ArcBest Corporation (ARCB) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

[Presentation]

ArcBest began in 1923 as a local Arkansas freight hauler. Fast forward, and today, we've transformed into an integrated logistics company with global reach and solutions for nearly every supply chain need. We provide end-to-end logistics solutions powered by our own assets and an expansive capacity network. With the perfect blend of technology, expertise and transportation options, we connect shippers to the solutions they need. We can shift modes, optimize routes and adapt quickly when the market changes. And as our customers grow, we grow with them, always finding smarter ways to move goods, improve efficiency and drive results. Innovation is core to our strategy. And it starts with listening. We are committed to continuous improvement, building tools and solutions to meet our customers' needs, help our employees do their jobs more efficiently and ensure we're always ready for what's next. Our tech stack includes solutions for shippers and carriers and offers end-to-end visibility, intuitive freight management, the highest security standards and groundbreaking innovation. And it's designed to help supply chains run better. Our people are at the heart of it all. Across our 250 locations, 14,000 employees bring grit, creativity and a values-driven mindset to every interaction. They go the extra mile to help earn and keep our customers' trust. For over 100 years, we've helped businesses move forward. Today, we're building better supply chain, delivering results and creating long-term value. ArcBest is built to deliver.

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to ArcBest's 2025 Investor Day. It is great to see all of you. This is our first Investor Day in a decade, and we're excited to have the opportunity to share our story, our strategy and our vision for the future. ArcBest has undergone a remarkable transformation. And today, you'll see how we're positioned to lead in a rapidly evolving logistics landscape. Before we begin, a quick reminder, today's presentation includes forward-looking statements that reflect our current expectations about future events. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. You'll find a detailed discussion of these risks in our SEC filings available on our Investor Relations page at arcb.com. We'll also reference certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations for these measures are included in the appendix of today's presentation, which is available on our website. For your convenience, there's a card in front of you with a QR code linking you directly to this presentation. Today, you'll hear from our Chairman and CEO, Judy McReynolds; our CEO-Elect and President, Seth Runser; and our CFO, Matt Beasley. They'll walk you through our strategy our focus on execution and how we're creating long-term value. Following the presentation, we'll have a Q&A session. And for those joining on the webcast, you could submit your questions online. After Q&A, we invite you to stay for refreshments and conversations with our team, including our Americas Road Team captains who are with us today. You can also experience our technology firsthand, including a live demonstration of Vaux Smart Autonomy with the forklift in Arkansas operated remotely from right here in New York. Over the last decade, Judy and the management team have led a bold strategic transformation, building a full-service integrated logistics company that is built to deliver for our customers, our people and our shareholders. Built to Deliver represents our commitment to delivering value through innovation, through service and through execution. Today, you'll hear who we are, why we are built to deliver and how this mantra is driving results. We hope you'll leave with an understanding of ArcBest's strong history and why our future is even brighter. Now please join me in welcoming our Chairman and CEO, Judy McReynolds.

