set when the plan was established in 2005. This rate is 12% for senior executives and 5% for all other participants. Amounts credited under this plan must be paid by QDI six months after the termination of a participant’s employment.

Pension Plans

QDI maintains two noncontributory defined benefit plans resulting from a prior acquisition that cover certain full-time salaried employees and certain other employees under a collective bargaining agreement. Retirement benefits for employees covered by the salaried plan are based on years of service and compensation levels. The monthly benefit for employees under the collective bargaining agreement plan is based on years of service multiplied by a monthly benefit factor. One of the Named Executive Officers participates in one of these pension plans because he served as an officer of the acquired company from which the plans were assumed.

Perquisites and Other Benefits

Senior management also participates in QDI’s other benefit plans on the same terms as other employees. These plans include medical and dental insurance and life insurance. The Compensation Committee believes that perquisites should be limited in scope and value, and we generally do not provide significant perquisites or personal benefits to our executive officers. The sole perquisite currently provided to QDI’s continuing executive officers is additional group term life insurance for senior managers at or above the level of senior vice president.

Tax Treatment

The Compensation Committee believes that it is generally in the company’s best interests to satisfy the requirements for deductibility under Section 162(m). Accordingly, the Compensation Committee has taken actions it believes appropriate to preserve the deductibility of compensation. However, notwithstanding this general policy, the Compensation Committee also believes that there may be circumstances in which the company’s interests are best served by maintaining flexibility in the way compensation is provided, whether or not compensation is fully deductible under Section 162(m). Current base salary and anticipated bonus levels are not expected to exceed the Section 162(m) deduction limit. Compensation relating to stock option, restricted stock and stock unit awards may exceed the Section 162(m) deduction limit.

Severance and Change in Control Benefits

QDI’s Named Executive Officers’ employment agreements may require us to make payments and provide benefits to these executives in the event of a termination of their employment or of a change in control. In addition, the Named Executive Officers have the rights available to all recipients of awards under QDI’s stock incentive plans.

Severance

We generally do not pay severance to our employees. However, each of the Named Executive Officers has an employment agreement that provides for severance if the employment of the executive is terminated by QDI without “cause” or if the executive resigns for “good reason.” Good reasons include, but are not limited to:

 

   

a material diminution of duties,

 

   

a material breach by QDI of its contractual obligations, or

 

   

an involuntary relocation by more than 50 miles from Tampa, Florida.

The following represents the estimated value of all amounts receivable by each Named Executive Officer assuming termination under the foregoing circumstances on December 31, 2007, excluding base salary and bonuses earned through the termination date and any vested equity awards:

 

     Base
Salary
   All Other (1)    Acceleration
of Equity
Awards (2)
   Total

Gary R. Enzor

   $ 643,326    $ 23,171    $ 263,225    $ 929,722

Timothy B. Page

     256,183      6,753         262,935

Virgil T. Leslie

     237,288      16,105         253,393

Dennis R. Copeland

     206,731      11,094         217,825

Jonathan C. Gold

     190,408      15,614         206,022

 

(1) Consists of health insurance premiums payable.

 

(2) Amount determined by multiplying the number of shares underlying any awards that accelerate by $4.44, the closing price of our common stock as reported on the NASDAQ Global Market on December 31, 2007, the last trading day of the year.

 

50


Table of Contents

For Messrs. Enzor and Page, the receipt of any payment or the vesting of any options are contingent upon their execution of a waiver of claims against the company. Messrs. Enzor and Page are also subject to noncompete agreements that preclude them from engaging in the bulk trucking business, trans-loading or bulk tank cleaning business in any geographic area in which Quality Distribution participated in those businesses during the 24 months prior to their termination date. The length of term of the noncompete for Mr. Enzor is 12 months and for Mr. Page is 18 months.

Named Executive Officers are not entitled to any amounts other than those earned through the date of termination in the event their employment is terminated for cause or if they terminate their employment without good reason. In addition, if any restricted stock award recipient, including any Named Executive Officer, is terminated for cause, then QDI has the right to repurchase shares of common stock under the awards that have vested at a per share price equal to the lesser of the fair market value of such shares on the termination date or the actual, per share, cash consideration paid, if any, by the award recipient for the shares.

Change in Control

QDI’s senior management and other employees have built QDI into the successful enterprise that it is today, and we believe that it is important to protect them in the event of a change in control. Further it is our belief that the interest of shareholders will be best served if the interests of QDI senior management are aligned with them, and providing change in control benefits should eliminate, or at lease reduce, the reluctance of senior management to pursue potential change in control transactions that may be in the best interests of shareholders. Relative to the overall value of QDI, those potential change in control benefits are minor. The cash component of change in control benefits for QDI’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer are the same as if QDI terminates their employment without cause or they terminate their employment for good reason or, if greater, the benefits provided to any executive at a comparable level as a change of control benefit. Further, a change of control by itself does not trigger any benefit to the executive. Rather, the executive is entitled to cash benefits only if a termination of the executive’s employment without cause or a resignation by the executive for good reason occurs within one year of such change of control.

Under the terms of the 2003 Restricted Stock Incentive Plan and the 2003 Stock Option Plan, any unvested shares of restricted stock and options held by any award recipient automatically vest upon the first anniversary of a change in control or the earlier termination of the employment of the award recipient, unless employment is terminated for cause in either case.

