http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=ABF_Freight_SystemABF Freight System - Revision history2026-05-13T15:18:57ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.1http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=ABF_Freight_System&diff=3263095&oldid=prev112.79.4.247 at 03:31, 30 May 20252025-05-30T03:31:19Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|American trucking company}}<br />
{{Infobox company<br />
| name = ABF Freight System, Inc.<br />
| logo = ABF Freight System logo.svg<br />
| logo size = <br />
| type = [[Subsidiary]]<br />
| founded = {{start date and age|1923}}, in [[Fort Smith, Arkansas]]<br />
| hq_location_city = [[Fort Smith, Arkansas]]<br />
| hq_location_country = United States<br />
| key_people = Seth Runser ([[President (corporate title)|president]] and [[Chief executive officer|CEO]])<br />
| industry = [[Transportation]]<br />
| homepage = {{url|abf.com}}<br />
| parent = [[ArcBest]] (1996-present)<br />
| former_name = {{ubl|OK Transfer (1923–1935)|Arkansas Motor Freight (1935–1956)|Arkansas Best Freight System (from 1956)}}<br />
}}<br />
[[File:Truck Spotting.jpg|thumb|ABF Freight trailer]]<br />
[[File:ABF Atlanta Aerial (52701068410).jpg|thumb|right|ABF Freight warehouse in Atlanta]]<br />
'''ABF Freight System, Inc.''' is an American national [[less than truckload shipping|less-than-truckload]] (LTL) freight carrier based in [[Fort Smith, Arkansas]] and is a subsidiary of [[ArcBest]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=ArcBest Corp. |url=http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/arcb/profile |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917215511/https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/arcb/profile |archive-date=2018-09-17 |access-date=2018-09-17 |website=www.marketwatch.com |language=en}}</ref><br />
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== History ==<br />
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The company was founded Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1923 as '''OK Transfer''', the name it used until 1935 when it acquired '''Arkansas Motor Freight''' (AMF) and took that company's name. Until 1935, it had operated only within Arkansas but its acquisition of Motor Express made it an interstate carrier.<ref name="ArcBest History">{{Cite web |last=ArcBest |title=History |url=https://arcb.com/about/discover-arcbest/history |access-date=27 October 2021 |website=ArcBest}}</ref><br />
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Former lawyer Robert A. Young, Jr. purchased Arkansas Motor Freight Lines, Inc. in 1951.<ref name="Young Honored">{{cite news |title=University To Honor Three At Spring Commencement |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87872705/ |access-date=27 October 2021 |work=Northwest Arkansas Times |date=9 May 1972 |pages=1–2}}</ref> The company name changed again when, after Young acquired [[Dallas, Texas]]-based Best Motor Freight in 1956,<ref>{{cite news |title=Operating Control of Best To Arkansas Motor Freight |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87870488/ |access-date=27 October 2021 |work=The Kansas City Times |date=19 September 1956 |location=Fort Smith, Arkansas |page=26}}</ref> he merged the two companies in 1957 as '''Arkansas-Best Freight System Inc.'''<ref name="Buys Healzer">{{cite news |title=A Truck Firm Here is Sold |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87871138/ |access-date=27 October 2021 |work=The Kansas City Star |date=24 November 1961 |pages=3}}</ref><br />
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Arkansas-Best again expanded in 1961 when it acquired Healzer Cartage of [[Kansas City, Missouri]] for {{US$|500,000}}. Healzer had been founded in 1930 in [[Hutchinson, Kansas]] and at the time of acquisition reported nearly {{US$|3 million}} annually in revenue. It was expected to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Arkansas-Best. At the time, Arkansas-Best estimated it would have revenues of approximately {{US$|18 million}} for 1961.<ref name="Buys Healzer"/> Arkansas-Best also acquired Delta Motor Line expanding its reach to New Orleans.<ref name="ABF Marshall">{{cite news |title=ABF Freight opens in Marshall |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87874081/ |access-date=27 October 2021 |work=The Marshall News Messenger |date=15 February 1981 |page=D1}}</ref><br />
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In <!-- May 17 per Arkansas Secretary of State -->1966, Young founded Arkansas Best Corporation as a holding company for Arkansas-Best to facilitate diversification. <ref name="Young Honored" /><br />
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In 1968, after a decade of expansion by acquiring route authorities in the southern, midwestern, and eastern US, Arkansas-Best acquired Fast Freight Co. which extended their network into New York. This was followed the next year by the acquisition of Krema Truck Lines in the Chicago area.<ref name="ABF Growth">{{cite news |title=ABF Freight has growth history |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87874668/ |access-date=27 October 2021 |work=Longview News-Journal |date=26 February 1984 |pages=233}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Alex |first1=Peter |title=Three movers |url=https://threemovers.com/cheap-moving-companies/ |access-date=23 May 2024}}</ref><br />
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In the 1970s, Arkansas-Best developed into a nationwide carrier through acquisitions of southeastern US carrier Youngblood Truck Lines in 1971<ref name="ABF Marshall" /> and all or part of H.A. Day Truck Line, Associated Transport, Western Gillette,<ref name="ABF 90">{{cite news |title=ABF Keeps On Trucking After 90 Years |url=https://www.swtimes.com/article/20130919/news/309199752 |access-date=27 October 2021 |work=Times Record |date=September 19, 2013 |language=en}}</ref> and a portion of the routes of Great Lakes Express Co. which expanded its midwestern operations. The subsequent acquisition of the operating rights of Akers Motor Lines along [[U.S. Route 1]] connected Arkansas-Best's New England and southeastern operations. Major expansion came with the carrier's purchase of Navajo Freight Lines in 1979. This pushed Arkansas-Best's operations all the way to California and increased its rank from the 25th largest interstate motor freight carrier in the US to ninth.<ref name="ABF Growth" /><br />
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Arkansas-Best changed its name to '''ABF Freight System Inc.''' in 1980<ref name="ABF Growth" /> and, by 1981, was the eighth largest trucking company in the US operating 106 terminals.<ref name="ABF Marshall" /> It acquired East Texas Motor Freight Lines, a subsidiary of Bright Industries Inc., in 1982, a move which added 44 new terminal cities increasing ABF's reach to a total of 158,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Volkmann |first1=Warren |title=Trucking firm sets acquisition |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87877525/ |access-date=27 October 2021 |work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |date=2 June 1982 |pages=5B,7B}}</ref> and by 1985 ABF was the sixth largest carrier in the US.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Dan |title=Who is ABF? |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87875635/ |access-date=27 October 2021 |work=The Sentinel |date=26 February 1987 |page=C4}}</ref><br />
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ABF created ABF U-Pack Moving as a subsidiary in 1997 to provide household moving services.<ref name="ABF 90" /><br />
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Parent company, Arkansas Best Corporation, was renamed [[ArcBest|ArcBest Corporation]] in 2014.<ref name="ArcBest History" /><br />
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== References ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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== External links ==<br />
* {{Commons-inline}}<br />
* {{Official website}}<br />
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{{Trucking industry in the United States|state=collapsed}}<br />
{{Movers}}<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Moving companies of the United States]]<br />
[[Category:Trucking companies of the United States]]<br />
[[Category:1923 establishments in Arkansas]]<br />
[[Category:Transportation companies based in Arkansas]]<br />
[[Category:Fort Smith, Arkansas]]<br />
[[Category:Transport companies established in 1923]]</div>112.79.4.247