(Fort Smith, Arkansas, October 24, 2005) — Arkansas Best Corporation (Nasdaq: ABFS) today announced third quarter 2005 net income of $40.6 million, or $1.59 per diluted common share, compared to third quarter 2004 net income of $27.4 million, or $1.07 per diluted common share.  Excluding an after-tax gain of $9.8 million ($0.38 per diluted common share) related to the July 2005 sale of three non-ABF terminal facilities located in California to G.I. Trucking Company, third quarter 2005 earnings per diluted common share were $1.21.  Arkansas Best’s after-tax return on capital employed for the twelve months ended September 30, 2005 was 20.6%.  Arkansas Best’s revenue during the third quarter of 2005 was $489.9 million, an increase of 6.1% over the third quarter of 2004.

ABF Freight System, Inc.^®

ABF Freight System, Inc., the company’s largest subsidiary, had third quarter 2005 revenue of $451.8 million, a per-day increase of 5.6% compared to third quarter 2004 revenue of $427.9 million.  ABF’s third quarter 2005 operating ratio was 88.5% versus an operating ratio of 89.2% during the third quarter of 2004.  Third quarter 2005 operating income at ABF was $52.0 million compared to $46.2 million in the third quarter of 2004, an increase of 12.5%.  “ABF generated the highest quarterly operating income in its history and, on a comparable reporting basis, the best quarterly operating ratio in over twenty-five years,” said Robert A. Young III, Arkansas Best Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

“The improvement in ABF’s third quarter operating ratio was accomplished because of a combination of good pricing and consistent cost controls,” said Mr. Young.  “Total revenue per hundredweight, excluding fuel surcharge, increased by over one percent, despite a significant shift in profile.  ABF’s yield and profitability improvement were enhanced by improved yield on larger shipments and increased handling of TimeKeeper® shipments, those moving under ABF’s guaranteed, expedited and time-definite shipping service.  Though TimeKeeper’s impact on third quarter results is relatively small, this business is growing rapidly.  TimeKeeper’s profitability is good and customers find these services quite valuable,” said Mr. Young.  “ABF’s LTL tonnage was below the strong levels experienced in the third quarter of 2004, yet ABF was able to manage its variable costs in order to maximize the profitability of the shipments moving through its network.  ABF’s profitability improved as a result of reducing the use of rail in higher-cost lanes and the associated drayage and equipment shuttles.  ABF used fewer local cartage agents for shipment pickup and delivery and reduced employee overtime.  In addition, ABF’s third quarter workers’ compensation costs declined by $1.7 million because of fewer new claims and favorable severity trends on existing claims.  However, casualty claims costs increased by $1.6 million as a result of adverse severity trends on existing claims.  ABF’s third quarter cargo claims costs declined from last year by $567,000.”

ABF’s total tonnage per day in the third quarter of 2005 was down slightly versus a year ago, decreasing by 0.4%.  Compared to the same periods last year, LTL tonnage per day decreased 6.3% in June 2005; 5.6% in July 2005; 2.9% in August 2005 and 0.7% in September 2005.  Overall, third quarter 2005 LTL tonnage per day decreased 3.0% compared to third quarter 2004.  “Though third quarter 2005 LTL tonnage was below that of last year’s very strong third quarter, I am encouraged by the significantly improving trends in the LTL tonnage comparisons over the last few months,” said Mr. Young.

ABF’s 2005 third quarter truckload tonnage per day increased by 10.1%, including an increase of 15.6% in September.  “For the last two years, ABF has experienced strong growth in truckload tonnage and this year’s third quarter is no exception,” said Mr. Young.  “As long as ABF is able to earn comparable profit margins on these shipments and service on its core LTL business is not adversely affected, ABF will continue to pursue these larger shipments in order to fill available capacity.”  Through the first twenty days of October, average daily tonnage figures in ABF’s total business are slightly ahead of the same period last year.

Total billed revenue per hundredweight was $24.43 compared to $22.84 in the third quarter of 2004.  Total billed revenue per hundredweight, excluding fuel surcharge, increased by 1.2%.  “ABF continues to secure reasonable price increases in a very stable, but competitive, pricing environment,” said Mr. Young.  ABF’s third quarter 2005 total weight per shipment increased by 3.6% versus the third quarter of 2004.  Third quarter 2005 total length of haul declined by 0.8% compared to the third quarter of 2004.  Increases in weight per shipment and decreases in length of haul cause revenue per hundredweight to go down.

“ABF’s productivity measures on the dock and in the city pickup and delivery operation are consistent with the first half of the year, but below those of the third quarter of 2004.  As in this year’s second quarter, ABF’s shipment mix is impacting these statistics,” said Mr. Young.  “Larger shipments moving throughout ABF’s network, combined with a significant increase in truckload shipments requiring additional pickup, delivery and dock labor, have caused a decrease in “per shipment” productivity compared to last year’s third quarter,” said Mr. Young.  “As has been the case throughout this entire year, the yard productivity of trailer movement at ABF’s largest facilities exceeded that of the same period last year.” 