If a change in control occurred on December 31, 2007 and the employment of each Named Executive Officer was terminated on such date, then each Named Executive Officer would have received the cash benefits described above and the value of equity award acceleration provided that the amount determined by multiplying the number of shares underlying any awards that accelerate by the closing price of our common stock as reported on the NASDAQ Global Market on December 31, 2007 and subtracting the aggregate purchase price, if any, required to obtain such shares. Since our closing price at December 31, 2007 was $4.44, which is below any aggregate purchase price of the underlying shares, the value of any equity award acceleration is zero at December 31, 2007.

Summary Compensation Table

The following table sets forth the total compensation to QDI’s Chief Executive Officer, QDI’s Chief Financial Officer, QDI’s three other most highly compensated executive officers and QDI’s former Chief Executive Officer (the “Named Executive Officers”) for 2007 and 2006.

 

Name and Principal Position

   Year    Salary
($)
   Stock
Awards ($)
(1)(2)
   Option
Awards
($) (1)(3)
   Change in
pension value
and
nonqualified
deferred
compensation
earnings ($)
   All Other
Compensation
($) (5)
   Total ($)

Gary R. Enzor

   2007    321,663    90,816    134,127    —      3,743    550,349

President and Chief Executive Officer

   2006    285,000    39,191    291,188    —      3,004    618,383

Timothy B. Page

   2007    256,183    25,983    147,953    —      3,381    433,500

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

   2006    248,654    28,109    198,946    —      17,318    493,027

Virgil T. Leslie

   2007    237,288    32,589    48,673    —      2,557    321,107

Executive Vice President, Sales

   2006    228,192    28,960    38,923    —      2,642    298,717

Dennis R. Copeland (4)

   2007    206,731    24,990    46,792    6,958    2,707    288,178

Senior Vice President, Administration

   2006    199,731    23,255    38,923    12,746    4,452    274,655

Jonathan C. Gold

   2007    190,408    —      28,169    —      567    219,144

Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

   2006    145,902    —      —      —      5,363    151,265

Gerald L. Detter (6)

   2007    210,000    12,853    170,243    —      54,516    447,612

Chairman of the Board and Former Chief Executive Officer

   2006    400,000    1,473,163    265,610    —      26,364    2,165,137

 

(1) The assumptions used in determining the compensation expense under SFAS 123(R) can be found in Footnote 16 to QDI’s financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

(2) Stock Award amounts are the compensation expense recognized for both restricted stock awards and stock unit awards. All restricted stock was granted pursuant to the 2003 Restricted Stock Incentive Plan. We are recognizing compensation expense for the restricted stock grant awards pursuant to SFAS 123(R). The Stock Unit Awards to Mr. Detter were amortized on a straight line basis over the applicable vesting period, which ceased on July 13, 2007.

 

51


Table of Contents
(3) Option Award amounts are compensation expense recognized pursuant to SFAS 123(R).

 

(4) Amounts reflect above-market interest of $6,958 in 2007 and $5,532 in 2006 on deferred compensation earned by Mr. Copeland under our Key Employee Deferred Compensation Plan. Mr. Copeland is a participant in the Revised Retirement Plan for Employees of Chemical Leaman Corporation and Affiliated Corporations, a noncontributory defined benefit plan. The change in pension value at December 31, 2007 is $(7,251) and $7,214 for 2006. For additional information on the pension plan, refer to the Pension Benefits table.

 

(5) Amounts shown for 2007 and 2006 represent employer contributions to the 401(k) plan and employer paid premiums for group term life insurance. Additionally, with respect to Mr. Detter, amounts reported include automobile allowance of $11,400 in 2007 and $22,800 in 2006 and $41,821 in board fees in 2007.

 

(6) Mr. Detter resigned as QDI’s Chief Executive Officer on June 14, 2007. He continued to serve as an advisor through July 13, 2007. Mr. Detter continues to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. In 2007, Mr. Detter received $200,000 in base salary, $10,000 in fees for his service as an advisor and $41,821 in fees for serving as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Amounts reflected under Stock Awards represent compensation expense recognized pursuant to SFAS 123(R) for 7,050 shares of restricted stock granted to Mr. Detter on July 13, 2007. Vesting of these restricted stock shares is contingent upon his future service as a director. Upon termination of his employment, Mr. Detter forfeited 3,311 unvested stock units.

Grants of Plan-Based Awards During Fiscal Year-Ended 2007

The following table provides information about equity and non-equity awards granted to the named executives in 2007: the grant and approval dates; the estimated future payouts under non-equity incentive plan awards; the number of shares underlying all other stock awards; the number of shares underlying all other option awards; the exercise price of the stock option awards, which reflects the closing price of our stock on the date of grant and the grant date fair value of each equity award computed under SFAS 123(R).

 

                Estimated Future Payouts Under
Non-Equity Incentive Plan Awards (2)
                   

Name

   Grant Date    Approval
Date
    Threshold ($)    Target ($)    Maximum ($)    All
Other
Stock
Awards:
Number
of
Shares
of Stock
or Units
(#)
   All Other
Option
Awards:
Number of
Securities
Underlying
Options (#)
   Exercise
or Base
Price of
Option
Awards
($/Sh)
   Grant
Date
Fair
Value of
Stock
and
Option
Awards
($)

Gary R. Enzor

        16,726    257,330    514,661            
   01/03/2007               —      21,400    13.06    198,250
   06/14/2007    (1 )            40,000    —         391,200
   12/13/2007    (1 )            10,570    —         49,996

Timothy B. Page

        5,828    89,664    179,328            
   01/03/2007               —      15,600    13.06    123,708
   12/01/2007    (1 )            7,291    —         34,997

Virgil T. Leslie

        4,627    71,186    142,373            
   01/03/2007               —      14,300    13.06    113,399

Dennis R. Copeland

        4,031    62,019    124,039            
   01/03/2007               —      12,500    13.06    99,125

Jonathan C. Gold

        3,713    57,122    114,245            
   01/03/2007               —      7,300    13.06    57,889
   03/30/2007               —      20,000    8.65    94,600

Gerald L. Detter

   07/13/2007      —      —      —      7,050    —         82,274

 

(1) Approval date is the date of the relevant employment agreement.

