The whole story of ABF (Arkansas Best Freight). As we are seeing union companies crumbling into bankruptcy around us, we have to wonder how ABF also known as “Bullfrog” is killing it right now. We will also tell how they would have never made it out of the 1980’s if not for great leadership. Hat’s off to you, Robert A Young III.
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I don't want to scare you Rob, but with over 20 years experience, you can now be considered an "old timer". Not as old a timer as your super trucker dad, but you qualify. Great documentary on Bullfrog son. I always love your indepth documentaries. Stay safe out there!
I worked on the dock of Watkins motor lines in wilkes barre pa when CF went out. Came as a shock to all of us on the dock and our drivers. We also had an ABF terminal around the corner from us. That seems like yesterday but so long ago.
Yellow didnt actually go under like how u think. Not because market caused it they chose to shut it down. They was not broke. Them shut misleads the public about ltl sector.
All of the ltl are successful if they shut down its because they wanted to not because market did it to them. They may try to do white collar crimes and mislead the public of the truth.
They are succcessul because its a few companies too rich too much market control they can keep it anticompetitive keep reatraining trade and restrain job creations keep price gouging etc. Keep squash competition outside of the oligopoly. Etc
Them you call pods are conex style boxes kind of like military boxes I haul a load or two from a shop datade some up in Michigan to a abf terminal when they started them very interesting
Back in the 90's there was a comedian named Trucker Wally. Who made fun of various companies like JB Hunt,Schneider, etc. His nickname for ABF was "Already Broken Freight." The tag line was "Remember if it wasn't already broken, you didn't use Already Broken Freight."
I remember when trucks had steel dashboards. Driver's gloves were made so that when you grabbed a steering wheel in winter , you hands didn't get cold. Drive safe. 🤠
Great story about abf
Arkansas Bullfighters
this is what happened at my workplace. after the teamsters unio was voted in the management got mad about losing and then they didn't try to keep going strong. They made it about harrassing employees their main focus. 16 years of excellant performance reviews the when I joined the union they said I became a bad employee now.
We called Navajo the blue eyed Indian
When I was a pup, cooking in a truckstop, Bobby Van Diver an ABF driver out of St Louis gave me a n ABF chauffeurs hat that I wore while cooking on the night shift, really made the other frieghthaulers unhappy
To get around it, Relocube is the word they substituted for the word Pods.
If you're a well managed company such as ABF Freight or Arcbest, you can always make money and even survive hard times.
NAVAJO WAS PART OF DIGBY AT ONE TIME /WHO HAS THERE AUTHORITY NOW/IT WAS ALL ABOUT AUTHORITY IN THE OLD DAYS
INDIAN CASINOS ARE IN CAL/SOUTHERN OFF I-8
old saying ABF stands for all broken freight! Didn’t find that to be the case when I worked there
Do one on J.H. Rose Truck Lines.
Associated truck lines was an extremely big company east of the Mississippi, they were one of the first large mergers of 7 large east coast carriers in the Us, one of the company’s to form Associated was M. Moran transportation lines out of Buffalo New York. Great video absolutely love the channel.
They also bought Carolina freight
Bill always good info thanks for the videos can't wait for the next one
In the mid 90s they also acquired Carolina Freight and all of its equipment and terminals and most of its employees. They also made sure that all of the Carolina personnel retained all of their seniority, pay, and benefits. From what I understand, the ones that decided not to go with ABF were offered decent severance packages.
What year did A B F take over Carolina
Great video
How about St. Johnsbury
I'm really enjoying your videos on trucking company history. I love just about any history of trucking. About 20 years ago there was a soft cover book published titled "100 Years Of Trucking". It contained a lot of old photos with the story behind the photos. I remember one story in the book in particular about the time in 1973 when truckers shut down on the Ohio Turnpike over the price of diesel fuel, but there were a lot of other interesting stories in it too. My friend's father was a long time driver for ABF. He is retired now. I am going to share this video with my friend so he can share it with his father. Thanks for the stories. Keep 'em comin'!
Should do one on. Old d..
They bought Carolina Freight Carriers in the early 90,s