During the third quarter, hurricanes Katrina and Rita had minimal impact on ABF’s operations in the Gulf Coast and South Texas regions.  All ABF facilities in these areas are now fully operational, limited only by public infrastructure damage and accessibility to customer locations.  “Fortunately, none of ABF’s employees were injured or killed as a result of these terrible storms, though several lost many of their possessions,” said Mr. Young.  “We will continue to support our employees and assist the relief agencies serving these areas.”

From September 7 through October 4, 2005, ABF limited its standard fuel surcharge due to the extremely volatile fuel prices resulting from Hurricane Katrina.  During this period, ABF’s fuel surcharge was capped at the pre-Katrina level that was established on August 29.  Had ABF charged its standard fuel surcharge percentage, approximately $2.2 million of additional revenue would have been earned.  This reduced Arkansas Best’s third quarter earnings by $0.05 per diluted common share.    

Common Stock Purchase

During the third quarter of 2005, Arkansas Best made open-market purchases, totaling 209,000 shares, of its common stock.  The total purchase price for these transactions was $7.1 million.  These common shares were added to the company’s treasury stock.  Arkansas Best has now purchased a total of 843,150 shares totaling $25.0 million.  This completes a program, announced in January 2003, to repurchase up to a maximum of $25 million of Arkansas Best’s common stock.

On July 28, 2005, Arkansas Best’s Board of Directors announced the authorization of an additional $50 million to Arkansas Best’s stock repurchase program.  Arkansas Best plans to continue making open-market purchases of its stock on an opportunistic basis. 

Conference Call

Arkansas Best Corporation will host a conference call with company executives to discuss the 2005 third quarter results.  The call will be today, Monday, October 24, at 2:00 p.m. EDT (1:00 p.m. CDT).  Interested parties are invited to listen by calling (877) 275-1257.  Following the call, a recorded playback will be available through the end of the day on Saturday, November 12, 2005.  To listen to the playback, dial (800) 642-1687.  The conference call ID for the playback is 1208941.  The conference call and playback can also be accessed, through Saturday, November 12, on Arkansas Best’s Web site at www.arkbest.com.

Company Description

Arkansas Best Corporation, headquartered in Fort Smith, Arkansas, is a transportation holding company with two primary operating subsidiaries.  ABF Freight System, Inc., in continuous service since 1923, provides transportation of less-than-truckload (“LTL”) general commodities throughout North America.  Clipper is an intermodal marketing company that provides domestic freight services utilizing rail and over-the-road transportation.  For more information, please visit www.arkbest.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

The following is a “safe harbor” statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:  Statements contained in this press release that are not based on historical facts are “forward-looking statements.”  Terms such as “estimate,” “forecast,” “expect,” “predict,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “intend,” “should,” “would,” “scheduled,” and similar expressions and the negatives of such terms are intended to identify forward-looking statements.  Such statements are by their nature subject to uncertainties and risk, including, but not limited to, union relations; availability and cost of capital; shifts in market demand; weather conditions; the performance and needs of industries served by Arkansas Best’s subsidiaries; actual future costs of operating expenses such as fuel and related taxes; self-insurance claims and employee wages and benefits; actual costs of continuing investments in technology; the timing and amount of capital expenditures; competitive initiatives and pricing pressures; general economic conditions; and other financial, operational and legal risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) public filings.

The following tables show financial data and operating statistics on ABF Freight System, Inc.

	Three Months Ended September 30				Nine Months Ended  September 30
	2005	2004	% Chg		2005	2004	% Chg
Billed Revenue*/CWT   LTL	$     28.09	$    26.04	7.9%		$     27.33	$     25.35	7.8%
TL	$     11.42	$      9.92	15.1%		$     10.65	$       9.38	13.5%
Total	$     24.43	$    22.84	7.0%		$     23.77	$     22.18	7.2%
Billed Revenue*/CWT   LTL	$     24.98	$    24.50	2.0%		$     24.61	$     24.04	2.4%
(w/o fuel surcharge)   TL	$     10.17	$      9.22	10.3%		$       9.55	$       8.86	7.8%
Total	$     21.72	$    21.47	1.2%		$     21.40	$     21.03	1.8%
Billed Revenue*/Shpt   LTL	$   283.50	$   259.83	9.1%		$   271.70	$   250.48	8.5%
TL	$1,849.95	$1,613.55	14.7%		$1,727.31	$1,538.84	12.2%
Total	$   310.53	$   280.14	10.8%		$   295.52	$   269.40	9.7%
Tonnage                     LTL	727,063	749,781	(3.0)%		2,088,399	2,116,305	(1.3)%
(tons)                         TL	204,907	186,170	10.1%		566,657	523,345	8.3%
Total	931,970	935,951	(0.4)%		2,655,056	2,639,650	0.6%
Shipments**               LTL	1,440,827	1,502,977	(4.1)%		4,200,810	4,283,408	(1.9)%
TL	25,298	22,896	10.5%		69,905	63,825	9.5%