(FORT SMITH, Ark., July 16, 2004) — Art Lucas, who saved a woman’s life in September 2003, is the first recipient of the ABF Medal of Excellence. Lucas is a driver for ABF’s Buffalo service center. The award was presented by Bob Davidson, ABF president and chief executive officer, during an ABF employee Safety Dinner in Chicago on July 13.

“Art Lucas is a hero and a sterling example of what it means to have great people on your team. In addition to his life-saving actions, he is driven to help those in need whenever and wherever he can. He is also dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in his profession. His selfless attitude, his quick thinking and his concern for others compel us to recognize his valor with this ABF Medal of Excellence,” said Davidson. “Art is a great example of the tremendous group of employees in the ABF system, and all of us are proud of him.”

The life-saving incident occurred on September 3, 2003, while Lucas was sitting in a Ghent, New York restaurant. A waitress collapsed on the floor and Lucas immediately ran to her side. She was unconscious and bleeding profusely from the mouth. Calling on his training as an Advanced Emergency Medical Technician, Lucas cleared the woman’s airway and began performing CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Paramedics later credited Lucas with saving the woman’s life.

With ABF as a driver since 1981, Lucas is also a former fire chief with a long record of humanitarian service. He is a member of both the Federal Emergency Response Team and the Homeland Security Response Team. Lucas was among the volunteer firemen who served at Ground Zero in the aftermath of the September 11th tragedy. In fact, the incident in Ghent occurred as he was returning home after delivering a commemorative sculpture to the New York State Firemen’s Home and Museum. Called Unity, the three-ton sculpture was created by Brian Pfeiffer, who accompanied Lucas on the trip.

Lucas has worked in the trucking industry since 1977. He is the winner of a Bronze Safe Driving Award, a two-time winner of the New York State Western Regional Driver of the Year Award and a respected competitor in the New York State Truck Driving Championship.

ABF’s safety, security and freight-handling performance has been consistently recognized as best-in-class. Acknowledging this performance, the ATA presented ABF with the 2004 Excellence in Security Award. In 2003, ABF was awarded the President’s Trophy for safety by the ATA, for an unprecedented fifth time. ABF has also been a Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and Free and Secure Trade (FAST) approved carrier to and from Canada since 2003. During the past decade, 99 percent of all shipments handled by ABF have moved without a loss or damage claim. In 2001, the ATA selected ABF as the top LTL motor carrier both in claims/loss prevention and in security, the first such dual award of its kind. In 2002, ABF was again selected by the ATA as the top LTL motor carrier in claims/loss prevention.

ABF Freight System 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, abf.com has been 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).

Contact: Mr. Danny Loe, director of marketing & public relations
Telephone: (479) 785-8803

Photos available upon request to marketing@abf.com.

Additional background information.