ArcBest said on June 8 that the impact on specific lanes and shipments may be different than the average increase. (Arcbest Corp)
key takeaways:
- ArcBest and ABF Freight will increase LTL customer rates by an average of 5.9% starting June 22.
- The increase was driven by rising costs, strengthening spot rates and FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index hitting a four-year high of 11.6 in April.
- ABF purchased two Tesla Semis for California linehaul operations, with ArcBest citing potential expansion to Reno, Nev., and other locations.
In the latest example of the ongoing surge in the freight market, rates for less-than-truckload customers of ArcBest and its ABF Freight unit are set to rise an average of 5.9% from June 22.
ArcBest is ranked 13th on Transportation Topics’ Top 100 list of the largest freight carriers in North America, and ABF Freight is ranked 8th in the LTL segment of the freight forwarder market.
ArcBest said on June 8 that the impact on specific lanes and shipments may be different than the average increase.
Costs for carriers continue to rise, and spot rates are set to surge across all segments of the North American freight market in the first five months of 2026. Contract rates are generally lower due to the uncertainty of spot rates.
FTR Transportation Intelligence’s Trucking Conditions Index reached 11.6 in April, its strongest reading in more than four years, the research group said June 8.
“We expect overall trucking conditions to peak this summer, but our TCI forecast remains quite favorable for carriers over the two-year forecast horizon,” Avery Wise, FTR vice president of trucking, said in comments accompanying the data.
ArcBest’s asset-based division saw a 10% increase in daily billed revenues during the first two months of the second quarter. Tonnage per day rose 5%, but revenue per hundredweight excluding fuel surcharges was flat, the carrier said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing June 4.
The asset-based division accounted for about 63% of ArcBest’s total revenue in the first quarter of 2026, according to results released on May 1.
Fort Smith, Ark.-based ArcBest operates 4,229 tractors and 24,125 trailers, according to Transportation Topics data.
However, the total number of tractors will increase by at least two rigs, as the company announced on June 11 that ABF has purchased a pair of battery-electric Tesla Semi tractors.
ArcBest said the tractors will primarily support linehaul operations in California before expanding services to Reno, Neves and potentially other locations.
ABF executed the 2025 pilot, and the initial purchase of two tractors will allow the company to evaluate the Semi over the longer term and over a broader operational footprint before making additional investment decisions, it said.
During the three-week pilot, ABF traveled 4,494 miles with a Semi, averaging 321 miles per day and total energy consumption of 1.55 kilowatt-hours per mile.
Tesla has introduced the Semi by promising energy consumption of less than 2 kWh per mile on its website.
If taken as a stand-alone metric, ABF’s testing of semis outperformed standard key performance indicators and also publicly available data released by carriers in earlier pilot tests and by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency.
The first Tesla Semi rolled off the company’s high-volume production line in Reno on April 29. Tesla’s Semi factory in Reno can produce 50,000 vehicles per year.
