ArcBest Announces All ABF Freight Labor Agreement Supplements Now Ratified
FORT SMITH, Arkansas, July 26, 2018 — ArcBest® (Nasdaq: ARCB), a leading logistics company with creative problem solvers who deliver integrated solutions, announced that all supplemental agreements to the ABF National Master Freight Agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have been fully ratified, and that all of the agreements have a July 29, 2018 implementation date.
The 63-month agreement covering Teamster-represented employees at ABF Freight®, ArcBest’s LTL subsidiary, runs through June 30, 2023 and is retroactive to April 1, 2018. The ABF National Master Freight Agreement with the IBT was initially reached on March 28, 2018 and was ratified on May 10, 2018 along with a majority of the regional supplements.
Major economic provisions of the Master agreement include:
- Restoration of a vacation week, which begins accruing on anniversary dates that begin on or after April 1, 2018, with the new vacation eligibility schedule being the same as the applicable 2008-2013 supplemental agreements
- Wage increases in each year of the contract, beginning July 1, 2018
- A $1,000 ratification bonus for full-time active employees and $500 for qualifying casual employees, payable within 30 days of ratification
- Contributions to multiemployer pension plans to remain at current rates for each fund
- Continuation of existing health coverage at no cost to represented employees
- Changes to purchased transportation provisions with certain protections for road drivers
- Profit-sharing bonuses upon ABF Freight’s achievement of annual operating ratios of 96.0% or below for a full calendar year during the contract period
The combined contractual wage and benefit rate, including the ratification bonus and additional vacation time, increases approximately 2% on a compounded annual basis throughout the contract period. The additional week of vacation will be expensed as it is earned for anniversary dates that begin on or after April 1, 2018. The ratification bonus will be expensed over the 63-month contract beginning April 1, 2018.
“The full ratification of our labor agreement with the Teamsters is a very positive step forward for ABF Freight and ArcBest, and we thank all of our employees for their dedication to serving our customers while the process was underway,” said Chairman, President and Chief Executive Judy R. McReynolds. “Our goal was to achieve a contract that was fair to employees and affordable for the company. Our Teamster employees are the best-compensated in the industry in terms of wages and benefits including healthcare and pension. This agreement provides stability for our employees and for our customers at a time when the logistics industry continues to undergo rapid change.”
ABF Freight President Tim Thorne added, “This important agreement for ABF gives us a strong foundation for another five years and provides additional opportunities for us to grow. By focusing on our customers who value our well-regarded LTL service and the additional supply chain solutions that ArcBest offers to solve complex logistical challenges, we are well positioned for the future.”
About ArcBest
ArcBest® (Nasdaq: ARCB) is a leading logistics company with creative problem solvers who deliver integrated solutions. We'll find a way to deliver knowledge, expertise and a can-do attitude with every shipment and supply chain solution, household move or vehicle repair. At ArcBest, we’re More Than LogisticsSM. For more information, visit arcb.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements and information in this press release may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “foresee,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “scheduled,” “should,” “would,” and similar expressions and the negatives of such terms are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management’s beliefs, assumptions, and expectations based on currently available information, are not guarantees of future performance, and involve certain risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control). Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable as and when made, we cannot provide assurance that our expectations will prove to be correct. Actual outcomes and results could materially differ from what is expressed, implied, or forecasted in these statements due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to: a failure of our information systems, including disruptions or failures of services essential to our operations or upon which our information technology platforms rely, data breach, and/or cybersecurity incidents; relationships with employees, including unions, and our ability to attract and retain employees; unfavorable terms of, or the inability to reach agreement on, future collective bargaining agreements or a workforce stoppage by our employees covered under ABF Freight’s collective bargaining agreement; the loss or reduction of business from large customers; the cost, timing, and performance of growth initiatives; competitive initiatives and pricing pressures; general economic conditions and related shifts in market demand that impact the performance and needs of industries we serve and/or limit our customers’ access to adequate financial resources; greater than expected funding requirements for our nonunion defined benefit pension plan; availability and cost of reliable third-party services; our ability to secure independent owner operators and/or operational or regulatory issues related to our use of their services; governmental regulations; environmental laws and regulations, including emissions-control regulations; the cost, integration, and performance of any recent or future acquisitions; not achieving some or all of the expected financial and operating benefits of our corporate restructuring or incurring additional costs or operational inefficiencies as a result of the restructuring; union and nonunion employee wages and benefits, including changes in required contributions to multiemployer plans; litigation or claims asserted against us; the loss of key employees or the inability to execute succession planning strategies; default on covenants of financing arrangements and the availability and terms of future financing arrangements; timing and amount of capital expenditures; self-insurance claims and insurance premium costs; availability of fuel, the effect of volatility in fuel prices and the associated changes in fuel surcharges on securing increases in base freight rates, and the inability to collect fuel surcharges; increased prices for and decreased availability of new revenue equipment, decreases in value of used revenue equipment, and higher costs of equipment-related operating expenses such as maintenance and fuel and related taxes; potential impairment of goodwill and intangible assets; maintaining our intellectual property rights, brand, and corporate reputation; seasonal fluctuations and adverse weather conditions; regulatory, economic, and other risks arising from our international business; antiterrorism and safety measures; and other financial, operational, and legal risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in ArcBest’s public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
For additional information regarding known material factors that could cause our actual results to differ from our projected results, please see our filings with SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements after the date they are made, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Media Contact: Kathy Fieweger
Email: kfieweger@arcb.com
Phone: 479-719-4358
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