Good afternoon. Thank you all for joining us. We're excited to have you here and host you so that we can share how ArcBest is uniquely positioned in today's dynamic logistics environment. And you'll hear from Seth, who will walk you through our strategic initiatives and how we're executing against our long-term goals. And then Matt will provide a deeper view into our financial performance and outlook. But first, I want to highlight what truly sets us apart and why we're built for long-term success. ArcBest is a leading integrated logistics company, operating in a nearly $400 billion addressable market. For more than a century, we've developed trusted relationships and delivered results for our investors, our customers, our employees and our communities. With a technology-enabled and integrated approach and solutions spanning both Asset-Based and Asset-Light capabilities, ArcBest is built to deliver. We serve as a strategic partner and a trusted adviser to more than 30,000 customers, from iconic global brands to thousands of small and midsized businesses. Our top 10 customers represent just 13% of revenue, giving us a broad, balanced customer base that supports growth across economic cycles and positions us to deliver long-term value to our shareholders. We'll Find A Way is more than a tagline. It's how our customers describe us and it's a promise we live by. Our mission and vision are beacons that guide us. In both, you'll see a desire to make a positive impact. ArcBest helps keep the global supply chain moving, and we strive to do that in a way that positively impacts the world. We continuously evaluate our strategy to ensure that it aligns with market needs, and our customers validate it through their feedback and actions. Demand for our services is strong, with 25% growth in active accounts since 2019, and our Net Promoter Scores remain consistently positive. Our core values: creativity, integrity, collaboration, growth, excellence and wellness are embedded in everything we do. They guide how we hire, train, lead and serve. With 14,000 employees unified by our mission and strategy, every team member plays a clear and purposeful role in driving our business forward. Our best strength begins with our people, and I'm proud to introduce our experienced and engaged executive team, a group of leaders who bring extensive industry knowledge, strategic vision and a relentless commitment to innovation and customer success. Seth Runser and Matt Godfrey bring operational excellence in a customer-first mindset with over 3 decades of combined ArcBest experience. Matt Beasley is driving disciplined financial strategy and capital allocation. Christopher Adkins and Dennis Anderson are shaping our future through forward-thinking strategy and cutting-edge innovation. Erin Gattis ensures our people and culture remain a competitive advantage. Michael Johns has provided trusted legal counsel for many years. As he prepares to retire at the end of this year, we're excited to welcome Brent Hagy, currently our VP of Legal, into the role of Chief Legal Officer. Eddie Sorg leads with a deep understanding of our industry, customers and pricing. And we're excited to welcome Mac Pinkerton in January as Chief Operating Officer of Asset-Light. Mac brings nearly 30 years of experience from C.H. Robinson, most recently as President of North American Surface Transportation. Our leadership team is supported by a strong, seasoned Board of Directors whose broad and strategic experience spans transportation and logistics, finance and capital markets and digital transformation. We're also proud to welcome Thom Albrecht, whose nearly 40 years of industry experience bring valuable operational insight and investor-focused mindset. The Board remains deeply committed to governance best practices, transparency and responsiveness to shareholder feedback. Together, our leadership team and our Board of Directors bring a powerful blend of strategic vision and operational expertise, and I'm confident in their ability to guide us into our next chapter. ArcBest is more than a logistics operator. We're a customer-led innovator. This mindset is our North Star, driving sustainable growth and profitability. Our diverse and flexible capacity solutions set us apart. With robust North American LTL platform, over 40,000 assets and a strong carrier partner network, we're equipped to meet a wide range of supply chain needs. Innovation is embedded in who we are. We empower our teams to challenge the status quo and align innovation directly with business outcomes. Our people and values-driven culture are a tremendous asset. In a rapidly evolving logistics landscape, they enable us to respond with agility and build lasting customer relationships. And we have a proven track record even in challenging environments. And that reinforces our confidence in the road ahead. At ArcBest, every decision, from the people we hire to the solutions we offer, is made with the customer in mind. As supply chains grow more complex, customers need integrated multimodal solutions that provide flexibility and efficiency. ArcBest meets these needs as a trusted partner. One customer recently shared ArcBest is the most holistic solution to supply chain and logistics. No other organization or combination of businesses will result in the same broad productivity. That's the kind of impact we strive for, and it's the reason our customers keep coming back. Our integrated model allows us to say yes to customers, offering tailored seamless solutions that connect customers and capacity rather than forcing a fit. With ArcBest, customers can build supply chains that are flexible, efficient, resilient and reliable without the complexity of managing multiple providers. By partnering with ArcBest, a well-known provider of upscale and modern home furnishings was able to enhance their operations. Through our integrated transportation network, tech-enabled tools and capabilities, our skilled team that supports their business, they're realizing efficiencies by shortening transit times, reducing transportation costs and accelerating fulfillment speed. This showcases the transformative impact of ArcBest integrated solutions. Let's talk about Managed, a pivotal part of our customer partnerships. We launched this offering in 2017 in direct response to a customer request, and quickly saw a growing need for strategic end-to-end logistics support. It was a natural evolution into becoming a true partner in supply chain transformation. This solution exemplifies how we go beyond moving freight to becoming an extension of our customers' teams, delivering insights, efficiencies and measurable cost savings. What sets us apart is our ability to tailor solutions using the right combination of people, data and technology, [ plus a ] seamless access to assured capacity through our owned assets and a vast carrier partner network. This is also where our LTL brokerage capability shines, leveraging deep market intelligence and strong carrier relationships to complement our Asset-Based network, giving customers flexibility and reliability. Recently, we helped a leading lighting manufacturer modernize their shipping operations. By automating key processes like shipment consolidation and routing, we drove meaningful value by saving them 5% and improving their supply chain. It's a win-win and a perfect example of how ArcBest is built to deliver. Modern supply chains are dynamic and complex. Our ability to solve these challenges comes from the breadth and the integration of our solutions. On average, customers rely on 4 distinct logistics services to keep operations running. We anticipated this shift in 2012 and responded with strategic acquisitions and organic investments. And then we integrated these services to create a seamless experience, a key differentiator versus single-mode providers. We bring together managed solutions, less-than-truckload, truckload, expedite and other services to deliver tailored end-to-end logistics solutions. These services aren't siloed. They're strategically integrated to create revenue and cost synergies that benefit both our customers and our business. Whether optimizing routing, consolidating shipments or responding to urgent needs, our integrated model meets customers where they are and scales as they grow. And that breadth of capability translates directly into stronger, longer-lasting relationships. And those relationships deliver results. Customers who use multiple ArcBest solutions stay with us longer and generate significantly more value. Retention is 5% higher and revenue and profits are tripled. We're not only cross-selling. We're building integrated partnerships. In fact, 70% of our Asset-Light customers also use our Asset-Based services. amplifying the impact of our sales efforts. And behind the scenes, we drive synergies across sales, technology, finance and HR, creating scalable growth that benefits both customers and our business. As I mentioned, shippers typically rely on 4 distinct logistics solutions to keep operations running. Here is a powerful example of how our integrated approach allows us to grow with our customers. In 2014, we began serving a leading global auto manufacturer with a single expedite solution. By 2017, they added LTL. By 2018, they added truckload. By 2023, we became a managed solution partner, reengineering their supply chain and improving visibility. And in 2024, they began a Vaux Smart Autonomy pilot. This journey more than doubled revenue, from $17 million to $47 million. It's a testament to the power of trust, innovation and long-term partnership. Trust isn't given. It's earned, and at ArcBest, it's foundational. We hear it from our customers, our team and our stakeholders. A premium experience drives retention, revenue and profitability. When we reduce friction for customers, we improve our own efficiency. It's a true win-win. In a complex cyclical industry, we don't compete on price. We differentiate on service. And it shows. Over 80% of our revenue comes from customers who've been with us for more than a decade. Capacity is critical in logistics, and ArcBest offers a diverse and flexible suite of capacity solutions. Unlike traditional 3PLs that rely solely on third-party providers or carriers limited by their own assets, ArcBest combines both. Through ABF, we operate 240 service centers and 40,000 pieces of owned equipment. Through MoLo, we built a top 15 truckload brokerage with access to over 70,000 carriers. Our managed and LTL brokerage solutions tap into over 95% of U.S. LTL capacity. And expedite adds 600 owner-operators delivering premium services for mission-critical freight. This scale and diversity means we are built to solve complex challenges, which helps our customers grow and creates value for our shareholders. ArcBest isn't just moving freight; we're moving businesses forward. Our dedication to service excellence is consistently recognized by customers and the industry. We're proud to be the only carrier to earn 10 or more American Trucking Associations' Excellence awards for security and cargo claims. This reflects our unwavering commitment to delivering freight on time and damage-free. This level of performance is more than operational pride. It enables us to align pricing with the value we deliver, which deepens customer relationships, leading to repeat business and sustainable revenue growth. And for 19 years, Mastio rated us Exceeding Industry Standards. This isn't luck. It's the result of disciplined execution, a customer-first mindset and continuous investment in tools that make doing business with us easier. One of the ways we have transformed ArcBest is through our focus on innovation. Innovation is in our DNA. And today, it's a strategic engine powering efficiency, growth and transformation. Our innovation team is tightly aligned with the business goals and actively engaged with the start-up ecosystem, giving us early access to emerging technologies. But innovation isn't limited to one team. It's embedded across ArcBest supported by trained innovation ambassadors who help us surface and scale ideas. We actively manage our innovation portfolio to prioritize initiatives that deliver the greatest shareholder return, whether through revenue growth or operational efficiency. ArcBest has a long history of using technology to empower people and transform logistics. From adopting IBM Systems in the 1960s, to launching the industry's first transactional website in the 1990s, we consistently led the way. Our iterative approach moving from idea to pilot to scale delivers real results. Optimization initiatives of, in 2021, we've, through those optimization initiatives, we've realized over $45 million in cost savings. In 2023, we introduced the Vaux technology suite, named 1 of Time's Best Inventions of 2023. And in 2024, we launched an AI-powered optimization road map that's already driving results. Today, Asset-Based productivity is at its highest since 2021, and Asset-Light productivity is at an all-time high. And we expect even more improvements ahead. At ArcBest innovation starts with listening. We actively engage with our customers, employees and partners whose feedback fuels continuous improvement and drives commercial success across our business. Many of our most impactful offerings came directly from listening. Managed Solutions grew from customers asking for help with broader supply chain challenges. Retail Plus was cocreated with customers to avoid costly fines for missing delivery windows. Dynamic pricing was built in response to shifting quoting behavior, unlocking a new channel for profitable growth. And ArcBest View, that Seth will introduce later, delivers real-time visibility and multi-mode quoting in 1 intuitive platform. A perfect example of our innovation capabilities is Vaux, a groundbreaking solution that began as an employee idea and has grown into transformative freight movement technology. Vaux began as a solution to improve trailer loading and unloading, but it quickly revealed broader potential. Today we're in discussions and pilots with some of the world's most recognizable brands about how Vaux can help reduce bottlenecks, improve safety and give companies greater control over their operations. Our customers face growing pressure to improve efficiency while navigating labor shortages and aging workforce and safety concerns. Our opportunity for the material handling market is estimated at $50 billion and is expected to grow. Vaux positions ArcBest to lead in this high-growth market because it solves real problems and delivers real value. Our first product, the Vaux Freight Movement System, can unload a trailer in under 5 minutes. That's a 90% improvement over traditional methods. Customers then asked for safer, more consistent material handling. So we developed Vaux Smart Autonomy, featuring teleoperated forklifts with human-in-the-loop capabilities. It's the fastest, most flexible way to introduce autonomy into existing operations without costly redesigns. Operators can now work remotely from anywhere in the world and manage multiple forklifts simultaneously. Most recently, we launched Vaux Vision, which transforms a standard forklift into a mobile dimensioner. With recent NMFC changes, demand is rising and the data Vaux Vision captures is unlocking even more value. Technology drives change, but people make it happen. And our people are at the heart of our success. We hire for skill and values alignment, and our customers feel that difference. Our turnover is approximately 30% lower than other large companies. So we spend less time recruiting and more time developing our people. And that shows. We're proud to be recognized by Forbes and U.S. News for our culture. But we don't stop at recognition. We invest deeply in our people, from our driver development program with 40 schools and 1,000 CDL driver graduates, to our Leadership Academy now in its 10th year. We're building a resilient, adaptable workforce ready to lead through change. Leaders like Seth Runser and Matt Godfrey are great examples, both started in our management development program, and their journeys prepared them to move confidently into new leadership roles and deliver impact from day 1. When I stepped into the CEO role in 2010, we were emerging from the Great Recession. Over the past 15 years, we've built a stronger, more resilient business, and the results speak for themselves. Since 2019, revenue was up 49%, operating income was up 81% and earnings per share has more than doubled. We've built a track record of delivering profitable growth even amid industry volatility, and we're just getting started. Our 3 strategic pillars: growth, efficiency and innovation are deeply interconnected. Innovation is the foundation that enables both profitable growth and operational efficiency. At ABF, we've improved our operating ratio by 330 basis points over the past 5 years. Normalized for union pension impacts, we're operating in the mid-80s. This reflects disciplined execution, a relentless focus on making employees' jobs easier and achieving our financial goals. Long-term success requires a long-term mindset. And that's why we strategically invest through all phases of the business cycle. In 1997, we launched U-Pack, a flexible lever for profitable growth. In 2012, we launched strategic development programs for talent and began our transformation into an integrated logistics company with the acquisition of Panther. In 2019, we began piloting the Vaux mobile platform, opening the door to a $50 billion market. We've been forward-thinking with AI, establishing our data analytics infrastructure in 2019, well before the current AI wave. And in 2021, we acquired MoLo to scale our truckload capabilities and launched our innovation portfolio, driving service and efficiency improvements. We've also invested in our facilities, expanding capacity and improving network performance. This disciplined approach builds resilience and maintains momentum and positions us for growth regardless of market conditions. ArcBest has a proven track record of creating value. We delivered a total shareholder return of almost 140% over the past 5 years, outperforming the S&P 500 by over 20%. We've made tremendous progress and we're confident in the path ahead, but we know there's more to do. So as I prepare for my retirement as CEO, I've reflected on what we've built together, I'm proud of the foundation we've laid, grounded in innovation, discipline and a deep commitment to our people, customers and investors. I'm confident in ArcBest's future under Seth's leadership. He brings deep business insight, a passion for our purpose and a clear vision for what's next, ensuring our continued focus on delivering long-term shareholder value. And with that, it's my privilege to welcome our CEO-Elect and President, Seth Runser, to share more about the work underway and how we're building on this momentum.

