Soft Freight Weighs on ArcBest but Tech Boosts Efficiency
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ArcBest Corp. experienced a and earnings amid the continuing soft freight environment during the second quarter of 2025, the company reported July 30.
The Fort Smith, Ark.-based freight and logistics solutions provider posted net income of $25.8 million, or $1.12 a diluted share, for the three months ending June 30. That compared with $46.9 million, $1.96, during the same time the previous year. Total revenue decreased 5.2% to $1.02 billion from $1.08 billion.
“We are now three years into a soft freight environment,” ArcBest CEO Judy McReynolds said during a call with investors. “When I compare today’s challenges to those of 2008, a time many of us remember well, the strength and resilience of ArcBest’s strategy are clear. Our forward-thinking, customer-centric approach, combined with disciplined execution, is delivering results. We remain focused on growth, efficiency and innovation.”
McReynolds added that these priorities guided decisions and investments in a way that enabled the company to increase agility and productivity. These investments have been focused on labor, technology and infrastructure with the goal of creating long-term value. McReynolds also views it as setting up a strong foundation that has helped the company navigate headwinds.
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“In the second quarter, the freight environment remained challenging with softness in manufacturing, a sluggish housing market and added uncertainty around the future path of interest rates and tariffs,” McReynolds said. “Despite these pressures, ArcBest executed with discipline and served our customers with excellence through our integrated logistics solutions.”
McReynolds also pointed to innovation and technology as areas where investments have been paying off. The company has been leveraging artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to optimize labor planning, delivery, routing and dock operations in real time. She noted that these tools are reducing costs, improving services and enhancing flexibility across the company network.
“As a result, the second quarter marked our most productive quarter since 2021,” McReynolds said. “That same proactive mindset guided our response to the recent NMFTA classification update. We anticipated potential disruption and took early strategic actions, collaborating with the NMFTA, engaging with customers and applying our costing expertise and great dimensioning tools to help them navigate the changes with confidence.”
Asset-based segment revenue increased 0.1% to $713.3 million from $712.7 million during the same time last year. Operating income decreased 29.9% to $51 million from $72.8 million last year. Total tonnage per day increased 4.3%, driven by a 5.6% increase in daily shipments. This came primarily from newly onboarded core less-than-truckload customers and was partially offset by a decline in total weight per shipment.
Asset-light segment revenue decreased 13.6% to $341.9 million from $395.8 million the prior year. Operating income increased to $591,000 from an operating loss of $9.5 million. The revenue decline was primarily due to lower revenue per shipment in a soft rate environment and a higher mix of managed transportation business. A decline in shipments per day reflected a strategic reduction in less-profitable truckload volumes that was partially offset by continued growth in managed solutions.
ArcBest ranks No. 13 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America and No. 44 on the TT Top 100 logistics companies list.
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