ORGANIZATION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT PRESENTATION	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016
ORGANIZATION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT PRESENTATION
ORGANIZATION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT PRESENTATION	NOTE A – ORGANIZATION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT PRESENTATION ArcBest Corporation® (the “Company”) is the parent holding company of businesses providing freight transportation services and logistics solutions. The Company’s principal operations are conducted through its Freight Transportation (ABF Freight®) segment, which consists of ABF Freight System, Inc. and certain other subsidiaries. The Company’s other reportable operating segments are the following asset-light logistics businesses: Premium Logistics (Panther), Transportation Management (ABF Logistics®), Emergency & Preventative Maintenance (FleetNet), and Household Goods Moving Services (ABF Moving®). References to the Company in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are primarily to the Company and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis. ABF Freight represented approximately 70% of the Company’s total revenues before other revenues and intercompany eliminations for the nine months ended September 30, 2016. As of September 2016, approximately 77% of ABF Freight’s employees were covered under a collective bargaining agreement, the ABF National Master Freight Agreement (the “ABF NMFA”), with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (the “IBT”), which extends through March 31, 2018. The ABF NMFA included a 7% wage rate reduction upon the November 3, 2013 implementation date, followed by wage rate increases of 2% on July 1 in each of the next three years, which began in 2014, and a 2.5% increase on July 1, 2017; a one-week reduction in annual compensated vacation effective for employee anniversary dates on or after April 1, 2013; the option to expand the use of purchased transportation; and increased flexibility in labor work rules. The ABF NMFA and the related supplemental agreements provide for continued contributions to various multiemployer health, welfare, and pension plans maintained for the benefit of ABF Freight’s employees who are members of the IBT. The estimated net effect of the November 3, 2013 wage rate reduction and the benefit rate increase which was applied retroactively to August 1, 2013 was an initial reduction of approximately 4% to the combined total contractual wage and benefit rate under the ABF NMFA. Following the initial reduction, the combined contractual wage and benefit contribution rate under the ABF NMFA is estimated to increase approximately 2.5% on a compounded annual basis throughout the contract period which extends through March 31, 2018. On September 2, 2016, ABF Logistics acquired Logistics & Distribution Services, LLC (“LDS”), a private logistics and distribution company, in a transaction valued at $25.0 million (subject to post-closing adjustments), reflecting net cash consideration of $17.0 million paid at closing and an additional $8.0 million of contingent consideration to be paid over the next two years upon the achievement of certain financial targets. On December 1, 2015, ABF Logistics acquired Bear Transportation Services, L.P. (“Bear”), a private, non-asset truckload brokerage firm, for net cash consideration of $24.4 million (subject to post-closing adjustments). On January 2, 2015, ABF Logistics acquired Smart Lines Transportation Group, LLC, a privately-owned truckload brokerage firm, for net cash consideration of $5.2 million. As these acquired businesses are not significant to the Company’s consolidated operating results and financial condition, pro forma financial information and the purchase price allocations of acquired assets and liabilities have not been presented. The results of the acquired operations subsequent to the acquisition dates have been included in the accompanying consolidated financial statements. The Company is in the process of making a final determination of the value of acquired assets and liabilities for the LDS and Bear transactions and the provisional measurements are subject to change during the measurement periods. The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States and applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) pertaining to interim financial information. Accordingly, these interim financial statements do not include all information or footnote disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for complete financial statements and, therefore, should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and accompanying notes included in the Company’s 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K and other current filings with the Commission. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (which are of a normal and recurring nature) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual amounts may differ from those estimates. Accounting Policies The Company’s accounting policies are described in Note B to the audited financial statements included in the Company’s 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The following policy became effective for the Company during the three months ended September 30, 2016. Contingent Consideration: The Company records the estimated fair value of contingent consideration at the acquisition date as part of the purchase price consideration for an acquisition. The fair value of the contingent consideration liability was determined by assessing Level 3 inputs with a discounted cash flow approach using various probability-weighted scenarios. As of September 30, 2016, the fair value of the outstanding contingent consideration of $6.8 million related to the acquisition of LDS was recorded in accrued expenses and other long-term liabilities, based on when expected payouts become due, and the $8.0 million held in escrow for the contingent consideration at the acquisition date was recorded in other long-term assets. The liability for contingent consideration is remeasured at each quarterly reporting period and any change in fair value as a result of the recurring assessments is recognized in operating income. Adopted Accounting Pronouncements In the first quarter of 2016, the Company adopted guidance issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) which amended Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 835, Interest – Imputation of Interest, and addresses the presentation of debt issuance costs in the balance sheet. The Company’s debt issuance costs related to its revolving credit agreements continue to be presented as an asset, as permitted, and amortized over the term of the agreements within interest expense. The new guidance did not result in retrospective adjustments to the consolidated financial statements or disclosures. During first quarter 2016, the Company adopted amended ASC Topic 805, Business Combinations, issued by the FASB. The amendment eliminated the requirement that an acquirer in a business combination account for measurement-period adjustments retrospectively and instead recognize measurement-period adjustments during the period in which it determines the amount of the adjustments, including the effect on earnings of any amounts it would have recorded in previous periods if the accounting had been completed at the acquisition date. The amendment was prospectively adopted and did not result in significant adjustments to financial statements or disclosure presentation. Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted ASC Topic 740 was amended with the addition of Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes. The amendment is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2017. The update will result in all deferred tax assets and liabilities being classified as noncurrent in the consolidated balance sheets. An amendment to ASC Topic 718, Compensation – Stock Compensation, was issued to simplify the accounting for share-based compensation, which will require the income tax effects of awards to be recognized in the statement of operations when awards vest or are settled and will allow employers to make a policy election to account for forfeitures as they occur. The amendment is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2017. The Company is currently assessing the impact this update will have on the consolidated financial statements or disclosures. ASC Topic 606, which amends the guidance in former ASC Topic 605, Revenue Recognition, provides a single comprehensive revenue recognition model for all contracts with customers and contains principles to apply to determine the measurement of revenue and timing of when it is recognized. The standard is effective for the Company on January 1, 2018. The Company is evaluating the impact of the new standard on the consolidated financial statements. An amendment to ASC Topic 230, Statement of Cash Flows, which provides classification guidance for certain cash payments and receipts presented in the statement of cash flows, is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2018. The Company is currently assessing the impact this update will have on the consolidated financial statements. ASC Topic 842, Leases, which is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2019, will require leases with a term greater than twelve months to be reflected as liabilities with associated right-of-use assets in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet. The Company is evaluating the impact of the new standard on the consolidated financial statements. An amendment to ASC Topic 326, Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which changes the impairment model for most financial assets and certain other instruments, is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2020. The Company is currently assessing the impact this update will have on the Company’s financial statements or disclosures. Management believes that there is no other new accounting guidance issued but not yet effective that is relevant to the Company’s current financial statements. However, there are new proposals under development by the standard setting bodies which, if and when enacted, may have a significant impact on the Company’s financial statement disclosures, including changes in disclosure requirements for income taxes and defined benefit plans.