Well, good afternoon, everyone. First, I want to thank Judy for her incredible leadership and her vision. Her stewardship has really built the foundation of the company we have today, and we're grateful for everything you've done for our company, Judy. So I began my career with ArcBest about 18 years ago. And in that time, I've moved across the country, serving in various roles, from frontline operations to service center management, Regional Vice President of Operations. I ran our linehaul team, eventually moving into the ABF Freight President role in 2021, before taking this role. So my leadership has been defined by a drive to continually improve and profitably grow our business, active listening and a bias for swift action to drive results through efficiency and innovation. When I became President ArcBest, I went on a listening tour around our company, and what I heard from our employees and our customers only strengthened my belief in ArcBest strategy. We have built our company to deliver for our customers, our employees and our shareholders. My journey here has also reconfigured my convictions around our 3 strategic pillars: growth, innovation and efficiency. Through purposeful execution, we're strengthening our position in the industry and delivering the right solutions at the right time to meet evolving customer needs. Our integrated approach enables us to navigate disruptions, drive better supply chain outcomes and maximize value for our shareholders. Looking ahead, our priorities are clear. Number one, accelerate profitable growth by strengthening our premium service offering. Number two, increase efficiency to enhance operational excellence and optimize performance. And number three, drive innovation to deliver solutions that keeps us and our customers ahead in an evolving world. These priorities guide how we operate, helping us anticipate challenges, seize opportunities and create opportunities and meaningful impact across the supply chain. Now let's take a closer look at the steps we're taking to accelerate profitable growth. We've refined our go-to-market approach to align solutions with evolving customer needs. We're maintaining yield discipline, prioritizing profitable growth by delivering premium service. We're expanding our quote pool to increase digital engagement and drive revenue growth. And we're enhancing customer service and visibility tools to provide transparency and support for optimized supply chains. We are focused on working smart and moving fast. Earlier this year, we made a strategic change, aligning marketing, yield, sales and customer service under one leader. This integration allows us to better connect the customer experience with pricing intelligence and our go-to-market strategy. Eddie Sorg, our Chief Commercial Officer, is leading this transformation. Eddie brings almost 30 years of experience at ArcBest, including significant yield expertise. His deep understanding of cost and profit drivers, combined with this customer-first mindset, makes him uniquely qualified to lead this effort. His team is focused on accelerating managed opportunities, growing our core LTL business, optimizing the mix of our truckload business and enhancing the growth of our Expedite solution. And his insights and leadership are shaping the next chapter of ArcBest growth. Our Managed Transportation Solution is a true success story. Since its launch in 2017, daily shipments have grown at an impressive 44% annual rate, and we've retained over 90% of our customers, a clear sign of the value we're delivering. Even during the freight recession, daily shipments grew more than 60% and, importantly, Managed remained profitable throughout the entire downturn. That resilience underscores its strategic importance in our portfolio. Today, our Managed pipeline has surpassed $1 billion and will continue to expand, fueled by our growth initiatives. As Managed grows, so do our other services as we leverage LTL, Truckload and Expedite along with our carrier network to deliver seamless, efficient solutions that create value for customers and investors. We are laser-focused on expanding our core LTL business, and capacity is key. Back in 2021 when I served as ABF Freight President, we began building for growth, investing in our network, equipment and pricing strategies. And these investments are paying off. In 2024, we launched a targeted sales campaign that's already adding about 2,000 new core LTL shipments per day, and that number continues to climb. To accelerate this momentum, Eddie has a clear vision for commercial excellence. We've also met with sales and operation leaders nationwide to identify and remove barriers, streamlining contract administration, enhancing EDI connections, and investing in onboarding and retention teams. These changes are adding shipments and strengthening our long-term customer relationships. Trust is earned through consistent execution, especially on the hard things. We reliably set appointments, handle over dimensional freight with care and deliver solutions that others avoid. These capabilities demonstrate our commitment to doing the difficult things well. As trust builds, volume and pricing improve. In year 1, new customers see volume growth and pricing gains. And by year 2, tonnage with new accounts grows nearly 70%, signaling strong loyalty and an increased share of wallet. And pricing follows suit with low double-digit increases, reflecting the trust that we've earned. This progression underscores the long-term value our relationships and our ability to price for performance. As Judy mentioned earlier, 80% of our revenue comes from customers who have been with us over a decade, a testament to the trust and value we've built over time. We're executing a strategic initiative to expand and optimize our Truckload business, driving higher margin growth and refining our customer mix. Enterprise customers are important, helping us maintain a strong carrier network and competitive buy rates. Many enterprise customers also leverage multiple ArcBest solutions. But our key focus is accelerating growth in the SMB market, which typically delivers 60% higher profit per load. To capture this opportunity, we've reorganized our truckload sales team, removing friction, streamlining processes and improving efficiency. These changes are producing meaningful results. When we acquired MoLo in 2021, 80% of our truckload revenue came from enterprise customers. Currently, the mix is 60% enterprise and 40% SMB. But our long-term goal is 60% SMB and 40% enterprise, positioning ArcBest for sustained profitable growth. Truckload represents our largest market opportunity for share expansion, and we're excited to welcome Mac as Chief Operating Officer of Asset-Light. Mac's leadership will accelerate our momentum and strengthen our market position. Expedite is also a critical component of our integrated logistics solution. Customers need speed and flexibility and reliability, and ArcBest is uniquely positioned to deliver with our Expedite solution. that provides time-sensitive and high priority services. We're already a top 5 expedite provider in the U.S., and we're building on that strength. Our opportunity pipeline revenue has grown by 10% since the first quarter of 2025, and we're investing in technology and capacity to capture even more of that demand. We're getting ready to launch a proprietary TMS system designed to boost productivity and enhance customer experience. And our track record says it all: a 98% on-time success rate measured within 15 minutes of promised pickup and delivery. Expedite also plays a strategic role in our network, complementing Managed, LTL and Truckload. Net margins have expanded 140 basis points year-over-year and customer retention is up 11% since 2023. We are committed to accelerating the growth of this high-margin, high-value service. Tech-enabled pricing has always been a core strength at ArcBest. 40 years ago, we developed a costing model well ahead of the industry. This model has been a long-time differentiator, enabling intelligent pricing decisions, making and driving value. We continually build on this foundation. Our Cost Calculator, which was developed in the '90s, it uses AI and predictive models and is still a key enabler of our industry-leading pricing. In 2017, ArcBest began implementing density-based pricing model nearly a decade before the most recent NMFC changes. In addition, our fully integrated logistics approach gives us unmatched market intelligence and real-time pricing metrics. A more recent innovation, Dynamic Pricing, offers multiple benefits. Customers increasingly want to engage digitally. And through our proprietary technology and real-time decision engine, we provide intelligent quotes that optimize network capacity and profitability. This disciplined technology-driven approach to pricing is a key differentiator. It supports our long-term financial goals and reinforces our commitment to delivering shareholder value. We've made the investments and they continue to pay off. Our centralized pricing strategy drives profitable growth by enabling smarter, faster and more consistent decisions. Pricing discipline isn't just about setting rates. It's about delivering profitability. We've successfully implemented strategic price increases, coupled with operational efficiencies to stay ahead of rising costs while expanding margins. At the heart of this strategy is our approach to pricing, which balances 3 critical factors. Number one, what does it cost to handle this business? Our model provides a detailed, data-driven view of cost drivers, ensuring profitability on an account-by-account basis. Number two, what alternatives are available in the market? This keeps us competitive and well positioned. Number three, what unique value do we bring to this customer supply chain. And this is where our integrated solutions and service set us apart from the competition. This process provides a full picture of each opportunity, drives intelligent decision-making, and it's a cornerstone of our success. This disciplined approach has resulted in ArcBest having the strongest LTL pricing metrics among competitors, with revenue per 100 weight 1.6x higher and revenue per shipment 1.5x higher. This is a testament to the trust that our customers have in our ability to deliver for them. At ArcBest, innovation and pricing strategy has long been a differentiator, and our internally developed dynamic pricing model is a prime example. The vast majority of our daily shipments come from core LTL customers, relationships that are foundational to our business. But as we all know, demand can fluctuate from day to day. To better manage this variability, we developed our Dynamic Pricing model. This technology was designed to enhance utilization of our internal capacity on a daily basis. It allows us to place the right shipment in the right location at the right times, optimizing yield and ensuring sustainable revenue performance. To give you a closer look at how this works in practice and the value it's creating for ArcBest and our customers, let's take a look at this short video. [Presentation]

ArcBest is making pricing smarter and transforming how freight moves through our network with our dynamic pricing model. The LTL industry has been talking about moving to smarter pricing for many years. ArcBest is leading the industry in delivering on that vision. While most of our shipments come from core LTL customers, some shippers prefer to quote their freight daily, seeking real-time pricing that meets immediate needs. ArcBest is meeting that demand with our dynamic pricing option that gives qualified shippers immediate access to our LTL capacity. Gone are the days where shippers need to request LTL prices and negotiate for days, weeks or months to get to an agreed pricing structure. Dynamic Pricing is a strategic engine. Behind every quote is a powerful AI-enabled system that considers market pricing, labor planning, capacity and costing, all fueled by a growing pool of daily quote activity. It's uniquely designed to adjust daily, ensuring our rates reflect the most current network and market conditions. As the quote pool expands, our pricing intelligence sharpens, enabling smarter decisions and driving incremental profits. The result: optimized capacity utilization across our network and stronger, more consistent financial performance. Shippers request quotes for available capacity in real time. And our technology seamlessly matches their needs with our internal network, generating prices that reflect the current capacity and market conditions. As demand fluctuates, the technology dynamically adjust pricing to align with available capacity, giving us the flexibility to capture incremental profit while maintaining disciplined pricing. By adjusting pricing based on real-time capacity, we optimize equipment and facility use, ensure labor consistency and maintain operational stability. Since launching in 2020, Dynamic Pricing has scaled rapidly. Volume has grown unfold to nearly 250,000 quotes per day, and revenue shipment is up nearly 50% for this business. A larger quote pool means better freight selection, higher yield and stronger financial performance. ArcBest View will make quoting even easier, and deeper integration with 3PLs and TMS platforms will expand our reach and drive more opportunities. By leveraging technology, enhancing customer engagement and aligning with market trends, ArcBest is driving innovation in pricing and building a more agile, intelligent freight ecosystem.

