Arkansas Best Corp., a diversified transportation holding company headquartered in Fort Smith, Ark., has announced second quarter 2003 net income of $15.2 million, or $0.60 per diluted common share.

For the second quarter of 2002, net income was $6.5 million, or $0.26 per diluted common share.
Arkansas Best's revenue during the second quarter of 2003 was $377.9 million.
ABF Freight System, the company's largest subsidiary, had second quarter 2003 revenues of $337.2 million, a per-day increase of 9.4% compared to second quarter 2002 revenue of $308.1 million.
"Despite the lack of meaningful changes in the soft economy, we continue to be encouraged by the pricing environment," said Robert A. Young III, Arkansas Best president and Chief Executive Officer. "ABF's increases on contracts and deferred pricing agreements have been favorable by historical standards and the prospects for retention of the July 14 general rate increase are good."
ABF's second quarter LTL tonnage per day increased 2% compared to the same period last year. "This increase is generally what we would expect, given normal, seasonal trends from the first quarter to the second quarter," Young said.
"Productivity measures at ABF were very near levels for the same period last year despite additional shipment handling associated with ABF's transit time improvements and premium services provided at pickup and delivery," said Young. "These measures did show improvement over the first quarter of this year.
"To grow, ABF will continue to emphasize expense control in order to hold down customer costs while providing shippers with value-added services. ABF will continue to develop niche markets that provide compensatory prices and reasonable profit margins."
"Last week, Yellow Corp. announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Roadway Corp," Young said. "This development will have a significant impact on the long-haul, LTL industry. The combining of these two competitors could, over time, result in opportunities for additional business for ABF and improved pricing due to eventual reductions in industry capacity."