Arkansas Best Corp. (ABF) announced its net income for the second quarter
of 2012 was $11.8 million, an improvement over net income of $5.3 million in the second quarter of 2011.

The company's CEO said that if it had included the recent acquisition of Panther in its financial report, its non-asset businesses would have exceeded $400 million.

The company said its second quarter daily tonnage levels in 2012 are still below those during the same period in 2011 due to the "inconsistent" U.S. economy. That said, in each month of the second quarter of 2012, tonnage did not decrease as much as it did in 2011. During the second half of 2012, monthly tonnage levels will be comparable to the second half of 2011.

In terms of operations, the company's President and CEO Judy R. McReynolds said ABF is focusing on reducing its costs. These efforts include ongoing efforts that include ABF's labor contract lawsuit, collaborative work to develop a permanent solution to correct its payment of non-ABF multiemployer pension benefits, and preparations for negotiation of a new April 2013 labor contract.

ABF implemented a 6.9% increase in its general rates and charges on June 25, 2012 that was in effect during the last week of the second quarter. In the second quarter of 2011, ABF stated it began an aggressive initiative to address inadequate pricing and improve the profitability of many accounts in its network. As a result, the incremental profitability of ABF's account base has improved. This effort continues in 2012.