 

(2) Represents possible payments pursuant to QDI’s annual bonus plan for 2007 performance. No amounts were paid pursuant to the annual bonus plan for 2007.

Narrative Disclosure

QDI’s Named Executive Officers (“NEOs”) all have employment agreements that govern their base pay and non-equity incentive plan compensation. All of QDI’s NEOs, were granted small increases in their salaries effective January 1, 2008. During 2007, the Compensation Committee granted stock options to all NEO’s except Mr. Detter.

On June 14, 2007, QDI entered into an agreement with Mr. Detter to change his role from Chief Executive Officer of QDI to Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Detter’s employment agreement was modified to provide for a new salary of $10,000, without bonus, over a term continuing until July 13, 2007. Upon the termination of his employment as Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Detter forfeited 7,050 stock units not vested under the terms of his existing stock unit grant agreement, but received a grant of an equivalent number of shares of restricted stock under the 2003 Restricted Stock Incentive Plan. The restricted stock so granted will vest annually over three years. The Board also determined to pay Mr. Detter annual fees of $90,000 for his service as Chairman of the Board of the Company. Mr. Detter continues to serve as Chairman of the Board and a director of QDI.

 

52


Table of Contents

Gary R. Enzor. On November 3, 2004, QDI entered into an employment agreement with Gary R. Enzor to perform the duties of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer with a base salary of $250,000. The employment agreement became effective December 13, 2004. The agreement included an incentive bonus of up to 45% of his annual salary based upon pre-determined performance standards subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors. The agreement provides for employment at will. Mr. Enzor was granted options covering 200,000 shares of QDI stock at a per share exercise price of $5.15 per share, which was the closing price on the NASDAQ Stock Market on November 3, 2004. Mr. Enzor was granted $50,000 in value of restricted stock (based on the closing price) in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, based on the grant date fair value on the date of grant. In addition, upon each subsequent anniversary of Mr. Enzor’s employment (through 2009), he will be granted $50,000 worth of restricted stock at the then fair market value per share. The options and grants of restricted stock vest in equal annual installments over four years.

On November 9, 2005, QDI appointed Mr. Enzor as its President. In connection with Mr. Enzor’s appointment as President, his salary under his Employment Agreement dated November 3, 2004 was increased to $285,000 from $250,000 per annum and he became eligible to receive an annual cash bonus up to 60% of his base salary, rather than 45%, beginning with the 2006 fiscal year. The other terms and conditions of Mr. Enzor’s existing employment agreement remain in effect. Mr. Enzor was also granted stock options covering 25,000 shares of common stock of the Company at an exercise price equal to $6.68, the closing price of QDI’s common stock on NASDAQ Stock Market on November 9, 2005, which vest ratably over four years.

On June 14, 2007, Mr. Enzor assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer from Mr. Detter. Mr. Enzor continues to serve as President. In connection with Mr. Enzor’s appointment as Chief Executive Officer, his base salary was increased from $293,550 to $350,000 per annum and to change his annual cash bonus eligibility to up to 80% of his base salary, rather than 60%. Mr. Enzor will also be entitled to receive his base salary for two years, instead of one year and to continue medical and other benefits if his employment is terminated without cause or if he resigns for good reason. The other terms and conditions of Mr. Enzor’s existing employment agreement remain in effect. Mr. Enzor was also granted 40,000 shares of restricted stock.

Timothy B. Page. On November 4, 2004, QDI entered into an employment agreement with Timothy B. Page to perform the duties of Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer with a base salary of $240,000. The employment agreement became effective as of December 1, 2004. The agreement includes an incentive bonus of up to 35% of his annual salary based upon pre-determined performance standards subject to the discretion of the QDI Board of Directors. The agreement provides for employment at will. Mr. Page was granted options covering 150,000 shares of QDI stock at a per share exercise price of $7.91 per share, which was the closing price on the NASDAQ Stock Market on December 1, 2004. Pursuant to his employment agreement, Mr. Page was granted $35,000 in value of restricted shares (based on the closing price) in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. In addition, on each subsequent anniversary of Mr. Page’s employment (through 2009), he will be granted $35,000 worth of restricted stock at the then fair market value per share. The options and the grants of restricted stock vest in equal annual installments over four years.

Virgil T. Leslie. On June 3, 2004, QDI entered into an amended employment agreement with Virgil T. Leslie to perform the duties of Executive Vice President – Sales of QDI with a base salary of $210,000 per annum. The agreement included an incentive bonus of up to 30% of his annual salary based upon pre-determined performance standards subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors. The employment agreement, as amended, provides for a two-year term, with an automatic one-year extension on each anniversary date, unless the Company or Mr. Leslie gives notice that the term will not be so extended.

Dennis R. Copeland. On June 23, 1998, Mr. Copeland entered into an employment agreement with QDI in connection with the acquisition of CLC. Under his employment agreement, Mr. Copeland was initially entitled to receive a base salary of $145,000. Mr. Copeland’s agreement includes an incentive bonus of up to 30% of his annual salary based upon pre-determined performance standards subject to the discretion of the QDI Board of Directors. The agreement provides for employment at will.

