ARKANSAS BEST’S NET INCOME DROPS

ARKANSAS BEST’S NET INCOME DROPS    Arkansas Best Corporation, a transportation provider and trucking company based in Fort Smith, Ark., reported on Tuesday that its net income for the full year of 2002 – after an accounting change – was $16.8 million, compared to net income of $41.1 million for all of 2001.
   For the full year of 2002, Arkansas Best reported income, before the cumulative effect of an accounting change, of $40.8 million.
   In a statement that, in part, discussed the effects of the shutdown last year of Consolidated Freightways, Robert A. Young, president and chief executive officer of Arkansas Best, said “the closure of CF has strengthened overall pricing stability in our industry.
   “Some of the additional freight that can be identified as coming from CF is not as profitable as [our] average business,” Young said, but still “contributed positively to…margins” available through Arkansas Best’s network.