ArcBest expands corporate HQ footprint, names new ABF Freight boss

Fort Smith-based ArcBest Corp. (formerly Arkansas Best Corp.) is buying an additional 30 acres for its corporate headquarter expansion at Chaffee Crossing. The transportation holding company also announced Thursday that Roy Slagle has retired as president and CEO of ABF Freight System – the company’s largest subsidiary.

Slagle’s retirement was effective Oct. 15. He had been with the company 37 years and rose through the ranks of ABF’s sales and marketing side. Some of his early jobs with ABF Freight were in Ohio and Pennsylvania. ABF is one of the largest less-than-truckload carriers in the U.S.

In a note to employees, ArcBest President and CEO Judy McReynolds said Slagle’s retirement is “well-deserved,” and that Slagle leaves ABF positioned for success.

“After several difficult years during the great recession, lengthy negotiations to secure a new five-year labor agreement and the ongoing network optimization, ABF Freight is well-positioned to succeed in a marketplace that continues to become more competitive,” McReynolds noted in the employee note. “It’s up to all of us to execute on our goal for ABF Freight to return to historic levels of profitability and regain market share. We must ensure that it’s easy for our customers to do business with us and that we earn their trust, every day.”

Succeeding Slagle is Tim Thorne, a 24-year ABF Freight employee who moves up from the job of vice president of linehaul operations. Thorne joined ABF in 1990 after serving as a U.S. Army captain. He rose through the ranks, and in addition to overseeing linehaul operations served as the regional vice president of Operations and was based in Salt Lake City.

“Through his many experiences, Tim has become a highly regarded leader at ABF Freight with a strong customer focus and deep knowledge of our freight operations across the country,” McReynolds said in the employee note. “As we look for ways to better serve our customers, I am confident Tim will work tirelessly to ensure the ABF Freight experience exceeds their expectations.”

Thorne earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Oklahoma and master’s degree in business administration from the University of North Alabama.

MORE PROPERTY
ArcBest has already purchased 30 acres for a planned $30 million corporate headquarters relocation at Chaffee Crossing in Fort Smith and at a specially called Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority meeting, the company bought an additional 30 acres of land.

Ivy Owen, executive director of the FCRA, said the 30 acres lies to the east of ArcBest's planned corporate headquarters. Ten acres of land near the McClure Amphitheater adjacent to the proposed headquarters is also under option for ArcBest, meaning the company could end up with 70 acres in Chaffee Crossing.

"In their planning for the future, they need some additional acres and looked at a couple of alternatives," he said. "They ended up with an additional 30 acres east of their planned location."

Owen said FCRA is charging $10,000 per acre for the land, or $300,000 total, the same as the original 30 acres that will house the planned ArcBest headquarters relocation.

As for other development in the area, Owen said high end housing developers have expressed interest in building subdivisions around the new headquarters. He said preliminary plans call for a walkable community with tree-lined streets and walking trails, similar to neighborhoods in and around the ArcBest headquarters on Old Greenwood Road.

He said no deals are yet in place for housing developments, just interest expressed by developers.

Groundbreaking of a new ArcBest Corp. headquarters is expected in the first quarter of 2015, with an expected opening in 2016.

EARNINGS REPORT
ArcBest is set to announce third quarter earnings on Nov. 3. The consensus of analyst estimates is earnings of 77 cents per share, well ahead of 52 cents per share in the third quarter of 2014. Total revenue for the quarter could be around $700 million, also ahead of the $623 million in the third quarter of 2014.

The company may be on its way to two consecutive years of positive financial results. Net income for the first six months of 2014 was $12.015 million, a big improvement over the $8.517 million loss during the same period in 2013. Total revenue for the first half of 2014 totaled $1.236 billion, better than the $1.097 billion during the same period of 2013.

Shares of ArcBest (NASDAQ: ARCB) closed Thursday at $32.45, up 32 cents. During the past 52 weeks the share price has ranged from a $45.68 high to a $24.06 low.