Jonathan C. Gold. On April 1, 2007, QDI entered into an employment agreement with Jonathan C. Gold to perform duties of Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary with a base salary of $200,000. The agreement includes an incentive bonus of up to 30% of his annual salary based upon pre-determined performance standards subject to the discretion of the QDI Board of Directors. The agreement provides for employment at will. Mr. Gold was granted options covering 20,000 shares of QDI stock at a per share exercise price of $8.65 per share, which was the closing price on the NASDAQ Stock Market on March 30, 2007. The options vest in equal annual installments over four years.

Gerald L. Detter. QDI entered into an employment agreement with Gerald L. Detter dated June 5, 2005, to perform the duties of President and Chief Executive Officer. The employment agreement provided for a three-year term with an automatic extension on each anniversary date, unless Mr. Detter or QDI gave notice that the term would not be so extended. Mr. Detter resigned as our Chief Executive Officer. At that time Mr. Detter entered into a letter agreement with QDI, pursuant to which he agreed to serve as an advisor to QDI through July 13, 2007 for a salary of $10,000. Pursuant to the letter agreement, Mr. Detter also received 7,050 shares of restricted stock granted to Mr. Detter on July 13, 2007. Vesting of these restricted stock shares is contingent upon his future service as a director. Following his retirement on July 13, 2007, Mr. Detter was appointed as the Chairman of the Board, for which he receives annual fees equal to $90,000.

Under his employment agreement, Mr. Detter was entitled to receive a base salary of $450,000 per year (comprised of $400,000 in cash and $50,000 in stock units). Mr. Detter received salary of $200,000 in cash 2007 prior to his resignation on June 14. Mr. Detter received the other normal benefits accorded employees or executive officers of the Company plus a car allowance.

Upon execution of his employment agreement, Mr. Detter was granted stock units covering 300,000 shares of QDI’s common stock and the first annual Stock Unit base salary grant of 6,535 units valued at $50,000 based on the closing price of QDI’s common stock on the NASDAQ Stock Market on June 3, 2005, of $7.65. Mr. Detter also received 3,858 stock units on June 3, 2006. The 300,000 share Stock Unit grant fully vested on December 31, 2006. Each annual grant vested 14.2% on December 31 of the year in which such annual grant is made and 28.6% on December 31 of each successive year until fully vested. Pursuant to the letter agreement, Mr. Detter forfeited 3,311 unvested stock units upon his resignation as an employee on July 13, 2007.

 

53


Table of Contents

In addition, upon execution of his employment agreement, Mr. Detter was granted options covering 250,000 shares of QDI’s common stock at an exercise price $7.65, which was equal to the closing price of QDI’s common stock on the NASDAQ Stock Market on June 3, 2005. The options vest ratably over three and a half years provided that Mr. Detter continues to serve as an officer or director of QDI.

Each of these employment agreements provides for severance if the employment of the executive is terminated without cause or if the executive resigns for good reason. These benefits are discussed in greater detail above.

 

54


Table of Contents

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End 2007

The following table provides information on the current holdings of stock options and stock awards by the Named Executive Officers. This table includes unexercised and unvested option awards and unvested stock awards.

 

     Option Awards    Stock Awards

Name

   Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)

Exercisable
   Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)

Unexercisable (1)
   Option
Exercise
Price ($)
   Option
Expiration
Date
   Stock Unit
or Stock
Award
Grant Date
   Number of
Shares or
Units of
Stock That
Have Not
Vested (#) (2)
   Market
Value of
Shares or
Units of
Stock That
have not
Vested ($) (3)

Gary R. Enzor

   150,000    50,000    5.15    11/3/2014         
   12,500    12,500    6.68    11/9/2015         
      21,400    13.06    1/3/2017         
               11/3/2004    2,428    10,780
               12/13/2005    3,597    15,971
               12/13/2006    2,690    11,944
               6/14/2007    40,000    177,600
               12/13/2007    10,570    46,931

Timothy B. Page

   112,500    37,500    7.91    12/1/2014         
   3,750    11,250    7.94    1/3/2016         
      15,600    13.06    1/3/2017         
               12/1/2004    1,107    4,915
               12/1/2005    2,883    12,801
               12/1/2006    1,943    8,627
               12/1/2007    7,291    32,372

Virgil T. Leslie

   170,000       17.00    11/5/2013         
   28,500       8.45    12/31/2014         
   8,750    26,250    7.94    1/3/2016         
      14,300    13.06    1/3/2017         
               11/5/2003    1,118    4,964
               12/31/2004    799    3,548

Dennis R. Copeland

   85,000       17.00    11/5/2013         
   17,100       8.45    12/31/2014         
   8,750    26,250    7.94    1/3/2016         
      12,500    13.06    1/3/2017         
               11/5/2003    671    2,979
               12/31/2004    799    3,548

Jonathan C. Gold

   15,000       8.74    1/31/2015         
   1,250    3,750    7.94    1/3/2016         
      7,300    13.06    1/3/2017         
      20,000    8.65    3/30/2017         

Gerald L. Detter

   178,572    71,428    7.65    1/3/2015         
               7/13/2007    7,050    31,302

 

(1) Mr. Enzor’s unvested options expiring:

November 3, 2014 vest on of November 3, 2008.

November 9, 2015 vest 50% on each November 9 beginning November 9, 2008

January 3, 2007 vest 50% each on January 3, 2010 and 2011.

Mr. Page’s unvested options expiring:

December 1, 2014 vest on December 1, 2008.

January 1, 2016 vest 33.3% on each January 3 beginning January 3, 2008.