NOTE A – ORGANIZATION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT PRESENTATION

ArcBest Corporation® (the “Company”) is the parent holding company of businesses providing freight transportation services and logistics solutions. The Company’s principal operations are conducted through its Freight Transportation (ABF Freight®) segment, which consists of ABF Freight System, Inc. and certain other subsidiaries. The Company’s other reportable operating segments are the following asset-light logistics businesses: Premium Logistics (Panther), Transportation Management (ABF Logistics®), Emergency & Preventative Maintenance (FleetNet), and Household Goods Moving Services (ABF Moving®). References to the Company in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are primarily to the Company and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis.

ABF Freight represented approximately 70% of the Company’s total revenues before other revenues and intercompany eliminations for the nine months ended September 30, 2016. As of September 2016, approximately 77% of ABF Freight’s employees were covered under a collective bargaining agreement, the ABF National Master Freight Agreement (the “ABF NMFA”), with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (the “IBT”), which extends through March 31, 2018. The ABF NMFA included a 7% wage rate reduction upon the November 3, 2013 implementation date, followed by wage rate increases of 2% on July 1 in each of the next three years, which began in 2014, and a 2.5% increase on July 1, 2017; a one-week reduction in annual compensated vacation effective for employee anniversary dates on or after April 1, 2013; the option to expand the use of purchased transportation; and increased flexibility in labor work rules. The ABF NMFA and the related supplemental agreements provide for continued contributions to various multiemployer health, welfare, and pension plans maintained for the benefit of ABF Freight’s employees who are members of the IBT. The estimated net effect of the November 3, 2013 wage rate reduction and the benefit rate increase which was applied retroactively to August 1, 2013 was an initial reduction of approximately 4% to the combined total contractual wage and benefit rate under the ABF NMFA. Following the initial reduction, the combined contractual wage and benefit contribution rate under the ABF NMFA is estimated to increase approximately 2.5% on a compounded annual basis throughout the contract period which extends through March 31, 2018.

