Dramatic growth over seven decades has characterized ABF® Freight System, Inc.'s, transformation from a small local carrier into one of the nation's largest motor carriers.

Today, one of the trucking industry leaders, we operated as OK Transfer in 1923 in and around Fort Smith, Arkansas. By the time the "grandfather clause" of the landmark ICC Act of 1935 went into effect, the company had acquired and was operating as Arkansas Motor Freight, running routes to and from Fayetteville and Texarkana, Arkansas, and Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri.

In 1951, after nine more acquisitions, Robert A. Young, Jr., a Fort Smith attorney and businessman, purchased Arkansas Motor Freight. The more than 20 acquisitions that followed illustrated the vision he instilled in the company. Every acquisition turned into a profitable operation within a year after it merged with ABF.

Following the purchase of Best Motor Freight in 1957, the company's name was changed to Arkansas-Best Freight System, Inc., the name it operated under until the official name change to ABF Freight System, Inc. in 1980. It was in 1966 that the principals of ABF organized Arkansas Best Corporation with ABF becoming its largest subsidiary.

The subsidiaries of ABC have included banking, computer services, furniture manufacturing, specialized and truckload carriers, as well as warehousing and truck tire recapping.

ABF became a nationwide carrier in the seventies, with the acquisition of authority in New England, the Southeast and a portion of the Great Lakes region in the early part of the decade and with a major acquisition of authority on the West Coast and in several western states in 1978. The acquisition of Navajo Freight Line that year lifted the company from 25th to 9th in size among the nation's top ten regulated interstate motor freight carriers.

Two years after the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 brought deregulation to the trucking industry, ABF further improved its national service with the acquisition of East Texas Motor Freight, opening new operations and substantially increasing market size in several states. In 1995, as a result of Arkansas Best Corporation's purchase of WorldWay Corporation, ABF consolidated Carolina Freight Carriers Corporation and Red Arrow Freight Lines into its operations. As a result, ABF substantially increased its ability to compete in the regional markets while retaining its status as one of the nation's four largest national carriers.

Through more than seven decades of operation, ABF has continued to expand its services and coverage. Today, the company serves all 50 states in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and nine provinces from coast-to-coast in Canada. In 1992, the company developed international services on a worldwide basis through cooperation with intermodal partners. Today, ABF's international operation offers service to 230 ports in more than 130 countries. Also in 1992, an alliance was formed with one of Mexico's largest LTL specialists to provide single-bill coverage to that country. In 1993, ABF embarked upon a customized setup and delivery service never before available in the industry.

ABF GROWTH

ABF's operating history is an impressive record of growth. The results shown below reflect an operating loss only 4 years of a 21-year period. These years of 1979, 1982, 1995, and 1996 were acquisition periods (Navajo Freight Lines, East Texas Motor Freight, and Carolina Freight Corp.) during which ABF purchased other major carriers. Industry analysts predicted that we could not survive such moves, yet ABF has shown remarkable prosperity and growth in the years immediately following the acquisitions.

ABF realized prior to the onset of deregulation in 1980 that in order for us to be a major carrier in the 1980's and beyond that we would have to expand our service to every major market in the U.S. As of 4/11/2000, ABF has 311 revenue producing facilities in every major market area in the U.S. and serves over 98 percent of the entire U.S. urban population in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. ABF will continue to open branches in the future.