January 1, 2017 vest 50% each on January 3, 2010 and 2011.

Mr. Leslie’s unvested options expiring:

January 1, 2016 vest 33.3% on each January 3 beginning January 3, 2008.

January 1, 2017 vest 50% each on January 3, 2010 and 2011.

Mr. Copeland’s unvested options expiring:

January 3, 2016 vest 33.3% on each January 3 beginning January 3, 2008.

January 3, 2017 vest 50% each on January 3, 2010 and 2011.

Mr. Gold’s unvested options expiring:

January 3, 2016 vest 33.3% on each January 3 beginning January 3, 2008

January 3, 2017 vest 50% each on January 3, 2010 and 2011.

March 30, 2017 vest 25% on each March 30 beginning March 30, 2008.

Mr. Detter’s unvested options vest on December 31, 2008.

 

(2) Mr. Enzor’s unvested shares of restricted stock vest as follows:

Awarded November 2004 - vest on December 31, 2008.

Awarded December 2005 - 50% on December 31, 2008 and 2009.

Awarded December 2006 - 33.3% on December 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

 

55


Table of Contents

Awarded June 2007 - 25% on June 14, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Awarded December 2007 - 25% on December 13, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011

Mr. Page’s unvested shares of restricted stock vest as follows:

Awarded December 2004 - vest on December 31, 2008.

Awarded December 2005 - 50% on December 31, 2008 and 2009.

Awarded December 2006 - 33.3% on December 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

December 2007 - 25% on December 1, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Mr. Leslie’s unvested shares of restricted stock vest as follows:

Awarded December 2003 - vest on December 31, 2008.

Awarded December 2004 - vest on December 31, 2008

Mr. Copeland’s unvested shares of restricted stock vest as follows:

Awarded December 2003 - vest on December 31, 2008.

Awarded December 2004 - vest on December 31, 2008.

Mr. Detter’s unvested shares of restricted stock vest as follows:

Awarded July 2007 - 33.3% on December 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

 

(3) Market value was determined by multiplying the number of shares or units set forth in the preceding column by $4.44, the closing price of our common stock as reported on the NASDAQ Global Market on December 31, 2007, the last trading day of the year.

Option Exercises and Stock Vested During Fiscal Year-End 2007

The following table provides information on vesting during 2007 of Named Executive Officers’ restricted stock and stock units, but not options. No information is presented for option exercises because no Named Executive Officer exercised options during 2007.

 

     Option Awards    Stock Awards

Name

   Number of
Shares
Acquired on
Exercise (#)
   Value
Realized on
Exercise ($)
   Number of
Shares
Acquired on
Vesting (#) (1)
   Value
Realized on
Vesting ($) (2)

Gary R. Enzor

   —      —      5,122    22,742

Timothy B. Page

   —      —      3,195    14,186

Virgil T. Leslie

   —      —      1,917    8,511

Dennis R. Copeland

   —      —      1,470    6,527

Jonathan C. Gold

   —      —      —      —  

Gerald L. Detter

   —      —      —      —  

 

(1) Stock awards for all recipients were restricted stock, and shares of restricted stock became freely tradable upon vesting. of the company,

 

(2) All identified stock awards vested in December 2007. Value realized on vesting was determined by multiplying the number of shares or units set forth in the preceding column by $4.44, the closing price of our common stock as reported on the NASDAQ Global Market on December 31, 2007, the last trading day of the year.

Pension Benefits

The following table provides information on pension benefits of Mr. Copeland during 2007. No other Named Executive Officers participate in the pension plan.

 

Name

  

Plan Name (1)

   Number
of Years
of
Credited
Service (2)
   Present
Value of
Accumulated
Benefit ($)
   Payments
During
2007

Gary R. Enzor

   —      —      —      —  

Timothy B. Page

   —      —      —      —  

Virgil T. Leslie

   —      —      —      —  

Dennis R. Copeland

   Revised Retirement Plan for Employees of Chemical Leaman Corporation and Affiliated Corporations    10.26    130,792    —  

Jonathan C. Gold

   —      —      —      —  

Gerald L. Detter

   —      —      —      —  

 

(1)

The Revised Retirement Plan for Employees of Chemical Leaman Corporation and Affiliated Corporations (the “Pension Plan”) is a noncontributory defined benefit plan covering noncollective bargaining employees from Chemical Leaman Corporation and affiliated corporations (“CLC”). QDI assumed the Pension Plan in connection with its acquisition of CLC in 1998. Employees with five or more years of credited service are entitled to receive monthly benefits beginning at normal retirement age (65), equal to 1.25% of their average earnings multiplied by their years of benefit accrual not to exceed 40 years. Pension benefits are adjusted to reflect increases in cost of living and spousal elections. The Pension Plan permits early retirement at age 55 with five years of service with reduced benefits. Upon termination of employment with five or more years of credited service, the retirement benefit is fully vested with payments being deferred

 

56


Table of Contents
 

until retirement date. Employees become 100% vested in the Pension Plan benefits after completion of five years of credited service. The assumptions used in determining the present value of the accumulated benefit consisted of a discount rate of 6.25% and retirement payments for 18 years beginning at attained age 65.

 

(2) The years of credited service represent the service accumulated to the benefit accrual freeze date of June 30, 1999. No additional service has been, or is expected to be, accrued after that date.

Nonqualified Deferred Compensation

The following table provides information on deferred compensation of Mr. Copeland during 2007. No other Named Executive Officers participated in the deferred compensation plan.

