ABF Freight System, Inc., a subsidiary of

ArcBest ArcBest Corporation is an American holding company for truckload and less-than-truckload (LTL) freight, freight brokerage, household good moving, and transportation management companies. Historically, the company also owned furniture, banking, a ...

Corporation, is an American national

less-than-truckload Less-than-truckload shipping or less than load (LTL) is the transportation of an amount of freight sized between individual parcels and full truckloads. Parcel carriers handle small packages and freight that can be broken down into units less t ...

(LTL) freight carrier based in

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the third-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 89,142. It is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

History

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. Former lawyer Robert A. Young, Jr. purchased Arkansas Motor Freight Lines, Inc. in 1951. The company name changed again when, after Young acquired

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

-based Best Motor Freight in 1956, he merged the two companies in 1957 as Arkansas-Best Freight System Inc. Arkansas-Best again expanded in 1961 when it acquired Healzer Cartage of

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

for . Healzer had been founded in 1930 in

Hutchinson, Kansas Hutchinson is the largest city and county seat in Reno County, Kansas, United States, and located on the Arkansas River. It has been home to salt mines since 1887, thus its nickname of "Salt City", but locals call it "Hutch". As of the 2020 cen ...

and at the time of acquisition reported nearly 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 for 1961. Arkansas-Best also acquired Delta Motor Line expanding its reach to New Orleans. In 1966, Young founded Arkansas Best Corporation as a holding company for Arkansas-Best to facilitate diversification. 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. Truck Spotting

In the 1970s, Arkansas-Best developed into a nationwide carrier through acquisitions of southeastern US carrier Youngblood Truck Lines in 1971 and all or part of H.A. Day Truck Line, Associated Transport, Western Gillette, 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 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...

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. Arkansas-Best changed its name to ABF Freight System Inc. in 1980 and, by 1981, was the eighth largest trucking company in the US operating 106 terminals. 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, and by 1985 ABF was the sixth largest carrier in the US. ABF created ABF U-Pack Moving as a subsidiary in 1997 to provide household moving services. Parent company, Arkansas Best Corporation, was renamed ArcBest Corporation in 2014.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Moving companies of the United States Trucking companies of the United States 1923 establishments in Arkansas Transportation companies based in Arkansas Fort Smith, Arkansas Transport companies established in 1923