ABF Road Driver John Boyd Awarded ABF Medal of Excellence for Life-Saving Actions

FORT SMITH, Ark., Dec. 6, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- ABF Freight System, Inc.®, recognized the life-saving actions of John Boyd by awarding him the ABF Medal of Excellence. An ABF road driver in Dayton, Ohio, Boyd became the sixth recipient of the award, which is the highest honor the company can present to an employee. Mr. Boyd was presented the award during a ceremony at the ABF General Office on December 2, 2010.

"John Boyd is a hero and a role model for all of us," said ABF President and Chief Executive Officer Wes Kemp. "The prompt, resourceful, and responsible way he acted in the face of a crisis is most inspiring. John is a fine example of the caliber of people we have on the ABF team and we're very proud to recognize his actions with the ABF Medal of Excellence."

The life-saving incident occurred in April 2010 when Boyd maneuvered his truck to shield an accident victim thrown from an overturned vehicle on Interstate 675 near Beavercreek, Ohio. Boyd called emergency services, maneuvered his truck to protect the victim from oncoming traffic, and remained on the scene providing aid until authorities arrived. "He was lying on his back, next to the guardrail, on the pavement in the road," Boyd was quoted as saying at the time. "They [other motorists] would have run over the guy." The accident victim, who later recovered, was a 27-year-old soldier home from Iraq and scheduled for deployment to Afghanistan.

Established in 1923, ABF® is best-in-class for safety, security, technology and freight-handling. InformationWeek, CIO, InfoWorld, and BtoB magazines have cited ABF's strategic use of information technology as exemplary. ABF is the only six-time winner of the American Trucking Associations President's Trophy for Safety, the only five-time winner of the Excellence in Security Award, and the only four-time winner of the Excellence in Claims/Loss Prevention Award. ABF also is the only carrier to earn both the Excellence in Claims/Loss Prevention Award and the Excellence in Security Award in the same year, which ABF has accomplished twice.

ABF provides guaranteed service for expedited or time-definite shipments via its TimeKeeper® service. Regional shipments are handled via the carrier's RPM® Network, providing next-day and second-day shipping. The ABF system stretches throughout North America, with local service centers serving all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Globally, the carrier serves 250 ports in more than 130 countries.

ABF is the largest subsidiary of Arkansas Best Corporation (Nasdaq: ABFS).

SOURCE ABF Freight System, Inc.