 

Name

   Executive
Contributions
in 2007 ($)
(1)
    Registrant
Contributions
in 2007 ($)
   Aggregate
Earnings
in 2007
($)
    Aggregate
Withdrawals/
Distributions
($)
   Aggregate
Balance at
December 31,
2007
($)
 

Gary R. Enzor

   —       —      —       —      —    

Timothy B. Page

   —       —      —       —      —    

Virgil T. Leslie

   —       —      —       —      —    

Dennis R. Copeland

   12,404 (2)   —      12,013 (3)   —      119,061 (4)

Jonathan C. Gold

   —       —      —       —      —    

Gerald L. Detter

   —       —      —       —      —    

 

(1) Under the Key Employee Deferred Compensation Plan participants may defer payment of such portion of their base salary or cash bonus and there is no numeric limit. Amounts deferred are reflected by us as bookkeeping accounts in the name of each participant. The plan is an unfunded, unsecured and nonqualified deferred compensation arrangement. QDI may credit the account of any participant with additional contributions in our discretion, which amounts vest over four years. No such contributions were made in 2007. The interest rate paid under the Key Employee Deferred Compensation Plan for 2007 for senior executives was 12% for senior executives. The distribution of a participant’s vested interest amount is paid following the earlier of (a) his severance from the company; (b) the later of the date the participant attains age 65 or completes ten years of participation in the plan; or (c) upon a participant’s death.

 

(2) Contributions of $12,404 by Mr. Copeland were reported as salary in Summary Compensation Table for 2007.

 

(3) Amount includes $6,958 of above-market earnings reported for Mr. Copeland in 2007 in the Summary Compensation Table.

 

(4) Amount includes $17,919 reported as salary and $5,532 reported as above-market earnings on deferred compensation for Mr. Copeland in 2006 in the Summary Compensation Table.

Director Compensation Table for Fiscal Year-Ended 2007

QDI’s directors receive an annual cash retainer of $30,000 and an annual award of restricted stock of $30,000 in value, except for Mr. Detter, who is compensated as described below.

The restricted stock vests over four years if the individual remains a director. Mr. Detter receives an annual fee of $90,000 for his service as the Chairman of the Board. All of QDI’s directors, except for Mr. Detter, receive $1,000 per Board of Directors’ meeting attended and $1,000 per committee meeting attended. The chairman of each committee receives $2,000 per committee meeting. Non-employee directors are not entitled to retirement benefits, incentive compensation or perquisites. All directors are reimbursed for their out-of-pocket expenses for meeting attendance. The following table sets forth total compensation to QDI’s directors for the year ended December 31, 2007:

 

Name (1)

   Fees Earned or
Paid in Cash ($)
   Stock
Awards ($) (2)
   Option
Awards ($) (3)
   Total ($)

Marc E. Becker (3)(15)

   —      —      —      —  

Robert H. Falk (5)(15)

   —      —      30,434    30,434

Robert E. Gadomski (6)

   51,000    14,938    30,434    96,372

Richard B. Marchese (7)

   42,000    22,437    12,904    77,341

Thomas R. Miklich (8)

   51,000    14,938    30,434    96,372

Donald C. Orris (9)

   40,000    22,437    —      62,437

Eric L. Press (10)(15)

   —      —      —      —  

M. Ali Rashid (11)(15)

   —      —      30,434    30,434

Alan H. Schumacher (12)

   67,000    22,437    —      89,437

John J. Suydam (13)(15)

   —      —      —      —  

Thomas M. White (14)(15)

   —      —      —      —  

 

(1) Because Mr. Detter was a Named Executive Officer in 2007, his compensation is reflected under the Summary Compensation Table and related tables.

 

(2) Stock Awards amounts are the compensation expense recognized for restricted stock awards. All restricted stock was granted pursuant to the 2003 Restricted Stock Incentive Plan. We are recognizing compensation expense for the restricted stock grant awards pursuant to SFAS 123(R). The assumptions used in determining the compensation under SFAS 123(R) can be found in Footnote 16 to QDI’s financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

57


Table of Contents
(3) Option Awards amounts are compensation expense recognized for option awards. We are recognizing compensation expense for the option awards pursuant to SFAS 123(R). The assumptions used in determining the compensation under SFAS 123(R) can be found in Footnote 16 to QDI’s financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

(4) During 2007, Mr. Becker received no grants of restricted stock or options. As of December 31, 2007, Mr. Becker held no shares of restricted stock and 20,000 options to purchase common stock outstanding, all of which are exercisable.

 

(5) During 2007, Mr. Falk received no grants of restricted stock or options. As of December 31, 2007, Mr. Falk held 15,000 options to purchase common stock outstanding of which 11,250 are unexercisable and no shares of restricted stock.

 

(6) During 2007, Mr. Gadomski received a grant of 2,297 shares of restricted stock with a grant date fair value of $30,000. As of December 31, 2007, Mr. Gadomski held 5,131 shares of unvested restricted stock and 15,000 options to purchase common stock outstanding of which 11,250 are unexercisable.

 

(7) During 2007, Mr. Marchese received a grant of 2,297 shares of restricted stock with a grant date fair value of $30,000. As of December 31, 2007, Mr. Marchese held 6,879 shares of unvested restricted stock and 35,000 exercisable options to purchase common stock outstanding.

 

(8) During 2007, Mr. Miklich received a grant of 2,297 shares of restricted stock with a grant date fair value of $30,000. As of December 31, 2007, Mr. Miklich held 5,131 shares of unvested restricted stock and 15,000 options to purchase common stock outstanding of which 11,250 are unexercisable.

