In 1977, new ABF Freight trailers included graphics along the sides and rear doors that emphasized its long-running ad campaign, “Appreciate Your Traffic Manager.”
White Advertising Company of Shelby, Indiana, prepared the five-piece set adhesives to apply to 85 new ABF Freight trailers before they went on the road.
In 1969, ABF Freight (then known as Arkansas-Best Freight System) introduced a new advertising campaign: “Appreciate Your Traffic Manager (ABF Does).”
The ads appeared in publications such as Fortune, Business Week, Traffic World and Traffic Management. They also appeared in employee publications and memos.
The campaign proved popular, as the advertisement pictured shows.
In December 1970, ABF Freight® (then known as Arkansas-Best Freight System) announced to its employees the purchase of new cargo heaters for linehaul use. The Customer Service department added 140 new cargo heaters to the system.
In the photo, ABF Freight Regional Sales Director Walter Willard (standing), Customer Service Director Bruce Whittaker (kneeling left) and Operations Assistant Vice President Gordon Watson examine the new cargo heaters.
The propane-fired units replaced old charcoal salamander heaters that had been used for several years.
Each year, professional drivers for ArcBest carrier ABF Freight take part in the National Truck Driving Championships.
In 1999, ABF Freight drivers competing included Allen Sheppard, Tony Spero, Bill Ellis, Frank Motherhead, Bob Suck, John Cinealis and Bob Westbrook. The event was held in Tampa, Florida.
In October 1963, ABF Freight (then known as Arkansas-Best Freight System) was one of 22 trucking companies awarded for providing free transportation to Aiding Leukemia Stricken American Children (ALSAC).
Comedian and actor Danny Thomas hosted a “Breakfast with Danny Thomas” at the Morrison Hotel in Chicago to thank trucking executives for their efforts. Bill Farnsworth, ABF Freight service center manager in Chicago, received the award on behalf of ABF Freight.
In the photo, Farnsworth is on the front row, second from the left; Thomas is fourth from the right.
In March 1961, Robert A. Young Jr. testified before the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Young was president of ABF Freight (then known as Arkansas-Best Freight System), having bought the company in 1951. His testimony focused on a tax program proposed by President Kennedy.
Young and others in the trucking industry opposed the proposal, which increased federal taxes on diesel fuel, truck licenses, tires and retread rubber.
In December 1969, employees learned about new road tractors scheduled to be delivered in 1970.
According to Harry Fink, the ABF Freight® vice president of maintenance at the time, ABF Freight purchased 118 new Ford Model LNT 1000 tandem road tractors.
“All will be of a short conventional design to accommodate doubles as well as 40-foot trailers, and will be equipped with NHTC 270 Cummins diesel engines,” a note to employees states. “Each tractor will be equipped with two 110-gallon fuel tanks.
When ABF Freight® (then known as Arkansas-Best Freight System) acquired Jackson, Mississippi-based Delta Motor Line in October 1962, the purchase gave ABF Freight the authority to operate throughout the Mississippi Delta — from New Orleans and Jackson up through Memphis and into Chicago.
Delta had service centers in Mississippi, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri and Tennessee. With the acquisition, ABF Freight ranked 14th among the nation’s truck lines.
In 1970, Open Road magazine featured an article about an ABF Freight® driver who also was a recording artist.
Joe West, a Little Rock road driver, recorded songs such as “Just Me, This Old Truck and My Lord,” “The Answer to A Truck Driver’s Prayer,” “I Died in Vietnam” and “A Truck Brought It.”
As part of our 90th anniversary celebration held in September 2013, a popular Fort Smith, Arkansas, artist known for his historic artwork painted a piece that depicts two ABF Freight® trucks driving along a picturesque highway.
John Bell Jr. painted “On The Road” to mark the 90th anniversary of ArcBest, which got its start in 1923 as local freight hauler OK Transfer & Storage Company.