As the freight industry becomes increasingly digital, you can see why our Dynamic Pricing model is a key competitive advantage. By combining the ease of use for customers with strong service, we've created a win-win. Customers get the flexibility they want and we deliver stronger results for our shareholders. At ArcBest, exceptional service means more than moving freight. It's about creating seamless, trustworthy experiences. Our Voice of the Customer program combined with insights from Mastio help us understand what matters most to customers, which you can see on the left-hand side of the slide. This table illustrates 5 key initiatives we've launched to address these customer priorities. The first is a renewed focus on quality training. For over 40 years, our quality process has driven continuous improvement. Last year we doubled down, training nearly 8,000 employees in 2024 and 2025 to deliver top-tier service. The second focus is on digital connectivity, including investing in technology for seamless interactions, real-time visibility and proactive communication. The third is an investment in key account management, which includes strengthening customer relationships and providing dedicated support to our largest and most profitable customers. The fourth is a focus on continuous improvement, which includes deploying operational experts across the ABF network to reinforce best practices and implement new technology to support a premium customer experience. And the fifth is standing up an onboarding and retention teams, supporting customers at every stage to reduce churn and build loyalty. These initiatives underscore ArcBest's commitment to service excellence, driving retention, lowering cost to serve and creating real value. Expectations continue to evolve, and we are meeting them head on with our digital tools that enhance service and visibility. At ArcBest, we believe technology should make doing business easier, faster and more intuitive. That philosophy drives our digital and AI strategies. We've deployed AVA, our AI-powered virtual assistant, which is transforming customer service. AVA intelligently routes inquiries, resolves common issues instantly and frees up our agents to focus on more value-added support. This improves response times and elevates the overall customer experience. Additionally, ETA accuracy has improved by over 20%, helping our customers plan more effectively. And through EDI and API integrations and platforms like arcb.com, we're providing differentiated shipment visibility and proactive communication. These tools enable and empower customers with real-time insights and reduce the need for assisted service. Use of our digital tools continues to grow and the impact is meaningful. Digitally engaged customers need significantly less customer support, which has contributed to a 20% reduction in customer interactions over the past year. And now we're taking the next step. I'm excited to introduce ArcBest View, our new customer service platform currently in beta and launching publicly in early 2026. ArcBest View is more than a digital upgrade. It's a unified experience that brings quoting, booking and visibility across all of our logistics solutions into one seamless interface. Within the ArcBest View platform, customers will have access to Viewpoint, our new visibility tool where they can manage shipments across modes in a single intuitive dashboard. Whether you're quoting an LTL shipment, booking a truckload or tracking a final-mile delivery, customers can do it all in one place, with fewer clicks and greater confidence. We're proud of what we've built and even more excited about what's ahead. As you've just seen, our profitable growth strategy is comprehensive and intentional. Through a refined go-to-market approach, we have aligned our growth engine teams and are focused on accelerating managed opportunities, growing core LTL business, optimizing our truckload mix and enhancing Expedite growth. We are maintaining yield discipline through tech-enabled pricing strategies and expanding our quote pool opportunities through our Dynamic Pricing tool. And we are enhancing customer service with tools like ArcBest View. These efforts are already driving measurable results, and I'm confident they will drive value in the years to come. We've outlined the strategic actions driving profitable growth, now let's focus on how we're boosting efficiency across the ArcBest enterprise. From optimizing network capacity and fleet operations, to expanding our continuous improvement teams, we're building this strong, efficient foundation for sustainable growth. Our strategic investments in network infrastructure are essential to both our growth and high-quality service our customers expect. Since 2021, we've added roughly 800 net doors across our Asset-Based LTL network. These expansions are targeted, data informed and aligned with long-term customer demand. Expanding square footage is not our only focus. By modernizing facilities and optimizing dock operations, we've reduced bottlenecks, improved throughput and enabling faster, more reliable service. This is how we scale with purpose. As a recent example, the expansion of our Chicago distribution center increased transfer capacity by 24% in a critical hub, demonstrating our commitment to investing ahead of demand while maintaining capital discipline. Our facility network is a strategic asset. We operate approximately 240 service centers across the country, each one thoughtfully placed as part of a well-planned real estate and network engineering strategy. Our network allows us to reach U.S. businesses within 1 hour 80% of the time, ensuring we're located where customers need us most. Optimizing our network also drives efficiency in one of our most cost-intensive areas, linehaul, which represents about 40% of incremental expenses for ABF. Through facility expansion, smarter labor planning and improved productivity, we achieved record levels of trailer capacity utilization, a key measure of linehaul efficiency. Even small gains here creates significant value. Every 1% improvement in utilization equates to roughly $9 million in annualized cost savings. Since 2021, we've reduced total miles by $8 million while improving equipment utilization and service quality. We're also refining our appointment scheduling, enhancing labor planning tools and piloting new technology to optimize daily dispatch operations, improving both service and efficiency. As we build a smarter, more efficient network, optimizing our fleet is a critical part of that vision. We invest around $160 million per year into equipment, one of our largest capital investments, guided by a data-driven total cost of ownership model. This approach ensures we maintain optimal replacement cycles, and we're proud to have one of the youngest and most efficient fleets in the network. A younger fleet means lower maintenance cost, better fuel efficiency and fewer service disruptions. We prioritize safety and take our responsibility in sharing the road seriously. Having a newer fleet enables the latest safety technologies like advanced braking systems, collision mitigation and lane departure alerts. We're also piloting smart speed limiters and onboard cameras to further enhance safety and compliance. ArcBest is committed to sustainability, and fleet optimization helps us reduce our carbon footprint. We've been an EPA Smart Wave Partner since 2006, and this year we were named an Inbound Logistics Green Supply Chain Partner for the 14th time. We continue to explore emerging technology to help reduce emissions and we're actively testing electric vehicles to understand where they could work best in our network. We're building a fleet that's safer, smarter and more sustainable, which will deliver value for our employees, customers and shareholders well into the future. Our culture of continuous improvement enhances customer service and revenue while also delivering productivity gains, expanding transfer capacity, improving performance management and elevating service levels across the board. Our continuous improvement team coaches employees on process, safety compliance and deploys new technology, ensuring confident adoption of new tools. In 2024, we completed this training at 5 of our largest facilities, generating $12 million in annualized savings. With a strong runway ahead, we're scaling this initiative in 2025 and beyond, reinforcing the operational excellence that sets ArcBest apart. This is how we empower our people to lead change and build a stronger, more agile organization for the future. At ArcBest, innovation is not a buzzword. It's a disciplined, high-return investment that fuels profitable growth and sharpens our competitive edge. We're advancing on 2 key fronts: our innovation portfolio and our technology road map. These aren't isolated projects. They're part of a broader approach to innovation, one that's grounded in data, aligned with our strategy and focused on delivering long-term value for our customers, employees and shareholders. The innovation happening at ArcBest is exciting. It's a powerful engine for driving efficiency, cost savings and service enhancements across the organization. To date, we've launched over 70 optimization projects. Of those, 45% are fully implemented and delivering results, while another 25% are in the pilot phase. Each project begins with an idea, often sparked by a challenge in the field, a data insight or a customer opportunity. We test and refine, then scale the most impactful projects across our network. Our strategy team plays a pivotal role in this process. They analyze performance data, study operational trends, leverage learnings from past successes to prioritize high-impact projects. Their work helps streamline processes, enhance customer experience and boost productivity. This approach reflects our commitment to using technology and disciplined processes to solve real-world problems. Our optimization efforts are already driving measurable results. For example, our city route optimization tool, which uses AI to reduce manual tasks, improve route planning and maximize asset utilization. Phase one alone is contributing over $13 million in realized annual savings, and we're now advancing to the next 2 phases. Phase two uses daily demand predictions to streamline pickup routes, improving responsiveness and service efficiency. And Phase three introduces dynamic routing, automated, customized routes generated in near real time with flexibility for human adjustments based on local expertise. We're rolling out these phases strategically, starting with our most impactful locations first. Let me give you a real-world example. At our Baltimore service center, this software cut a manager's planning time from 4 hours to just 45 minutes. Now in my history, I used to be the service center manager in Baltimore back in 2014, so I know how challenging the inbound operation can be there. I remember what it was like, and it would take me 4 to 6 hours to plan the city operation because I wasn't from the area, I wasn't familiar with the city. I was stuck behind a computer screen making adjustments when I really needed to be out on the dock coaching, training our employees. When I saw this software and action during the pilot, I immediately thought back to that time when I was in that seat. It would have been a game changer, not just for me but for our customers, our people and our overall service and efficiency. This is a real-world example of how we solve real operational problems with our technology investment and how it has an impact on our overall results. These results are only the beginning. Our approach to optimization backed by disciplined execution is unlocking meaningful value today and laying the groundwork for even greater efficiency and service gains tomorrow. As we continue the conversation around innovation, let's look at how our technology road map is transforming the way we serve customers and operate our business. Customers increasingly want to engage digitally, and our initiatives combine the strength of human relationships with the power of technology. The result is a more efficient, responsive and scalable operation that lowers our cost to serve while improving the customer experience. Here are a few key projects. Our carrier portal project has features like lane matching and auto offer negotiation to free up bandwidth for our teams. It improves margin and reduces fraud. We've already seen a 24% adoption rate, and 46% of our truckload shipments are now digitally fulfilled. Our quote augmentation project uses AI to assist with load building to automate quote and e-mail replies, speeding up response times and improving accuracy. Our appointment scheduling project optimizes routes and specialized equipment by generating accurate pickup and delivery schedules, enhancing both efficiency and customer experience. Our inbound call project is piloting automation for routine calls, allowing teams to focus on complex, value-added interaction. We're also advancing our pricing and capacity sourcing projects to improve decision-making and agility in a dynamic market. We've already realized $1 million in savings this year from these initiatives, with significant upside as usage grows. This is how ArcBest turns technology into performance, building a smarter, more connected company, ready to scale and adapt in a rapidly evolving landscape. As you've seen today, ArcBest is executing with purpose, investing with discipline and innovating with speed. We've built a foundation that is strong, scalable and ready for what's next. For me, this is personal. After 18 years at ArcBest, I've witnessed firsthand the incredible impact strong performance has, not just on our company, our customers and our shareholders, but on our people and their families. When we succeed, we create opportunities that reach far beyond our walls. I couldn't be more excited about where we're headed. We are ready to accelerate. We are built to deliver. And together with the best team in the industry, we will continue creating lasting value for our customers, our shareholders and our employees for years to come. Now we'll take a 15-minute break. When we return, Matt Beasley will show you how these initiatives translate into financial performance and long-term value creation, and walk you through our financial targets and the path ahead. Thank you very much. [Break]