 

(9) During 2007, Mr. Orris received a grant of 2,297 shares of restricted stock with a grant date fair value of $30,000. As of December 31, 2007, Mr. Orris held 6,879 shares of unvested restricted stock and 20,000 exercisable options to purchase common stock outstanding.

 

(10) During 2007, Mr. Press received no grants of restricted stock or options. As of December 31, 2007, Mr. Press held no shares of restricted stock and 10,000 options to purchase common stock outstanding, all of which are exercisable.

 

(11) During 2007, Mr. Rashid received no grants of restricted stock or options. As of December 31, 2007, Mr. Rashid held no shares of restricted stock and 15,000 options to purchase common stock outstanding, of which 11,250 are unexercisable.

 

(12) During 2007, Mr. Schumacher received a grant of 2,297 shares of restricted stock with a grant date fair value of $30,000. As of December 31, 2007, Mr. Schumacher held 6,879 shares of unvested restricted stock and 10,000 exercisable options to purchase common stock outstanding.

 

(13) As of December 31, 2007, Mr. Suydam held no restricted shares or options.

 

(14) As of December 31, 2007, Mr. White held no restricted shares or options.

 

(15) In 2007, consistent with past practice, directors affiliated with Apollo waived their annual retainer and grant of restricted shares. We do not expect the waiver to apply in 2008.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

The Compensation Committee is currently comprised of Mr. Becker, Mr. Rashid and Mr. Schumacher. None of the members is or has been an officer or employee of QDI. There are not currently any compensation committee interlocks between QDI and other entities involving our executive officers and Board members who serve as executive officers or Board members of such other entities.

Apollo, through its control of a majority of the common stock of QDI, has the power to control QDI’s affairs and policies, including the election of QDI’s directors and the appointment of QDI’s management.

Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions

Two of our customers (Hexion Specialty Chemicals and Momentive Performance Materials) are controlled by Apollo. Revenue from these two customers was $15.9 million, $10.8 million and $5.5 million in 2007, 2006 and 2005, respectively. All pricing with the companies controlled by Apollo were based on market rates, including such factors as total expected revenue to be generated by the customer, number of loads to be hauled and the number of miles to be driven.

Company Policy Regarding Transactions with Related Persons

QDI has a written Code of Conduct for its executive officers, directors and employees. While the Board of Directors of QDI is ultimately responsible for the implementation of the Code, the Audit Committee and the Senior Vice President–Administration of QDI have been designated to administer the Code. QDI’s Code seeks the avoidance of not only actual, but also potential and apparent conflicts of interest, and it requires the disclosure of relevant facts not only from persons with a potential conflict of interest, but also others that learn of the potential conflict of interest. Persons reporting suspected violations in good faith are assured that they will not be subject to retaliation of any kind.

The Code of Conduct establishes principles of conduct in lieu of rigorous procedures. However, the Chairperson of the Audit Committee is responsible for administering the Code with respect to directors and executive officers. Transactions with related parties that are reportable under Item 404 of Regulation S-K fall within the ambit of QDI’s Code of Conduct and require written approval. In addition, they and other conflicts of interest are required to be fully disclosed and considered prior to their resolution.

 

58


Table of Contents

DESCRIPTION OF THE ABL FACILITY AND OTHER INDEBTEDNESS

The ABL Facility

We entered into the ABL Facility on December 18, 2007. The ABL Facility consists of a current asset tranche in an initial amount of $195.0 million and a fixed asset tranche in an initial amount of $30.0 million, with the total commitments under the fixed asset tranche to be reduced, and the total commitments under the current asset tranche correspondingly increased, by $5.0 million on each of December 18, 2009 and 2010. Borrowings of revolving loans under the ABL Facility are allocated pro rata to the current asset tranche and the fixed asset tranche based on the then-current asset borrowing base and the then-current fixed asset borrowing base. The ABL Facility includes letters of credit, which are to be allocated pro rata between the two tranches based on the then-current borrowing base for each tranche for so long as the fixed asset tranche remains in effect, and are available for working capital needs and general corporate purposes, including permitted acquisitions. The maturity date of the ABL Facility is June 18, 2013. The maturity date of the ABL Facility may be accelerated if we default on our obligations under the ABL Facility. The maturity date of the ABL Facility is also advanced to a date 91 days prior to the maturity dates of the Series A Notes, the Series B Notes or the 9% Notes (or any replacement indebtedness) if the aggregate principal amount of the Series A Notes, the Series B Notes and the 9% Notes that matures within the 91-day period exceeds $50 million.

Prepayments

The ABL Facility is required to be prepaid only to the extent that aggregate amount of outstanding borrowings, unreimbursed letter of credit drawings and undrawn letters of credit under the relevant tranche exceeds the lesser of the applicable commitments and the applicable borrowing base in effect at such time for such tranche. The borrowing base for the current asset tranche consists of eligible accounts receivable, eligible inventory and eligible truck and trailer fleet, and the borrowing base for the fixed asset tranche consists of eligible real property and certain eligible equipment.

Voluntary prepayments and commitment reductions are permitted in whole or in part, subject to minimum prepayment or reduction requirements, without premium or penalty provided that voluntary prepayments of Eurodollar loans on a date other than the last day of the relevant interest period are subject to payment of customary breakage costs, if any.

Interest and Fees

The interest rate under the current asset tranche is based, at our option, on either the administrative agent’s base rate plus 1.00% or on the Eurodollar LIBOR rate plus, 2.00%. The administrative base rate is equal to the greaterof the federal funds overnight rate plus 0.50% or the prime rate. The interest rate under the fixed asset tranche is based, at our option, on either the administrative agent’s base rate plus 1.25% or on LIBOR plus 2.25%, in each case subject to reductions in the applicable margins based upon the amounts available for borrowing under the ABL Facility. Overdue principal, interest and other amounts bear interest at a rate per annum equal to 2.0% in excess of the rate on such overdue borrowings.

