Arkansas Best’s Third-Quarter Income Increases

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rkansas Best Corp., the parent of less-than-truckload carrier ABF Freight System, reported Monday that its third-quarter earnings rose to $40.6 million or $1.59 per share, from $27.4 million or $1.07 a year earlier.

Excluding an after-tax gain of $9.8 million, or 38 cents a share, related to its sale of three non-ABF California terminals to G.I. Trucking, the company said its third-quarter earnings per share were $1.21.

Arkansas Best’s revenue rose 6.1% to $489.9 million for the quarter.

ABF Freight System, the company’s largest subsidiary, saw its revenue rise to $451.8 million, a per-day increase of 5.6% over the previous third quarter. Its third-quarter tonnage-per-day fell slightly, by 0.4% from a year earlier.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita had minimal impact on the ABF's operations in the Gulf Coast and south Texas regions, the company said.

Arkansas Best’s truckload tonnage increased by 10.1% per day, including a 15.6% increase in September, the company said.

ts Clipper intermodal and freight forwarding unit’s revenue rose 8.6% to $26.7 million for the quarter.

Arkansas Best is ranked No. 17 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies.