ArcBest Corporation

Hello, and thank you for standing by. My name is Regina, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the ARCBEST fourth quarter 2024 earnings conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during that time, simply press star then the number one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, press star one again. We kindly ask that you limit yourself to one question and return to the queue for any follow-ups. I would now like to turn the conference over to Amy Mendenhall, Vice President, Treasury and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to be here today with Judy McReynolds, our Chairman and CEO, Seth Runzer, our President, and Matt Beasley, our Chief Financial Officer. Other members of our Executive Leadership Team will also be available during the Q&A session. Before we begin, please note that some of the comments we make today will be forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which are detailed in the forward-looking section of our earnings release and SEC filings. To provide meaningful comparisons, we will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. These measures are outlined and described in the tables of our earnings release. Reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP measures are provided in the additional information section of the presentation slides. You can access the conference call slide deck on our website at arcb.com in our 8-K filed earlier this morning or follow along on the webcast. And now I will turn the call over to Judy.

Thank you, Amy, and good morning, everyone. Despite a challenging freight environment in 2024, We remain focused on executing our strategy to create value for our shareholders and customers and ensuring we are well positioned to capture growth when the market turns. At ArcBest, we believe in a win-win approach, providing premium value to our customers, which in turn benefits our business. With our comprehensive suite of integrated services, ArcBest is more than just a transportation provider. We are an innovative, strategic partner for our customers. Our decisions are always customer-led, and our entire team is dedicated to listening and crafting solutions to meet our customers' unique needs. Supply chains are becoming more complex, and most shippers use a mix of modes to keep their supply chains moving. Our best managed transportation solution seamlessly connects these modes to build better supply chains, driving improved customer retention and profitability. As supply chains modernize and customers seek efficiencies, the demand for better shipment visibility is growing. We have invested significantly in this area to provide industry leading visibility, enhancing trust, and enabling customers to make more informed decisions based on real-time data. Our industry-leading efforts are being recognized as evidenced by Masvio ranking ABF number one in the industry for the most useful website and number two in the industry for proactive communications. Additionally, our ongoing service enhancements have reduced customer service requests by 20%, decreasing operating expenses. And we're constantly improving. We look forward to sharing more about a new platform we'll be publicly launching in a few months. Excellence is one of ArcBest's core values. Delivering a premium experience for our customers requires excellent execution from our team every day. In 2024, we upheld this core value by training nearly 5,000 employees on our quality process, deploying operational teams to enhance execution, launching multiple technology projects, and investing in our fleet and facilities. We also lead in innovative value-enhancing solutions to improve LTL margins and capacity utilization, including shipment-level cost visibility, dynamic pricing, and space-based pricing. This allows AVF to select the shipments that best leverage the AVF network. and is a key reason why we have the strongest asset-based LTL pricing metrics among public competitors. Our full-year AVF non-GAAP operating ratio for 2024 was 91.2%, marking a 670 basis point improvement since 2016. I will note our operating ratio includes approximately 600 basis points in union pension costs. Adjusting for those costs, our operating ratio compares very favorably to our peers. While we've made tremendous progress, we recognize there is more to be done. Two weeks ago, we announced a series of leadership and organizational updates across the business, reflecting our commitment to continuous improvement and innovation. I'm confident that we have the right team in place to advance our strategic priorities and drive sustainable long-term growth. Our president, Seth Renzer, will cover those changes in more detail. Before I turn it over to him, I'd like to thank Stephen Leonard, who recently announced his retirement for his 24 years of service. Stephen has been a key part of our transformation into an integrated logistics company. He will be greatly missed when he retires later this year. And now I'll turn it over to Seth to outline our key focus areas for 2025.