With respect to LIBOR loans, we are able to elect interest periods of 1, 2, 3 or 6 months (or, if consented to by all lenders under the applicable tranche at the time of the relevant borrowing, 9 or 12 months). With respect to Eurodollar loans, interest is payable in arrears at the end of each interest period and, in any event, at least every 3 months. With respect to base rate loans, interest is payable quarterly in arrears on the last business day of each calendar quarter. Per annum rates are calculated on the basis of a 360-day year for LIBOR loans, or a 365/366 day year, for base rate loans.

Letters of Credit and Fees

The ABL Facility provides for payment of the following in respect of outstanding letters of credit:

 

   

a letter of credit fee, payable quarterly in arrears, equal to (i) for standby letters of credit, the spread over the LIBOR for LIBOR loans under the ABL Facility, and (ii) for trade letters of credit, the spread over the LIBOR for Eurodollar rate loans under the ABL Facility minus 0.50%, in each case from time to time in effect on the aggregate outstanding stated amounts of such letters of credit;

 

   

a fronting fee, payable quarterly in arrears, equal to 0.125% per annum on the aggregate outstanding stated amounts of such letter of credit; and

 

   

customary administrative charges.

We pay a commitment fee equal to 0.25% per annum on the available daily undrawn portion of the available commitment under the ABL Facility. This commitment fee is paid quarterly in arrears.

We may request up to $150.0 million in letters of credit, subject to certain limitations base on availability under the ABL Facility. In the event we prepay all outstanding amounts under the fixed asset tranche of the ABL Facility, and all commitments thereunder are terminated, prior to the termination of the ABL Facility, no less than $150.0 million under the current asset tranche will be available for letters of credit.

Collateral and Guarantees

The loans and letters of credit under the ABL Facility are guaranteed by our parent, QDI, and all of our existing and future direct and indirect wholly owned domestic restricted subsidiaries, other than our immaterial subsidiaries. Our obligations and the obligations of the guarantors under the current asset tranche are secured by a first lien on the current asset tranche priority collateral, and a second lien on the fixed asset tranche priority collateral. Our obligations and the obligations of the guarantors under the fixed asset tranche are secured by a first lien on the current asset tranche priority collateral and a second lien on the fixed asset tranche priority collateral. The collateral will also secure certain interest rate protection and other hedging agreements permitted by the ABL Facility that may be entered into from time to time by us.

 

59


Table of Contents

Representations and Warranties and Covenants

The ABL Facility and related documentation contains certain customary representations and warranties. In addition, the ABL Facility contains customary covenants restricting, subject to certain exceptions, our ability and the ability of QDI and certain of our subsidiaries to, among other things:

 

   

prepay other indebtedness (including the Series A Notes, the Series B Notes and the 9% Notes);

 

   

declare dividends and repurchase capital stock;

 

   

create liens on assets;

 

   

make investments;

 

   

incur additional indebtedness;

 

   

amend certain organizational, corporate and other documents (including those governing the Series A Notes, the Series B Notes and the 9% Notes);

 

   

engage in mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and asset sales;

 

   

enter into sale-leaseback transactions;

 

   

change the nature of our business;

 

   

engage in certain transactions with affiliates and formation of subsidiaries;

 

   

issue common stock and preferred stock, subject to certain exceptions; and

The ABL Facility contains a fixed charge coverage ratio of 1.0 to 1.0 which only needs to be met if borrowing availability is less than $20.0 million.

Events of Default

Events of default under the ABL Facility include:

 

   

our failure to pay principal or interest when due or pay a reimbursement obligation on a letter of credit;

 

   

material breach of any representation or warranty;

 

   

covenant defaults;

 

   

cross defaults on other material indebtedness;

 

   

events of bankruptcy;

 

   

our change of control; and

 

   

other customary events of default.

The 9% Notes

On September 30, 2003, we issued the 9% Notes, which consisted of $125.0 million aggregate principal amount of our 9% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2010. On March 10, 2005, we exchanged the original 9% Notes for a new issue of substantially identical notes registered under the Securities Act.

Our payment obligations under the 9% Notes are guaranteed by our parent, QDI, and by all of our domestic subsidiaries (other than QD Capital, which is a co-issuer).

The 9% Notes are senior subordinated unsecured obligations ranking junior in right of payment to all of our existing and future senior debt, and all liabilities of our subsidiaries that do not guarantee the 9% Notes. In the event of liquidation, bankruptcy, insolvency or similar events, holders of senior debt, such as the lenders under the ABL Facility and holders of the Series A Notes and Series B Notes are entitled to receive payment in full in cash or cash equivalents before holders of the 9% Notes are entitled to receive any payments. No payments may be made on the 9% Notes if we default on the payment of senior debt, and payments on the 9% Notes may be blocked for up to 180 days if we default on the senior debt in some other way until such default is cured or waived. Interest on the 9% Notes is payable at the rate of 9% per annum and is payable semi-annually in cash on each May 15 and November 15. The 9% Notes will mature on November 15, 2010.

We have the right to redeem the 9% Notes in whole or in part from time to time on and after November 15, 2007 at the following redemption prices (expressed as percentages of the principal amount) if redeemed during the twelve-month period commencing on November 15 of the year set forth below, plus, in each case, accrued and unpaid interest if any, to the date of redemption:

 

Year

   Percentage