(FORT SMITH, Arkansas, October 29, 2002) — ABF Freight System Inc.® has announced the release of Shipment Director™, an online application that helps customers streamline document preparation and freight tendering across multiple shipments. This new tool is the latest addition to ABF’s exclusive logistics planning suite, a collection of online tools that allows customers to examine distribution patterns and facilitate supply chain optimization.

Unique to the transportation industry, the Shipment Director simplifies the steps involved in document preparation and carrier pickup notification for multiple shipments. Customers maintain an online database of pending shipments that may be processed in batch via a single interface.  With a few clicks of the mouse, ready shipments are selected, bills of lading and shipping labels are generated, and ABF® is notified instantly of the shipment details and desired pickup dates. If multiple shipments are to be picked up together, a single manifest may also be created and used in lieu of multiple bills of lading. In addition, Shipment Director incorporates many timesaving functions already available on abf.com, such as retrieval of previous bills of lading and pickup requests as well as the ability to create templates for common shipments.

“I already knew that abf.com was easy to use and had increased my productivity,” stated Joe Wright of Greiner Bio-One VACUETTE® North America Inc., an international manufacturer of blood collection systems. “The Shipment Director simplifies my outbound freight operations even more by allowing me to manage all of my pending shipments no matter what their ready status, immediate or future.”

Others agree on the efficiency gains achieved through the use of the ABF Web site. “In our daily communications with customers, we are frequently told of the positive impact that ABF’s online tools have on the management of their freight operations,” commented Art Lynch, ABF vice president of sales. “Customers are empowered by the productivity benefits of abf.com with registered users representing over 70% of ABF’s shipment volume, and site usage continues to show strong growth.”

Empowering customers is the motivation behind the ABF Web site. For instance, the initial concept for Shipment Director was based on the requirements of a single shipper. “ABF’s customer-focused philosophy coupled with the flexible nature of the Internet is the key ingredient in abf.com’s success,” added Michael Newcity, ABF manager of ecommerce. “While a number of customers are typically involved in design and testing of any new feature or modification to abf.com, the momentum for change is often sparked by a single customer request.”

ABF Freight System Inc. is one of North America’s largest and most experienced motor carriers, with direct service to all 50 states, nine Canadian provinces and Puerto Rico. In addition to its broad service to Mexico, the carrier offers service to 250 ports in more than 130 countries worldwide. Via its TimeKeeper® service, ABF provides guaranteed expedited service for time-critical and time-definite shipments. The company’s Web site, www.abf.com, is ranked among the best 50 of all sites by CIO magazine and top 10 Web sites by BtoB magazine. ABF has been in continuous service since 1923 and is the largest subsidiary of Arkansas Best Corporation (Nasdaq: ABFS).

Mr. Chris Baltz, director of marketing & public relations – ABF Freight System Inc. Telephone: (479) 785-8803