PENSION AND OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFIT PLANS

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

PENSION AND OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFIT PLANS

PENSION AND OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFIT PLANS

NOTE G — PENSION AND OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFIT PLANS

Nonunion Defined Benefit Pension, Supplemental Benefit Pension, and Postretirement Health Benefit Plans

The following is a summary of the components of net periodic benefit cost:

	Three Months Ended March 31
	Nonunion Defined						Supplemental				Postretirement
	Benefit Pension Plan						Benefit Pension Plan				Health Benefit Plan
	2013			2012			2013		2012		2013			2012
	(in thousands)
Service cost	$	2,367		$	2,297		$	—	$	—	$	83		$	79
Interest cost	1,923			2,173			37		52		188			187
Expected return on plan assets	(3,154		)	(3,016		)	—		—		—			—
Amortization of prior service credit	—			—			—		—		(48		)	(48		)
Amortization of net actuarial loss and other	2,713			2,692			65		51		134			104
Net periodic benefit cost	$	3,849		$	4,146		$	102	$	103	$	357		$	322

In April 2013, the Company made a $3.0 million contribution to its nonunion defined benefit pension plan. Based upon currently available actuarial information, the Company’s required minimum contribution to its nonunion defined benefit pension plan for the 2013 plan year is estimated to be $9.1 million. The Company could make contributions in excess of the required minimum during 2013, depending on all relevant factors. The plan had a preliminary adjusted funding target attainment percentage (“AFTAP”) of 92% as of the January 1, 2013 valuation date. The AFTAP is determined by measurements prescribed by the IRC, which differ from the funding measurements for financial statement reporting purposes.

The Company’s nonunion defined benefit pension plan covers substantially all noncontractual employees hired before January 1, 2006. All eligible noncontractual employees hired subsequent to December 31, 2005 participate in a defined contribution plan to which the Company may make discretionary contributions on an annual basis.

Multiemployer Plans

Under the provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act, retirement and health care benefits for ABF’s contractual employees are provided by a number of multiemployer plans. ABF contributes to multiemployer pension and postretirement benefit plans monthly based generally on the time worked by its contractual employees, in accordance with its collective bargaining agreement with the IBT and other related supplemental agreements. ABF recognizes as expense the contractually required contribution for the period and recognizes as a liability any contributions due and unpaid. The Company intends to meet its obligations to the multiemployer plans under its collective bargaining agreement with the IBT, which is currently under extension.

ABF contributes to 25 multiemployer pension plans, which vary in size and in funded status. In the event of the termination of certain multiemployer pension plans or if ABF were to withdraw from certain multiemployer pension plans, under current law, the Company would have material liabilities for its share of the unfunded vested liabilities of each such plan. Multiemployer plans that enter reorganization status subject contributing employers to an increased contribution requirement but will generally not require a contribution increase of more than 7% over the level required in the preceding year. ABF has not received notification of any plan reorganization or plan termination, and ABF does not currently intend to withdraw from these plans. Therefore, the Company believes the occurrence of events that would require recognition of liabilities for its share of unfunded vested benefits is remote.

Approximately one half of ABF’s total contributions to multiemployer pension plans are made to the Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Plan (the “Central States Pension Plan”). As disclosed in the Annual Funding Notice for the 2012 plan year, the actuarial funded percentage of the Central States Pension Plan was 53.9% as of January 1, 2012. ABF received a Notice of Critical Status for the Central States Pension Plan which reported that on March 29, 2013, the plan’s actuary certified that the plan remained in critical status, as defined by the Pension Protection Act of 2006, for the plan year beginning January 1, 2013.

The multiemployer plan administrators have provided to the Company no other significant changes in information related to multiemployer plans from the information disclosed in the Company’s 2012 Annual Report on Form 10-K.