ArcBest (AQY) Risk Analysis
Risk Overview Q2, 2026
Source: the company's latest filing for the period ended Jun 30, 2026, filed Jul 30, 2026
Risk Change Over Time
Risk Highlights Q2, 2026
Risk Word Cloud
Risk Factors Full Breakdown - Total Risks 29
- Employment / Personnel - Risk 1If the independent contractors with which we contract are deemed by regulators or judicial process to be employees, or if we experience operational or regulatory issues related to our use of these contract drivers, our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be adversely affected.
Class actions and other lawsuits have arisen in the transportation and logistics industry seeking to reclassify independent contractor drivers as employees for a variety of purposes, including workers' compensation, wage-and-hour, and health care coverage. Many states have enacted restrictive laws that make it difficult to successfully prove independent-contractor status, and all states have enforcement programs to evaluate the classification of independent contractors. In the event of such reclassification of our owner-operators, we could be exposed to various liabilities and additional costs, for both future and prior periods, under federal, state, and local tax laws, and workers' compensation, unemployment benefits, labor, and employment laws, as well as potential liability for penalties and interest and under vicarious liability principles.
- Employment / Personnel - Risk 2Difficulty attracting, retaining, and upskilling employees, or ABF Freight's inability to reach agreement on future collective bargaining agreements, could result in labor inefficiencies, disruptions, stoppages, or delayed growth.
In certain markets, we continue to experience challenges with hiring an adequate number of qualified drivers and freight-handlers. The available pool of drivers is expected to continue to decline as retirements accelerate in the current driver workforce and recruitment and retention may be further impacted by government regulations or legislative actions, such as the recent English proficiency and domicile mandates. The expansion of flexible work options in recent years has provided more employment opportunities for those in professional roles, including our IT roles, making attraction and retention more complex. If wage inflation continues for noncontractual professional roles, our labor costs will increase. If we encounter difficulty in attracting and retaining employees, including qualified drivers, freight-handlers, and professional personnel, we could incur higher recruiting expenses or a loss of business, and our profitability and ability to grow could be adversely affected. If AI and other technological innovations accelerate the need for upskilling of employees or increase the resources necessary to carry out such training, we could incur higher training-related costs, and our profitability and ability to grow could be negatively impacted. A significant portion of the employees in our Asset-Based segment are covered under the collective bargaining agreement between ABF Freight and the IBT. If we are unable to effectively manage our relationship with the IBT, we could be less effective in ongoing relations and future negotiations, which could lead to operational inefficiencies and increased operating costs. There can be no assurance that we will be able to agree on acceptable terms for the next contract period or, if agreed upon, that those terms will be favorable to us in future collective bargaining agreements, which may result in higher labor costs, insufficient operational flexibility, a work stoppage, the loss of customers, or other events that could have a material adverse effect on our business. We could also experience a loss of customers or a reduction in our potential share of business in the markets we serve if shippers limit their use of unionized freight transportation service providers because of the risk of work stoppages.
- Employment / Personnel - Risk 3We could be obligated to make additional significant contributions to multiemployer pension plans.
ABF Freight contributes to multiemployer pension and health and welfare plans to provide benefits for its contractual employees. These multiemployer plans, established pursuant to the Taft-Hartley Act, are jointly trusteed and cover collectively bargained employees of multiple unrelated employers. Due to the inherent nature of multiemployer pension plans, there are risks associated with participation in these plans that differ from single-employer plans. Assets received by the plans are not segregated by employer, and contributions made by one employer can be and are used to provide benefits to current and former employees of other employers. If a participating employer in a multiemployer pension plan no longer contributes to the plan, the unfunded obligations of the plan may be borne by the remaining participating employers. If a participating employer in a multiemployer pension plan completely withdraws from the plan, it owes to the plan its proportionate share of the plan's unfunded vested benefits, referred to as withdrawal liability. A complete withdrawal generally occurs when the employer permanently ceases to have an obligation to contribute to the plan. Withdrawal liability is also owed in the event the employer withdraws from a plan in connection with a mass withdrawal, which generally occurs when all or substantially all employers withdraw from the plan in a relatively short period of time pursuant to an agreement. Were ABF Freight to completely withdraw from certain multiemployer pension plans, whether in connection with a mass withdrawal or otherwise, under current law, we would have material liabilities for our share of the unfunded vested liabilities of each such plan. The multiemployer pension plans to which ABF Freight contributes vary greatly in size and in funded status. ABF Freight's obligations to these plans are generally specified in the 2023 ABF NMFA and other related supplemental agreements, as further discussed in Note I to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. These pension plans provide the best retirement benefits in the industry. However, when compared to competitors, ABF Freight pays some of the highest benefit contribution rates in the industry and continues to address the effect of the Asset-Based segment's wage and benefit cost structure on its operating results in discussions with the IBT. Through the term of its current collective bargaining agreement, ABF Freight's multiemployer pension obligations generally will be satisfied by making the specified contributions when due. Future contribution rates will be determined through the negotiation process for contract periods following the term of the current collective bargaining agreement. Certain legislative actions that became effective in recent years include provisions to improve funding for multiemployer pension plans, as further discussed in Note I to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. However, despite such legislative actions, we may still trigger withdrawal liability through, among other things, mergers and other fundamental corporate transactions and as a result of operational changes, site closures and job losses. We continue to monitor the impact of legislative actions on the funding status of the multiemployer pension plans to which ABF Freight contributes; however, we cannot determine with any certainty the minimum contributions that will be required under future collective bargaining agreements or the impact they will have on our results of operations and financial condition.
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