GUARANTEES
We have executed various agreements with third parties that contain standard indemnifications that may require us to indemnify a third party against losses arising from a variety of matters such as lease obligations, financing agreements, environmental matters, and agreements to sell business assets. In each of these instances, payment by Ryder is contingent on the other party bringing about a claim under the procedures outlined in the specific agreement. Normally, these procedures allow us to dispute the other party’s claim. Additionally, our obligations under these agreements may be limited in terms of the amount and/or timing of any claim. We have entered into individual indemnification agreements with each of our independent directors, through which we will indemnify such director acting in good faith against any and all losses, expenses and liabilities arising out of such director’s service as a director of Ryder. The maximum amount of potential future payments under these agreements is generally unlimited.
We cannot predict the maximum potential amount of future payments under certain of these agreements, including the indemnification agreements, due to the contingent nature of the potential obligations and the distinctive provisions that are involved in each individual agreement. Historically, no such payments made by us have had a material adverse effect on our business. We believe that if a loss were incurred in any of these matters, the loss would not have a material adverse impact on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.
At December 31, 2013 and 2012, the maximum determinable exposure of each type of guarantee and the corresponding liability, if any, recorded on the Consolidated Balance Sheets were as follows:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | December 31, 2013 | | December 31, 2012 |
Guarantee | | Maximum Exposure of Guarantee | | Carrying Amount of Liability | | Maximum Exposure of Guarantee | | Carrying Amount of Liability |
| | (In thousands) |
Vehicle residual value guarantees (end of lease term) — operating leases (1) | | $ | 24,059 |
| | $ | — |
| | 24,558 |
| | 11 |
|
Standby letters of credit | | 6,234 |
| | 6,234 |
| | 6,234 |
| | 6,234 |
|
Total | | $ | 30,293 |
| | $ | 6,234 |
| | 30,792 |
| | 6,245 |
|
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| |
(1) | Amounts exclude contingent rentals associated with residual value guarantees on certain vehicles held under operating leases for which the guarantees are conditioned upon disposal of the leased vehicles prior to the end of their lease term. At December 31, 2013 and 2012, our maximum exposure for such guarantees was approximately $120 million and $183 million, respectively, with $0.2 million and $2 million recorded as a liability at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively. |
We have provided partial end of lease term residual value guarantees as part of a sale leaseback transaction in 2012. If the sales proceeds from the final disposition of the specified vehicles are less than the residual value guarantee, we are required to pay the difference to the lessor. The leases expire periodically through 2019. At December 31, 2013, our maximum exposure for such guarantees was approximately $24 million. No liability has been recognized as of December 31, 2013 because we do not expect to pay any guaranteed amounts to the lessor based on current market conditions. The payments associated with the end of lease term residual value guarantees have been included in our future minimum lease payments for leases in effect as of December 31, 2013. See Note 15, "Leases," for further information.
At December 31, 2013 and 2012, we had letters of credit and surety bonds outstanding, which primarily guarantee various insurance activities as noted in the following table:
|
| | | | | | | |
| | December 31, |
| | 2013 | | 2012 |
| | (In thousands) |
Letters of credit | | $ | 210,995 |
| | 198,227 |
|
Surety bonds | | 99,486 |
| | 95,856 |
|
Certain of these letters of credit and surety bonds guarantee insurance activities associated with insurance claim liabilities transferred in conjunction with the sale of our automotive transport business, reported as discontinued operations in previous years. To date, the insurance claims representing per-claim deductibles payable under third-party insurance policies have been paid and continue to be paid by the company that assumed such liabilities. However, if all or a portion of the estimated outstanding assumed claims of approximately $6 million at December 31, 2013 are unable to be paid, the third-party insurers may have recourse against certain of the outstanding letters of credit provided by Ryder in order to satisfy the unpaid claim deductibles. In 2009, in order to reduce our potential exposure to these claims, we drew upon an outstanding letter of credit provided by the purchaser and have a deposit and corresponding liability, both of which are outstanding at December 31, 2013. Periodically, an actuarial valuation is made in order to better estimate the amount of outstanding insurance claim liabilities.