Well, good afternoon again. It's great to see so many familiar faces and some new ones as well. You've just heard Judy and Seth talk about how ArcBest is built to deliver: with the right strategy, the right initiatives and the right team. And now I want to take that story and connect it with the numbers. And more importantly, what those numbers mean for creating sustainable long-term value for our shareholders. Over the past 5 years, we've been navigating one of the most dynamic periods in freight history and delivered results that really speak for themselves. Let me share a few highlights. First, we improved ABF's operating ratio by more than 300 basis points, thanks to strong service, disciplined pricing and operational excellence. Second, we more than doubled our non-GAAP EPS, significantly increasing the earnings power of the business. We also delivered an average 15% return on capital employed, showing how effectively we turn investments into returns. And we generated about $300 million annually in operating cash flow, which allowed us to return nearly $400 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends. That's even more significant when you consider that we did it in a market where softness in manufacturing, housing and truckload rates created real headwinds. But we stayed focused and delivered. This track record gives us a strong foundation and real confidence in where we're headed next. Looking ahead, our results will be driven by the 3 strategic pillars that Judy and Seth just covered. First, accelerating profitable growth. That means growing revenue in smart, disciplined ways while maintaining healthy margins. Second, increasing efficiency. We're focused on raising the bar on operational excellence across every part of our business. And third, driving innovation. We're using technology and creative ideas to stay ahead of the curve and deliver more value to our shareholders. Combine those pillars with our disciplined approach to capital allocation, and we believe we're in a strong position to deliver superior returns and build lasting shareholder value. So let's dive into what that means for our financial targets and what you can expect from us in the years ahead. We have a clear, actionable plan to significantly improve the profitability of our Asset-Based business. Our target is to improve ABF's operating ratio from 91% in 2024 to between 87% and 90% by 2028. So why does that matter? Because every single percent of OR improvement at ABF means more than 10% increase in asset-based operating income when you compare it to 2024 levels. We plan to get there by increasing revenue per shipment by more than 80% more than cost per shipment increases annually through 2028. At the same time, we expect shipments to grow steadily in the low single digits. So we'll have a healthy balance of margin expansion and volume growth, both coming from disciplined execution of the initiatives that Judy and Seth just covered. This includes sharpening our go-to-market approach, to capture growth where it matters most; expanding our core LTL business and building on momentum in Managed Solutions, which also drives freight to ABF. On pricing, we'll stay disciplined and leverage our deep expertise. We're also expanding our dynamic quote pool to bring in the right freight to maximize network profitability. On the cost side, our investments in facilities, equipment, technology and training, along with process improvements will help offset inflation. As these initiatives gain traction and the market improves, operating leverage will amplify results. That means meaningful operating income and EPS growth for our shareholders. Now let's shift to our Asset-Light segment, where we see real opportunity to drive meaningful operating income growth. Our goal is to deliver non-GAAP operating income of between $40 million and $70 million by 2028. So let me walk you through how we plan to get there. First, let's talk about Managed Solutions. As Seth mentioned, demand here is strong. We've seen double-digit growth in shipments and revenues. In the last quarter, in the second quarter, shipments hit an all-time high. Customers want partners who can help build supply chains that are both efficient and resilient, and that's exactly what Managed delivers. Last year, Managed contributed about $13 million in operating income. And with a healthy pipeline and strong momentum, we expect that to grow to about $25 million at the midpoint of our range. Next, Expedite. This solution is all about premium service and exceptional on-time performance. Historically, Expedite has been a strong performer, averaging about $17 million a year over the last decade and even peaking near $40 million of operating contribution -- operating income contribution in 2021. Now recently, the softer manufacturing environment and lower truckload rates have pressured results. But as those markets recover, we expect results to improve. At the midpoint, we're assuming about $15 million of operating income contribution, which is slightly below the 10-year average and we believe well within reach as the market rebounds. So just those 2 solutions alone get us to the lower end of our $40 million to $70 million target range. So now let's talk about truckload. When we acquired MoLo, its strong enterprise customer base helped us deliver record segment operating income in 2022. Since then, like for the rest of the industry, compressed brokerage margins and pressure on contract business have created headwinds. But the actions that Seth outlined, expanding our SMB customer base, improving productivity and leveraging technology are working. In fact, Asset-Light posted its first profitable quarter in 2 years in the second quarter. Brokerage continues to capture more of the total freight market and we expect demand for truckload brokerage to keep growing as customers seek brokers who can seamlessly connect them to capacity. So with disciplined execution, a recovery market and a leadership team strengthened by Mac Pinkerton and the technology and process improvements we've implemented, we believe that Asset-Light is positioned for sustainable, profitable growth. So let's take a quick step back. Our strategy is clear, but we've navigated one of the longest and deepest freight recessions in recent memory. It's been a tough environment for everyone in the space. But despite those headwinds, ArcBest has continued to deliver solid results. The recent interest rate cut and the likelihood of more to come give us reason to be optimistic. Why? Because lower rates typically spark manufacturing and housing activity. And when those sectors pick up, freight demand usually follows, especially for ArcBest. The midpoint of our target assumes only a partial recovery. But if the environment improves and we keep executing with discipline, we see real upside beyond the midpoint. So let's talk about what a more meaningful recovery could mean for both of our business segments. Starting with our Asset-Based segment. Manufacturing is one of the biggest drivers of freight demand in the U.S., and it's been in contraction for most of the last 3 years. Now to put that in perspective, nearly half of our Asset-Based revenue comes from manufacturing and wholesalers. If industrial production simply returns to historical trends, that alone could improve our operating ratio by about 140 basis points. And then housing softness has impacted U-Pack and other housing-related shipments. A return to normal housing activity could add about 100 basis points. And if truckload pricing improves, which affects heavier, longer-haul LTL shipments, that could be another 40 basis points. And so if all 3 return to normal, that's up to 280 basis points of improvement over 2024 levels, and compared to the 100 basis points that we've assumed at the midpoint of our target. On the Asset-Light side, a recovery in manufacturing and truckload rates could result in about $30 million of operating income in Expedite. That's double the $15 million that we're assuming at the midpoint of our target range. For truckload, every $10 improvement in margin per shipment adds about $3.5 million in operating income. So even small changes can have a big impact. So to sum it all up, our targets only assume a partial recovery. If things bounce back faster and we keep doing what we do best, we see real potential to outperform these targets. With our projected business performance, we expect to generate between $400 million and $500 million in operating cash flow in 2028. That kind of cash generation gives us the ability to keep investing in the business and continue returning capital to our shareholders. We'll keep putting capital to work where it delivers the strongest returns. That means focusing on high-return opportunities, things like real estate, equipment and innovation-driven projects that fuel growth, improve efficiency and position ArcBest for long-term success. We'll also remain disciplined as we evaluate strategic M&A. And through it all, we'll maintain a strong balance sheet because that gives us the flexibility to deliver in any market environment. So let's talk about our outlook for capital expenditures. If you look at this slide, you'll see that from 2022 through 2025, we've been in a period of elevated investment. During this time, we executed on our network facility road map, making strategic investments in real estate to build a strong foundation for profitable growth. These investments were intentional, designed to boost productivity, improve service quality and make sure we have the capacity to meet our customers' evolving needs. Now looking ahead, we expect CapEx to normalize, averaging below 5% of revenue even as the business grows. With CapEx normalizing, we have more capacity to return capital to our shareholders, something we've consistently prioritized. Since 2019, we've returned nearly $0.5 billion through share repurchases and dividends. That shows the strength of our cash flow and our commitment to value creation. Earlier this month, we announced a new $125 million share repurchase authorization, a clear signal of our Board's confidence in our strategy and ArcBest's long-term outlook. Looking ahead, we see real upside for our shares as the market improves and we keep executing. We'll continue to take a balanced and disciplined approach, returning capital to shareholders, investing in growth and keeping the flexibility to pursue strategic opportunities. Now let's turn to our financial position and the strength that we built over time. So on the left side of this slide, you can see how our net debt to EBITDA has trended from 2019 through 2025 and how it's consistently stayed below the S&P 500 average. What really stands out here is the discipline we've maintained in managing leverage even as we've continued to invest in the business. And over on the right, you'll see our liquidity position, with about $400 million in cash and available debt capacity. This strong financial foundation gives us the flexibility to keep investing in growth, navigate uncertainty and deliver long-term value for our shareholders. So now let's put it all together and walk through how we plan to reach the midpoint of our 2028 EPS target. First, we'll start with 2024 EPS of $6.40. The first big driver is improving our asset-based operating ratio. That alone adds about $4 by 2028, taking us to above $10 per share. From there, shipment growth at ABF adds about another $1, pushing us above $11. And finally, improvements in Asset-Light operating income should contribute about $2. And if you add all that up, that gets you to around $13.50, which is the midpoint of our target range. And that's before any share count reduction from share repurchases, which could push our EPS even higher. Beyond EPS and cash flow, we're also focused on return on capital employed or ROCE. It's a clear way to show how effectively every dollar we invest is working to create value for our shareholders. And this isn't just a number we track, it's built into both our short-term and long-term management incentive plans. Our target for ROCE for 2028 is from 16% to 19%, which is well above our cost of capital. It means that we're not just growing, we're creating real, sustainable value. We've built a disciplined, growth-oriented plan, and we're confident we can deliver on it. When you look at these targets taken together, they show significant value creation and reinforce that ArcBest is built to deliver today and for the long term. So let's bring it back to where we started. The future is bright for ArcBest. I'm proud of the progress we've made and even more excited about what's ahead. Premium service and operational excellence have always been fundamental at ArcBest. When you combine that with an outstanding team, a commitment to innovation, strong financial discipline and a solid balance sheet, it adds up to real sustainable value for our shareholders. So that concludes our prepared remarks. We're going to take a very brief pause while we reset the stage, and then we'll open it up for Q&A.

Okay. We've covered a lot of ground today, and I already see the hands going up. I love it. And now we'd like to hear from you. In addition to Judy, Seth and myself, we have the broader management team here as well that we may turn it to, to answer your questions. So let's go ahead and open it up. You've already got the please raise your hands part, so we got that down. But please raise your hand. Amy will bring a microphone around. And then as I mentioned earlier, there's also an opportunity for those on the webcast to submit a question online as well.

All right. Bruce Chan from Stifel. First of all, I really appreciate the detailed look, and I'm excited to hear about the 2028 road map. . Maybe I want to focus in on the dynamic pricing part of the story. I know that's a big part of your tech and operational road map. It's been around for a little while. I think early on in its debut, maybe it was a little bit controversial among the investment community, some bumps and bruises. So if you could talk about kind of what went wrong then. I know it's a little bit difficult to parse what was going on with that program versus the market. But talk about some of the early challenges and why, through that process, you think that it's the right path forward and how you think it's going to be helpful in the future.

Yes. So we did have some growing pains as we're piloting the technology and rolling it out in the early stages. But what we quickly realized is, as we grew that dynamic pool, we had more optionality to fill that empty capacity in our network. So the easiest way I think about it is if you need 100 dynamic shipments in the network and you're getting 10,000 quotes, you got to pick from that 10,000 quotes. But as we saw that quote pool expand, we've been able to get that same 100 shipments but have a lot better yield on those shipments because we pick it in the right locations at the right time within the network. So as we've expanded that pool and it's grown, it's given us more optionality within our network to actually select the best shipment. And what we really saw from 2019 and even before that was customers want to engage digitally with us. And we really didn't have a channel say yes to those customers. So a lot of our business pre-Dynamic was contractual. And contractual business and core LTL is still a key focus of ours. It's the vast majority of our business gives us consistency with labor planning, knowing where the drivers are going to go, and it's also more profitable for us. But Dynamic was a channel that we just did not utilize as much on those more transactional customers, customers who want to quote every single shipment. And as we've expanded that pool, we've been able to get more selective with the freight we've been able to have, and that's improved our profitability on that mix. So as that pool grows and we're able to say yes to more of those transactional customers, our yield should improve. But our key growth strategy on how we're going to create long-term shareholder value is really focused around that core business that we mentioned. That's why we're putting focus there. But dynamic is always -- it helps us fill that empty capacity. And we think as that quote pool continues to grow, it's going to really open the doors to us to improve that profitability.

