ABF Loses $29 Million in First Quarter

Less-than-truckload giant Arkansas Best lost $29 million in the first quarter due to plummeting freight demand and falling rates pared down by intense competition.

Revenue at ABF Freight System, the company’s transportation subsidiary, dropped 23.3 percent to $323.1 million in the quarter from $427.7 million in first quarter 2008. Tonnage per day decreased 15.7 percent compared with the 2008 quarter, and ABF’s operating ratio, a key measure of operating efficiency, worsened to 108.3 percent from 97.0 percent in first quarter 2008.

To help improve the bottom line during the weak economy, ABF cut 625 positions since the end of 2008, a 23 percent employee reduction since fourth quarter 2006 when business began to decline, the company said.

So far in 2009 ABF has also reduced its fleet by 326 tractors and 448 trailers.