Still Trucking: Profile of Arkansas Best Corp.

A recent federal filing by Arkansas Best Corp. provides new and interesting detail into one of the three publicly held companies based in Fort Smith.

The less-than-truckload carrier recently reported that its 2008 net income was $29.16 million, a drop from its 2007 net income of $56.82 million. Its revenue in 2008 was $1.833 billion, slightly below the $1.836 billion in 2007. The company recorded a fourth-quarter net income loss of $10.97 million, compared to a net income of $13.48 million in the same quarter of 2007.

Following each fiscal quarter, a publicly held company issues a 10-Q statement — relatively detailed report of financial status, management analysis and other key factors — to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. The quarterly statement following the end of a fiscal year is known as the 10-K.

What follows is a short list of information Arkansas Best included in its most recent 10-K.

ARKANSAS BEST PROFILE
• ABF is the largest subsidiary of the Company. ABF accounted for 96% of the company’s consolidated revenues for 2008. ABF is one of North America’s largest LTL motor carriers.

• ABF provides direct service to more than 98% of U.S. cities having a population of 30,000 or more. ABF provides interstate and intrastate direct service to more than 41,000 communities through 286 service centers in all 50 states, Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

• General commodities transported by ABF include food, textiles, apparel, furniture, appliances, chemicals, nonbulk petroleum products, rubber, plastics, metal and metal products, wood, glass, automotive parts, machinery and miscellaneous manufactured products.

• During the year ended Dec. 31, 2008, no single customer accounted for more than 3.0% of ABF’s revenues, and the ten largest customers accounted for 7.2% of ABF’s revenues.

• As of Dec. 31, 2008, ABF had a total of 10,512 active employees. Employee compensation and related costs are the largest components of ABF’s operating expenses. In 2008, such costs amounted to approximately 60% of ABF’s revenues

• In 2008, rail utilization was 11.1% of the company’s total miles.

• ABF operates out of 276 terminal facilities and 10 distribution centers. ABF owns 123 of these facilities and leases the remainder from nonaffiliates.

• As of Feb. 20, 2009, the Company has a senior unsecured debt rating of BBB+ with a stable outlook by Standard & Poor’s Rating Service and a senior unsecured debt rating of Baa2 with a stable outlook by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.

• ABF has experienced significant fluctuations in year-over-year tonnage levels in recent years. During 2007, tonnage per day declined 5.3% below the same period in 2006. Year-over-year tonnage levels stabilized somewhat from the fourth quarter of 2007 through the first half of 2008. However, ABF’s year-over-year monthly tonnage levels declined at an increasing rate during the second half of 2008, with a decrease of 5.1% and 11.5% in total third quarter and fourth quarter tonnage per day, respectfully.

BOTTOM LINE FIGURES
Net Income
2008: $29.16 million
2007: $56.82 million
2006: $84.09 million

Billed revenue per hundredweight (including surcharges)
2008: $26.70
2007: $25.81
2006: $25.32

Pounds shipped
2008: 6.586 billion pounds
2007: 6.860 billion pounds
2006: 7.226 billion pounds