Fort Smith, Arkansas, April 8, 1999 -- ABF Freight System, Inc., has been named by Gateway Inc., North Sioux City, SD as its "LTL Carrier of the Year" for 1998. The award was presented by Gateway's Vice President - Global Logistics Ted Augustine to ABF's President & CEO David Stubblefield and Sioux City Terminal Manager Mike Gurule. In presenting the award to ABF, Mr. Augustine stated, "Gateway measures carriers very precisely on both a weekly and monthly basis. ABF has done a great job for Gateway and has clearly outperformed their competition." The award is judged primarily on the criteria of carrier on-time pick up and delivery, claims ratio, billing accuracy and flexibility in meeting Gateway's unique shipping needs.

In accepting the award, Mr. Stubblefield said, "ABF is pleased to have a relationship with a progressive, cutting-edge company like Gateway. We are committed to providing flexible solutions that meet the specific needs of our customers. ABF is proud to accept this award and we look forward to meeting the new challenges of the coming year."

Gateway (NYSE: GTW) a Fortune 500 company founded in 1985, provides complete computing solutions for clients worldwide. The company has manufacturing facilities in the United States, Ireland and Malaysia and employs more than 19,000 people worldwide. Revenue for the year 1998 was $7.5 billion.

ABF Freight System, Inc. is one of the nation's largest motor carriers and has direct service to all 50 states, nine Canadian provinces, Guam and Puerto Rico. In addition to the carrier's recently-announced enhanced service to Mexico, ABF provides guaranteed expedited service for time-critical and time-definite shipments via its TimeKeeper® service. ABF is the largest subsidiary of Arkansas Best Corporation (NASDAQ/NMS - ABFS).

Gateway and the Gateway stylized logo are trademarks of Gateway 2000, Inc.