ABF, Teamsters Reach Tentative Agreement

ABF Freight System and the Teamsters union said they have reached a tentative agreement to modify the labor agreement for the company’s employees covered under the National Master Freight Agreement.

No details were released by either side, but an ABF official said the less-than-truckload carrier could release elements of the plan as early as this week.

The Teamsters said in a posting on its Web site the plan will be presented Monday to leaders of local unions representing ABF members.

“The leaders will be asked to endorse the plan at the meeting in Chicago [and] if leaders endorse the plan, members will then have the opportunity to vote on whether to approve the plan,” the union said.

ABF began talking with the Teamsters about cost reductions last year as its losses mounted. Excluding one-time costs, parent company Arkansas Best Corp. lost $99.9 million in 2009 after posting a profit of $49.1 million the year before.

Arkansas Best Corp. is ranked No. 18 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.