Yes. And so like Seth said, we are focused on our core LTL shipments, but we're very pleased with the profitability of our dynamic shipments. And part of that is just the how vast the quote pool is now, I mean, at 250,000 quotes a day, we just have a lot of options for finding the right shipments that fit well in our network. And so we've, like we talked about, we've tested it through a few different periods in the industry, and certainly, it was helpful as we went into COVID and saw a reduction in volumes, we were certainly using it in early 2023 as we were experiencing some weakness in the industry, that was helpful for us just to continue to maintain a strong network. And so as things strengthened in the back half of 2023, we have the capacity to be able to serve our customers. But like we talked about, as you're looking for a smaller amount of quotes in an ever-expanding pool, the profitability just continues to increase for us. And we're pleased with what we see and the direction that that's headed.

Ken Hoexter from BofA. Just a question, I guess, last Analyst Day, you talked about doubling revenues from $4 billion to $8 billion, now you're talking about more than doubling earnings. How much -- but you're also talking about the potential for economic upturn after we've been in this for 3.5 years. What -- maybe divide it up a little bit? What is coming from kind of in that breakdown, top line growth, costs, maybe delve into that a little bit on the ranges and how much we can expect from that breakdown. .

Yes. So Ken, appreciate the question. We try to focus on the metrics that we felt like would be most meaningful for investors today and certainly thinking that the asset-based operating ratio in the shipment growth would be the 2 most important factors to discuss. But just thinking about revenue, and I would say the most important piece of that for us was looking at a number of different scenarios to make sure that we were comfortable that over this period that we're looking at, we could increase revenue per shipment more than 80 basis points over cost per shipment. And so when you look at the story that we have, I mean, we've got a very strong efficiency story, and I'm sure as we continue the Q&A, we'll have the opportunity to bring Matt Godfrey into the conversation just to talk more about what they're doing at the ABF operation and just the runway that we see there across line haul and dock street and yard productivity. And then on the revenue side, I mean, the steps that we've taken to focus on core LTL business, grow our Managed business that feeds into the asset-based network into our other solutions, our pricing discipline that we have, we feel like that all of that is going to come together to drive the 80 basis points. I mean, we did look at a number of different scenarios. I'd say, generally, if you're looking at a revenue number for ABF, so we talked about low single-digit shipment growth, and then certainly, we've looked at a number of different scenarios on revenue per shipment. But I think if you combine reasonable assumptions on revenue per shipment, assuming reasonable inflation levels over the next few years, you're probably talking a mid-single-digit growth in revenue and ABF over this period. And then Asset-Light, that's -- we think of that a little bit more just in terms of the net margins that drive out of that business. But certainly from the $1.75 billion of revenue that we saw in 2024, we see significant pathways to upside on revenue. But we really think operating income as being the most important item that we're focused on there.

It's Tom Wadewitz from UBS. Two questions for you. So one would be, I think you've emphasized the importance of having multiple solutions and managing how that's progressed with customers. What are the areas where you maybe don't have a solution today and you would like to or perhaps you don't have as much scale in the service you offer? And then the second would just be, okay, across the time frame, how do you think the industry evolves? Do you assume it's kind of 4%, 5% pricing a year? Or how do you think about the kind of industry pricing assumption behind the forecast?

Yes. Thanks, Tom. We feel like we have all the solutions that we need to service our customers with excellence. We're always scanning the market based on organic investments or what we can do from an M&A standpoint. But we feel great on the trajectory that we're on with the solutions. What I really want to highlight and why we went and provided multiple slides on Managed Solutions is because that's been our highest growth territory because it's resonating with customers. We have over $1 billion pipeline, as we highlighted within Managed, and it's because supply chains are getting more and more complex. And that's really the way we've built this company and what our strategy is around, it's saying yes to customers. And we feel like we have all the solutions that we need to service our customers with excellence. So we feel good, but we're constantly evaluating where can we accelerate our growth, where can we accelerate innovation or efficiency. So we're going to keep our eyes open there. And then remind me your second question? The landscape? Yes. I think industry pricing, I'll have Eddie chime in here in a minute, but I think the industry, we see it remaining rational right now through one of the most challenging times that we've experienced in recent memory. So in reality, the cost of equipment is going up, health care, all the different things. And that's why we focus so much on efficiency because that's what our customers are demanding of us. We want to make sure we're efficient with our resources because we want to keep -- help keep our customers cost in line. So Eddie, if you want to add any key points about yield and pricing.

Yes. I think yield is going to continue, especially in the LTL space, it's pretty rational with the number of carriers that really own that market. So I don't see anything changing over the next few years in terms of price discipline and the ability to be able to capture the increases necessary to cover inflationary costs. So I feel really good about that. I would say truckload is a little harder to predict. I mean, I think we're all expecting that to improve from a price level. But if you asked us tell us a specific time, we're going to all struggle to tell you when is that moment in time. I think the last 3 years, we always thought it was the back half of that year or that next year. and we've yet to see that happen. But that's things we're thinking about. And we're not really waiting for the market to turn in order to try to achieve these goals. Really we have great initiatives to grow from a low single-digit standpoint across all of our solutions and improve price, and we're looking forward to that.

And I thought it was important too, when we moved Eddie into his role at the beginning of the year, he has significant yield expertise. He led our yield team for 27 of your 30 years. And I thought that was really important because we want to make sure that our growth is profitable. We don't want to grow just for growth's sake. We want to make sure we maintain that yield discipline. And that was important to me and having him on the leadership team.

Stephanie Moore with Jefferies. Looking at your 2028 targets, just rough math at the midpoint, plus or minus, it's about, call it, 300 basis points of improvement. And then if you look at the improvement you generated kind of, I think, 2019 to 2024 is kind of the target that you gave, it sounds like there's probably a lot of more initiatives or it seems like just from today a lot more initiatives at your backs here, and you are also assuming a bit of a market recovery too. So as you think about the potential for upside, maybe just talk about initiatives that you have underway where you think could drive maybe even further improvement.

Yes. We can have multiple of these leaders up here to talk, and I'll start with Matt, and then anyone else who wants to chime in. But we tried to outline kind of our key initiatives within the presentation today. We think if we can grow the core LTL base, that's going to help us with efficiency and profitable growth by delivering that value to customers. We're in the early stages of city route optimization. We got the first phase done, but the next 2 phases are going. The reason we highlighted the network is because it's just such a large cost center for us that if we optimize and improve just 1%, it's a huge cost savings for us. When I look at MoLo, we bought MoLo in 2021, we've improved productivity over 200%. And Judy and I talk a lot, we feel like we're just getting started, not just with MoLo, I'm talking the entire company. So that optimization portfolio of 70 different projects, we think, is going to continue to drive real value. I'll turn it over to Matt to give a few comments, and then [ Sarah ], I think we can have you talk about Asset-Light.

Thanks, Seth. Appreciate it. And what I think is most important to call out is what we highlighted in the presentation that we've continued to invest throughout the cycles. And so we highlighted our investment in the network that Seth talked about. We've also invested heavily in technology initiatives, which we'll highlight later during the reception, and we can go into some further detail on. But Seth mentioned our City Route Optimization being in the early innings of that. the return we're seeing there. The investments we're making in customer visibility tools, the investments we're making in the appointment process, the investments that we're making in our linehaul network. And what I'm most excited about is, is we have these rolled out, we're utilizing them right now to generate return, but I know and I feel that the potential for return is even greater as we see the results of these growth initiatives that we're undertaking. We'll have more opportunity to optimize. We'll have more opportunities to be more efficient. And that will allow us to take even further advantage of the growth that we're seeing. So I'm very excited about the investments we made. I'm very excited of what's on our road map and still to come. And what I'm really confident is we'll continue to invest in these initiatives as we move forward. And I'll turn it over to Sarah to talk about the MoLo.

Yes, and I can't turn it over without saying one quick thing. One of the great upsides we see potentially happening with Managed Solutions, it's our fastest-growing solution, but that's with a significant headwind of customers who are just down because of the macroeconomic environment. We haven't lost them, but they're just not shipping as much. So think about that continued growth rate along with customers coming back, shipping more in that solution, we could see a lot of upside with Managed.

And then on the truckload side, I mean, you've heard us speak a lot today about the efficiency improvement. Our investment in tech has, and our pilots that we have going on in tech, inbound call automation, automated appointment scheduling, automated load building, all of those things are improving our employee efficiency and then allowing us to repurpose some of those people and some of those roles into the outbound solicitation for SMB specifically. So every time that we make efficiency progress, we're also able to shift resources towards sort of that accelerated SMB growth. And so with the sort of efficiency improvement, we get like a subsequent growth output too with some of the SMB goals that we have.

Ari Rosa with Citi. Two questions if I could, they're kind of related. So Stephanie asked about the upside. I'm actually kind of curious to hear your thoughts on the downside. Because one of the frustrations we hear when we talk to investors about ArcBest, it feels like there's a lot of progress made in upcycles, and then in down cycles, kind of a lot of that progress is given back. So just curious how you think about what's kind of the sustainable progress here that can be made and what the downside might look like, assuming we don't get some of these recovery effects. And then for Seth, I'm curious how you think about your role coming in as CEO and what you might be doing differently from how Judy has done things in the past.

I mean maybe I'll just comment on the cycles and how we think about this. So one, certainly on the ABF side, we don't feel like that we've built in a lot of upside into the outlook range just from the macro. I mean, like I said, we've put in 100 basis points, which you could definitely see scenarios where that ends up being a stronger macro environment. But I think all the different items that we've talked about in terms of technology investment and efficiency investment, I mean, there's a lot that's within our control. I would say, certainly, most of the improvement in operating ratio that we're talking about is kind of outside of the macro. And so all the different steps that we're taking on the revenue side, just continued progress on the efficiency side, those are things that we expect to make incremental progress over this period. And then the macro, we -- looking ahead, we expect that that's going to add to that as well.