On September 2, 2016, ABF Logistics acquired Logistics & Distribution Services, LLC (“LDS”), a private logistics and distribution company, in a transaction valued at $25.0 million (subject to post-closing adjustments), reflecting net cash consideration of $17.0 million paid at closing and an additional $8.0 million of contingent consideration to be paid over the next two years upon the achievement of certain financial targets. On December 1, 2015, ABF Logistics acquired Bear Transportation Services, L.P. (“Bear”), a private, non-asset truckload brokerage firm, for net cash consideration of $24.4 million (subject to post-closing adjustments). On January 2, 2015, ABF Logistics acquired Smart Lines Transportation Group, LLC, a privately-owned truckload brokerage firm, for net cash consideration of $5.2 million. As these acquired businesses are not significant to the Company’s consolidated operating results and financial condition, pro forma financial information and the purchase price allocations of acquired assets and liabilities have not been presented. The results of the acquired operations subsequent to the acquisition dates have been included in the accompanying consolidated financial statements. The Company is in the process of making a final determination of the value of acquired assets and liabilities for the LDS and Bear transactions and the provisional measurements are subject to change during the measurement periods.

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States and applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) pertaining to interim financial information. Accordingly, these interim financial statements do not include all information or footnote disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for complete financial statements and, therefore, should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and accompanying notes included in the Company’s 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K and other current filings with the Commission. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (which are of a normal and recurring nature) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual amounts may differ from those estimates.

Accounting Policies

The Company’s accounting policies are described in Note B to the audited financial statements included in the Company’s 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The following policy became effective for the Company during the three months ended September 30, 2016.

Contingent Consideration: The Company records the estimated fair value of contingent consideration at the acquisition date as part of the purchase price consideration for an acquisition. The fair value of the contingent consideration liability was determined by assessing Level 3 inputs with a discounted cash flow approach using various probability-weighted scenarios. As of September 30, 2016, the fair value of the outstanding contingent consideration of $6.8 million related to the acquisition of LDS was recorded in accrued expenses and other long-term liabilities, based on when expected payouts become due, and the $8.0 million held in escrow for the contingent consideration at the acquisition date was recorded in other long-term assets. The liability for contingent consideration is remeasured at each quarterly reporting period and any change in fair value as a result of the recurring assessments is recognized in operating income.

Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In the first quarter of 2016, the Company adopted guidance issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) which amended Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 835, Interest – Imputation of Interest, and addresses the presentation of debt issuance costs in the balance sheet. The Company’s debt issuance costs related to its revolving credit agreements continue to be presented as an asset, as permitted, and amortized over the term of the agreements within interest expense. The new guidance did not result in retrospective adjustments to the consolidated financial statements or disclosures.

During first quarter 2016, the Company adopted amended ASC Topic 805, Business Combinations, issued by the FASB. The amendment eliminated the requirement that an acquirer in a business combination account for measurement-period adjustments retrospectively and instead recognize measurement-period adjustments during the period in which it determines the amount of the adjustments, including the effect on earnings of any amounts it would have recorded in previous periods if the accounting had been completed at the acquisition date. The amendment was prospectively adopted and did not result in significant adjustments to financial statements or disclosure presentation.

Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

ASC Topic 740 was amended with the addition of Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes. The amendment is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2017. The update will result in all deferred tax assets and liabilities being classified as noncurrent in the consolidated balance sheets.

An amendment to ASC Topic 718, Compensation – Stock Compensation, was issued to simplify the accounting for share-based compensation, which will require the income tax effects of awards to be recognized in the statement of operations when awards vest or are settled and will allow employers to make a policy election to account for forfeitures as they occur. The amendment is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2017. The Company is currently assessing the impact this update will have on the consolidated financial statements or disclosures.

ASC Topic 606, which amends the guidance in former ASC Topic 605, Revenue Recognition, provides a single comprehensive revenue recognition model for all contracts with customers and contains principles to apply to determine the measurement of revenue and timing of when it is recognized. The standard is effective for the Company on January 1, 2018. The Company is evaluating the impact of the new standard on the consolidated financial statements.

An amendment to ASC Topic 230, Statement of Cash Flows, which provides classification guidance for certain cash payments and receipts presented in the statement of cash flows, is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2018. The Company is currently assessing the impact this update will have on the consolidated financial statements.

ASC Topic 842, Leases, which is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2019, will require leases with a term greater than twelve months to be reflected as liabilities with associated right-of-use assets in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet. The Company is evaluating the impact of the new standard on the consolidated financial statements.

An amendment to ASC Topic 326, Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which changes the impairment model for most financial assets and certain other instruments, is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2020. The Company is currently assessing the impact this update will have on the Company’s financial statements or disclosures.

Management believes that there is no other new accounting guidance issued but not yet effective that is relevant to the Company’s current financial statements. However, there are new proposals under development by the standard setting bodies which, if and when enacted, may have a significant impact on the Company’s financial statement disclosures, including changes in disclosure requirements for income taxes and defined benefit plans.