Item 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

Market risk represents the risk of loss that may impact our financial position, results of operations and cash flows due to adverse changes in financial market prices and rates.

We are exposed to interest rate risk directly related to loans, if any, under our Credit Agreement, which have variable interest rates. A 100 basis point increase in the average interest rate on this agreement would have no material effect on our operating results at December 31, 2023 and 2022. We have established policies and procedures to manage exposure to market risks and use major institutions that we believe are creditworthy to minimize credit risk.

From time to time, we are exposed to interest rate risk on certain short-term investments. We maintained a short-term investment portfolio, principally composed of commercial paper, totaling $49.4 million at December 31, 2022. We held no short-term investments as of December 31, 2023. These fixed rate securities are subject to interest rate risk, as sharp increases in market interest rates could have an adverse impact on their fair value. Although the fair values of these instruments can fluctuate, we believe that the short-term, highly liquid nature of these debt securities, and our ability to hold these instruments to maturity, reduces our risk for potential material losses. A hypothetical 100 basis point change in market interest rates would have had an immaterial impact on the fair value of these investments at December 31, 2022 and no impact at December 31, 2023.

We are exposed to market risk for investments relating to certain assets held within the Company-owned life insurance contracts on certain current and former employees. The cash surrender value in life insurance contracts included on our Balance Sheets at December 31, 2023 and 2022 was $74.4 million and $63.5 million, respectively. The portion of underlying investments with exposure to market fluctuations was $56.2 million and $45.9 million at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. To provide a meaningful assessment of the market risk for investments relating to Company-owned life insurance contracts, we performed a sensitivity analysis using a 10% change in market value in those investments as of December 31, 2023 and 2022. A 10% change in market value would have caused a $5.6 million and a $4.6 million impact on our pre-tax income in 2023 and 2022, respectively.

We are also exposed to commodity price risk related to diesel fuel prices, and we manage our exposure to that risk primarily through the application of fuel surcharges to our customers.

For further discussion related to these risks, see Notes 1, 2 and 9 of the Notes to the Financial Statements included in Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” and Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”