Yes, I agree. And when I think about coming into this role, when I first transitioned into the ArcBest President role, I talked about that listening to where I went around listened to our customers, I listened to our employees. And in all the feedback I heard from our customers, it was, hey, we need a logistics company that can provide holistic solutions across the board. A lot of our customer supply chains are getting more and more complex, not less complex, right, with everything that's gone on these last 5 years. So we're built right. Our strategy is resonating with customers. And I feel like my responsibility in this role is to accelerate that progress. That's partly why we wanted to do Investor Day today. We thought it was great timing with Judy and I's transition because we've talked a lot about the foundation is built, now we have to execute and accelerate on that progress. So I see a lot more of that. It's going to be driven by technology. Our people all working together. And my leadership style, I talked about earlier, I like to listen to our customers, see what they're -- see what they're thinking and then build solutions that align with their needs to support them over the long term. And I do feel like our performance throughout this downturn is much better than in the past, when you think about a lot of people are comparing this time to the '09 recession, we lost about $100 million as Judy went into her role. And then fast forward to where we are now as a logistics company, we're doing pretty good, we're holding our own through all of these challenges that we've had. And we feel like we have a ton of upside, a ton of operating leverage as we move into the future. Because we stay close to our people, we stay close to our customers, we invest through the cycles to ensure that we are positioned to deliver shareholder value over the long term.

Can I talk about Seth? Well, what I would say about that is he is urgent. He's urgent about growth and he's urgent about continuous improvement. And rarely do you see someone that is so focused on accomplishing initiatives, just breaking down whatever the barriers are. I mean I think when he did his listening tour, he heard different obstacles, different difficulties people were having whether it was on the growth side or the efficiency side. And he's broken some of those down. You talked about some of those today. And so that's what I love about Seth, is that he's urgent, aggressive toward wanting to grow the company, but doing it with a lot of initiatives around efficiency so that that growth can be profitable. And I really like that. It's meant something to me to have someone so capable and so focused in this role.

Chris Wetherbee from Wells Fargo. I guess, I think you have low single-digit volume growth in the LTL assumptions over the forecast period. I was wondering if you could maybe break down what you think the market growth opportunity looks like, and then maybe think about that in contrast to what we've seen in truckload. Obviously, the pricing spread between LTL and TL is as wide as probably it's ever been. So how much of a recovery do we need to see in truckload? And then I guess the follow-up question would be on the Dynamic Pricing piece. Where are these loads coming from? So where were they either in your portfolio or outside of your portfolio that you're now able to kind of tap into?

Yes. So I think you were asking about truckload rates and kind of what we see there. So you were asking about the LTL market opportunity too and just kind of where we see volume growth over the next few years.

How much does the market grow and how are you able to sort of tap into that, I guess, the relationship with [indiscernible] the LTL volume opportunity?

Yes. So we are assuming low single-digit market growth over this horizon. And we're at about 3.25% of the overall LTL market as is. And so we've looked at a lot of different scenarios, but I would say, in general, we're only talking about slightly increasing our market share with this forecast, maybe going from like 3.25% to maybe a little bit closer to 3.5%, maybe 3.4%. On the truckload side, we've looked at this and we do see a relationship between truckload pricing and the longer haul, heavier shipments that we have in our network, greater than 5,000 pounds, greater than 1,000 pounds, and so when we're talking -- again, it's not the biggest piece of the macro improvement that we're looking at, but that piece, that 40 basis points of improvement, we're talking about adding maybe another 150 or so truckload shipments per day back into the LTL network. And a lot of it is just we've done some modeling on truckload markets. And so based on historical market performance, we have some expectations for how truckload prices are going to play out over the next few years. And kind of based on where we see things for 2028, we think that that's likely to drive some level of LTL shipments that have moved to truckload back into the LTL space.

Yes. And I wanted to highlight, and we're not waiting on the market. That's what's key, is we're investing in the truckload SMB team, we've removed those barriers, we reorganized the sales function under Eddie's leadership. We've seen that growth in core LTL. So we're not waiting on the market to see that growth. And we're seeing some results. Our pipeline is the highest it's ever been. Managed is at all-time highs last quarter. Our core business continues to grow. So we feel good about the initiatives regardless of what's going on in the environment. To your Dynamic question, a lot of those customers in the past were really small transactional customers that we really didn't get a shot at. They were quoting every single shipment, it was kind of onesie, twosies. And then a large portion of the Dynamic business is actually 3PLs. So it's our 3PL channel who are quoting every single shipment for customers. So it's a mix between those 2. In the past, we really didn't have a way to say yes or have an answer for those customers because they'd have to go to our website, they'd have to go to a competitor website. They'd have to go all these different places. So Dynamic gives them the ability to see all the different options at their fingertips on that given day. And then we optimize our network for profit on a daily basis where we need that shipment that day. And that's really helped us with network balance and reducing that 9 million miles that we mentioned earlier in the presentation.

Chris, you could talk, Seth, also about just the visibility of what you need in the network. I think that's the other side of that, is because your confidence comes from being able to see what you need, right? And so you have the source of those that are quoting, but you have an understanding of where you need them, that's better than maybe historical.

Yes. I completely agree. We've been we've been utilizing AI really since the '90s. I know it's the new buzzword because of GenAI and all of that, but we've really been using AI. And that's really what that tool is built on, is seeing where do we have labor capacity, network capacity, line haul capacity, and instead of running that driver empty from which dock Kansas -- back to Kansas City, let's try to put some freight on that, right? Because it's moving anyways, that helps cover some of the cost of that fuel. And as we've seen that quote pool grow, we've seen the profitability of that business improve dramatically. And that's why we're going to continue to invest in digital tools like ArcBest View to make it even more seamless for our customers to get access to our capacity.

Yes. And Seth, one thing I'd add about Dynamic Pricing with 3PLs, we're very unique. We're the only ones who really are offering a transactional, truly dynamic price to 3PLs. And that allows us to not get stuck with a lot of business we don't want. If you put in a published price, a long-term committed price, even if you're allowed to update it quarterly or twice a year, you still kind of live with the results of that pricing decision. With Dynamic, we can, on a day-by-day basis, regulate how much of that 3PL business comes in and we can optimize for profit. So it's very unique. It gives us a lot of ability to be reactive to what our network needs without being tied to a business that we really don't want, it's not good for the system.

It's Scott Group from Wolfe. So a couple of questions. You've added a bunch of the door count in recent years. I think you said CapEx coming down a little bit. How should we think about LTL door count going forward? And then another one on the pricing side. So you talked about 80 basis points of price above cost. That's just a very specific number. So I guess, what are you seeing now? What's been the historical price/cost for you guys? Any reason to think it's better or worse? I know it's a long question, but just the targets are relative to '24 and margins are a couple of points lower this year, so do we need to assume that 80 basis points is actually 100-plus per year, just to sort of make up for this year? Is that the right way to think about what you guys are saying?

Yes, I'll start with the network question. So really what we've done throughout 2021 through 2025 is we've added about those 800 doors to the network. On a go-forward basis, we really just have a handful of locations that we need to address that we just haven't found the right opportunity so far. But for the most part, the majority of that work is done. And as we grow shipment count to reach these targets, we don't need to invest additional CapEx over just kind of our maintenance spend. So we feel like we positioned the network in a great spot. When you think about everything that's transpired, when I was ABF President at the height of the pandemic, we had pinch points in the network where it limited our ability to grow because we would have a location get backlogged and cycle times for the whole network got messed up. And that's why we strategically invested in those certain sites to add that 800 doors. And we didn't overspend either. We were very disciplined to make sure that we invested in the right areas, and that's allowed us to see that we can get to these shipment targets without that additional growth. So on a go-forward basis, you'll probably see around $40 million to $50 million around our maintenance CapEx for real estate. That's what we've said publicly, and there's just a handful of locations that we still have to address. And as opportunities come up, we'll address those.

Yes. And so then on the 80 basis points, you're right, it is very specific. But we looked at a lot of different scenarios and, based on that, the 87 -- sorry, yes, the 87 to 90 with an 88.5 midpoint looked like the most reasonable midpoint for 2028. And so just based on the 91.2 OR that we had, that was the general average of the revenue per shipment improvement in excess of cost per shipment and just a number that we felt comfortable and confident about hitting. So some of it was just the factor of kind of the starting point and then where we expect to end at the endpoint. And so to your question about progress, I would say, certainly, on the cost side, we expect continued progress on cost. And so we've continued to do that. This year, if you look at our cost per shipment, and those are things that are more in our control, we're going to keep executing on certainly on the commercial initiatives, a lot of that is within our control, and we're going to keep executing on. But there could be some macroeconomic headwinds that we're facing here. Certainly, we faced some this year that we weren't expecting when we started the year. But I think as we look ahead, particularly into the back half of '26 and into '27 and '28, and we see the recovery that drives, just the overall average of 80 basis points over the period. But yes, that's not to say that the end result is completely flat. Each particular year, it's just kind of incremental step-by-step progress, just given what some of the macroeconomic changes can be over the period.

Jordan Alliger at Goldman Sachs. I just wanted to come back to maybe a broader industry question. You spoke a lot about idiosyncratic opportunities around yield, which is great. But can you maybe talk to overall industry capacity now, your assessment of it going into the next up-cycle, the tailwind that could be, especially given that Yellow is no longer around?

Yes. Well, I think it creates tremendous potential for us on the upside. When you look just over the long term -- in the short term, you've heard a lot of stories about carriers adding capacity and things like that. But over the long term, for over 20 years, door capacity in the LTL market is significantly below where it was 10, 20 years ago. So I was in frontline operations and a Regional Vice President of Operations in 2018 when we had a strong market. I couldn't imagine doing that without Yellow in the picture, from a market standpoint. We were so busy. And that's what we recognized throughout 2021 and the pandemic, that boom, we'd say, we have to invest in efficiency, in our network, in our equipment. And that's what we did, investing and expanding our facilities in strategic locations. But it's not just about door count. It's not just about real estate. It's all about the efficiency side of things. Because if we can improve our efficiency 5%, 10%, 20% that allows us to say yes to more customers without adding additional cost. So I'm glad that we've taken a dual approach in expanding our network capacity while also improving efficiency because that allows us, on the next up cycle, we don't have to bring in as much labor, train as many new people because, generally, that's what leads to damages or comp issues or any of that type of stuff. So we feel really good about the initiatives that we've outlined, and we think that we're positioned better than we have ever been in our history for the next up cycle and realize that operating leverage.

Bascome Majors, Susquehanna. Seth, maybe, Matt, you've laid out a series of cyclical and structural initiatives to get you to $400 million, $500 million in operating cash flow in 3 years, maybe $200 million, $300 million in free cash flow based on the CapEx guidance you have under that. But you've got the balance sheet you've talked about, you're going to be generating cash here on this path. How likely are scenarios where the portfolio looks meaningfully different than what you've laid out when we get to that 3 years? How are you thinking about M&A, potential transformational deals? Anything you like to talk on that?

Yes. Well, we're constantly evaluating M&A. We think that's important for us. So we take a balanced approach to capital, and I'll have Matt chime in with extra details. But we really look at organic investments, and say, where can we see the greatest return from our organic investments? That's in real estate, the fleet, technology, all the different initiatives that we outlined today. Then we're looking at share buybacks, dividends, and Matt shared a great chart of how we've accelerated that since 2019 and given more capital back to shareholders. Then the last phase is really around M&A. So what we're looking for with M&A is does it align with our strategy and is it going to accelerate our results. And that could be in a certain area or it could be in a certain technology. So we have deals come across our desks all day long, and we're constantly evaluating, but we want to make sure that we're -- it's the right strategic fit for our companies. which ultimately will deliver value for our customers, which will translate to value for our shareholders. So we're going to continue to look at M&A and make sure it's the right deal that aligns with our long-term strategy. And then, Matt, if you want to add anything to that.

I told you, you could have done my section. You did a great job. So you're right. We've got a strong balance sheet, we've got plenty of capacity. If you look at the forecast, there's a lot of cash flow generation that it shows over the next few years. And so like Seth said, really for us, and that's something that I think is really a strength that we have. I mean some companies like to look at M&A just to look at M&A, but it really starts with our strategy. And so if you look back through our history and our transformation into a logistics company, certainly, we have used M&A to do that. We talked about the Panther acquisition, the MoLo acquisition, several other acquisitions over the last decade or so. And so that's something that we'll continue to evaluate. But certainly, we'll start with our strategy and just making sure that we're continuing to maintain a strong balance sheet as well.

Reed Seay from Stephens Inc. I just wanted to ask a quick one on asset light. The net revenue per shipment of $75 translating to $3.5 million for every $10 of margin per shipment expansion, where do you expect to gain that net revenue per shipment? As you have a tightening truckload market, you have a lot of tech investments, obviously, but a lot of them seem to be back office right now. What tech investments do you expect to get you there or operation improvements? And what kind of cadence could we expect from that?

Yes. So I'll pass it over to [ Sarah ]. But you're right. So what we highlighted is the $75 -- the improvement of, sorry, $3.5 million for the improvement in the truckload margins, that is an improvement versus kind of where we were looking at in 2024, we were at around $175 per shipment of net revenue that we were driving. And so certainly, starting from that standpoint, we've already seen significant improvement. That team on the truckload side has already done a great business -- great job focusing on our most profitable business there. And so you can see our volume levels have come down a little bit as we've done that, but it's been to the benefit of margin. And that's one of the reasons why we had our profitable quarter that we did in the second quarter and why we feel good about the outlook. But maybe Sarah, if you just want to talk high level about how we expect to achieve that improvement in margin per shipment that we were talking about.

Yes. And I don't know, Christopher, if you have anything to add to this. But when you think about some of the investments that we're making in tech, look, we focus on inbound call automation, for example, we are going to have significantly more data, and that data directly ties to sort of real-time appetite for freight. So if you take an example what a carrier we might post a load today and get x number of calls and post the same load tomorrow and get 5x. That information, we're kind of aggregating in the background, that can help inform the way that we buy potentially and the way that we price. Before a lot of these tech initiatives and pilots that we're working on now, we don't have that real-time data, but it's a big, big part of our long-term strategy, is what we can do with that data to inform our pricing on both the buy side and the pricing sent to customers.

Yes. I think we've already commented on this, but just the mix of enterprise versus SMB, just that mix change that will drive net revenue per shipment improvement as well.

Yes. And on the overall Asset-Light standpoint, there'll be a mix adjustment as well. We do expect Managed to continue to grow. That generally has a lower net revenue per shipment because it's closer to LTL than truckload. But there's going to be a lot of moving parts here, but ultimately, it's all about improved profitability, whether it's truckload, Managed, Expedite, international, any of our Asset-Light solutions.

It's Ken Hoexter again from BofA, and thank you very much for hosting the Analyst Day after a decade, Great to see you all. Enjoy your time in New York. So just a couple of questions. Just maybe where you are here and now, right? So the asset backside, union constraints, can you talk a little bit about as you go through these changes, what kind of incrementally do you need from the unions to get more advanced on as you roll out digital? Are there constraints in terms of how far you can get? Used to have manual bills of lading, when I go to a dock and the driver would move it from one to one or another, and I saw that you said that that's more automated now. But how far are you now in measuring each shipment, or simple things like another peer talks about airbags and ratchet traps. Is that something you've deployed in terms of lowering your cargo. Maybe talk about your cargo claims, on-time performance. Just trying to understand where you are now. And then the Vaux pictures were great, but what's going on now versus what is coming?

Yes. So we really view our unionized team as an advantage for us. So we get to hire the best people in the industry. If you looked at the stats that Judy shared about our tenure and how long our employees have been here, that allows us to provide a best-in-class customer experience because our turnover is so low. The #1 reason people leave ABF is because of retirement. And that's a great thing. We want them to have great retirements. But what that does is it allows them to build relationships with our customers that are critical in driving that profitable growth and that value creation. So we really view it as a competitive advantage because we don't need to continuously hire people. And when we do need to hire people, employees know that we have the best job in town. So we had a hiring event at our Chicago facility about a month or 2 ago, Matt, we needed about 30 dock positions filled, we had 600 people show up to that hiring event, which tells you what our brand means in the marketplace. So we get to select the best people to service our customers with excellence. From a restriction standpoint, there isn't too many. We can operate implementing technologies. We have a technology committee within our contract where we meet with the IBT leadership, and we negotiate and talk through those things. So we really haven't been limited by anything that we've been implementing. Most recently, we've rolled out the dock software that we've talked about publicly on our earnings call. We're still early stages into that, but that's giving us more visibility into our dock operation than we've ever had in our history. It's employee-level productivity. It's giving us the ability to have the data to create digital twins, a lot of different things that we're experiencing right now. But we really haven't experienced much limitation. I do feel like we are just getting started. We've talked about city route, dock, we're really -- we've got a long runway of optimization projects that I think is going to deliver real value over the long term because of where we're going. I just feel great about that.

And Seth, I would add, when we think about the resources for the job, and you mentioned some of those things, when you really think about paper in the process, the only real piece of paper is at a time of pickup. From there on, it's moving through our network in a paperless fashion, right? So Seth talked about the dock software. We also have software at the time of pickup, at the time of delivery to handle all those. When we think about freight handling, not only have we used airbags and straps and those things throughout the years, we've co-developed tools with vendors based on employee feedback to mount air compressors on our forklifts to make the use of airbags even easier to handle our freight. And we also -- we have like our road team captains, we have a low team and a road team made up of our best of our best drivers. And they give us all sorts of feedback, from freight handling equipment, to our city equipment, the tractors and trailers that we spec and purchase and buy, all geared at making our employees' jobs easier, safer and allowing us to serve the customers better.

And he won't brag here, but we've got our low -- our highest paid claim frequency, and maybe all time. and we have our highest density adjusted raw load average than we've ever seen. And I'll give you an anecdotal example, but we've spent a lot of time at our service centers with our people this year, especially through this transition with Seth and the reorganization, and I can't tell you the last time I've seen our trailers look this good from a loaded standpoint. It is high and tight. It is -- these loads look great. And it's leading to better load average and less claims. And it resonates with our customers, it's what -- it's allowing us from a sales standpoint to be more successful with customers to acquire that business because the proof is in the pudding. We're able to say that we're really good at handling freight and then we back it up. And it's been very beneficial to us.

We've got time for one more question before I hand it back over to Judy for some closing comments. As a reminder, you will have the opportunity to continue conversations with our team during the reception that will start as soon as we wrap up here. So one more question, anyone? Stephanie, I think you had another one maybe.

I like your last answer. But I just had one maybe high-level question, and maybe Judy or anyone on the team. We've seen a lot on the truckload side about just the growth in private fleets and the impact that might be having or is having on the supply and just this prolonged freight recession. But I think we've also -- I've at least seen some data where it's talked about private fleets are also kind of expanding their number of locations and getting closer to their own customers. So do you think this dynamic, which I think is certainly having an impact on the truckload side, could be having any impact on the LTL side? Your thoughts.

Yes. I don't -- I personally don't believe so. I'm sure there's a little bit of impact on private fleets where they may be used to ship LTL and converted it to a private fleet or maybe a truckload model. But that's why we're built the way we are. And we're able to do that for the customer. If they don't want to invest in a private fleet, we can do pool distribution models through our managed solution offering. So I think long term, what's going on with people investing in their own private fleet, they're realizing the cost of equipment and operating and recruiting drivers and all those different things. That's why they're looking for logistics partners who offer multiple solutions to solve through that. So we haven't seen it as much so far, but the future could hold anything. What we really try to do is deliver value to our customers, to answer those types of supply chain so that they don't have to invest in driver and all the DOT certification and all the things you have to do to run a carrier base, whether it's private or [indiscernible].

All right. Well, we've come to the end of the Q&A part of this. And you've heard from this leadership team that I'm so proud of. I mean I just really am, and just reinforces my confidence. But we are built to deliver and we've got a strategic differentiated approach, which you've heard a lot about today and purposeful execution. This team is ready to execute. And we hope you leave with a deeper understanding of the strength of the foundation that we've laid, the clarity that we have in our vision and that confidence that we have in our ability to achieve our targets and drive sustainable long-term value for our shareholders. And so I want to thank our team for the work that they've done to get ready for this. There's a lot of work involved in these. And I just want to thank you all for your time, your questions, your interest. We want to continue this conversation. And so we hope that there's follow-up. We hope that you want to talk about more of this because there's some great information here and great execution plans and what I feel like is a differentiated but yet amazing strategy. So thank you for your interest and your time and your dedication to our story. And we really appreciate it, and we're here for you. So thank you.