ABF FREIGHT

ABF Freight, the less-than-truckload subsidiary of ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCB), operates a U.S. terminal network subject to Clean Water Act stormwater permitting across 30 facilities tracked in EPA ECHO [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. On March 20, 2023, the Department of Justice and EPA lodged a nationwide consent decree in the Western District of Arkansas (Civil No. 2:23-cv-02039-PKH) resolving stormwater noncompliance at ABF transportation facilities. Under that decree, ABF agreed to pay a $535,000 civil penalty allocated among the United States, Louisiana, Maryland, and Nevada, and to implement injunctive compliance measures across its terminal network [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/abf-freight-inc-clean-water-act-settlement-information-sheet] [source: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-03/abf-cd.pdf]. EPA identified two distinct failure types: stormwater discharges associated with industrial activity reaching waters of the United States without a permit, and sampling, reporting, and recordkeeping deficiencies at sites that did hold permits [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/abf-freight-inc-clean-water-act-settlement-information-sheet].

The ECHO 24-month rollup for the ABF Freight record set shows 1 quarter-with-noncompliance flag and a derived penalty total of $2.14 million, reflecting the pro-rated slice of the 5-year penalty stream captured in EPA's exporter [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. That figure does not stand alone. Separate ECHO records filed under the legacy legal names "ABF FREIGHT SYSTEM" (96 facilities, 10 violations, $11.77M 24-month penalty) and "ABF FREIGHT SYSTEMS, INC." (169 facilities, 12 violations, $6.21M 24-month penalty) capture the broader enterprise footprint and the consent-decree penalty amortization across name variants [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. Parent ArcBest published its 2024 Impact Report on April 22, 2025, adding partial Scope 3 disclosure alongside the Scope 1 and Scope 2 figures it had already been reporting [source: https://s203.q4cdn.com/716791110/files/doc_downloads/2025/2024-Impact-Report.pdf].

The central compliance event of the past 24 months is the March 20, 2023 consent decree filed as United States, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, Maryland, and Nevada v. ABF Freight System, Inc., Civil No. 2:23-cv-02039-PKH (W.D. Ark.) [source: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-03/abf-cd.pdf]. The decree resolves Clean Water Act Section 402 claims arising from stormwater discharges associated with industrial activity at ABF terminals across multiple states. EPA's settlement information sheet describes two categories of noncompliance: facilities discharging without a required NPDES multi-sector general permit, and permitted facilities with sampling, reporting, and recordkeeping deficiencies [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/abf-freight-inc-clean-water-act-settlement-information-sheet]. A portion of the noncompliance was self-identified during ABF's own internal inspections [source: https://www.fedagent.com/news/doj-epa-settle-with-freight-company-over-clean-water-act-violations].

The monetary component is a $535,000 civil penalty, split among the federal government and the three co-plaintiff states [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/abf-freight-inc-clean-water-act-settlement-information-sheet] [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1575486/dl]. Injunctive relief requires nationwide implementation of stormwater pollution prevention plans, training, inspections, corrective action protocols, and periodic reporting to EPA. Stipulated penalties for future noncompliance are set out in Sections VI through VIII of the decree [source: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-03/abf-cd.pdf]. A separate Ohio incident adds a second enforcement data point: a diesel fuel leak at ABF's Huber Heights terminal, documented in trade-press coverage citing EPA, involved thousands of gallons released from on-site fueling infrastructure [source: https://www.thetrucker.com/trucking-news/the-nation/abf-freight-cited-by-epa-after-ohio-facility-leaks-diesel].

Across the broader 24-month window, ECHO shows the Orlando-registered ABF Freight record returning 1 violation quarter and $2.14M in derived penalty exposure across 30 facilities. The legacy "ABF FREIGHT SYSTEM" file shows 10 violations across 96 facilities with $11.77M in 24-month penalty allocation. "ABF FREIGHT SYSTEMS, INC." shows 12 violations across 169 facilities with $6.21M [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. The ECHO derivation methodology pro-rates 5-year penalty totals to the 24-month window, so the consent-decree penalty is distributed across the three record variants rather than double-counted. No active major permits are recorded; the most recent permit action on the Orlando file is dated November 14, 2022 [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. A historic Superfund reference also exists on EPA's CERCLA site list under the ABF Freight System Inc. name [source: https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/CurSites/calinfo.cfm?id=0600079].

Action 1 — Clean Water Act nationwide consent decree, filed March 20, 2023, W.D. Ark. Case 2:23-cv-02039-PKH. Plaintiffs: United States (on behalf of EPA), Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, State of Maryland, State of Nevada. Defendant: ABF Freight System, Inc. Program: CWA §402 NPDES stormwater (Multi-Sector General Permit for industrial activity). Penalty: $535,000 civil penalty, with allocations to LDEQ (mailable to Fiscal Administrator, LDEQ, P.O. Box 4303, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-4303), Maryland, and Nevada per the decree payment provisions [source: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-03/abf-cd.pdf]. Injunctive relief requires implementation of stormwater pollution prevention plans at covered terminals, employee training, quarterly inspections, corrective-action timelines, and reporting obligations under Sections VI–VII. Stipulated penalties for future noncompliance are governed by Section VIII [source: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-03/abf-cd.pdf]. EPA characterized noncompliance as both unpermitted discharges and permit-condition failures, including inadequate sampling, reporting, and recordkeeping [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/abf-freight-inc-clean-water-act-settlement-information-sheet].

Action 2 — Huber Heights, Ohio diesel release. Reported by EPA and documented in trade press: thousands of gallons of diesel fuel leaked from the Huber Heights terminal, triggering an EPA citation [source: https://www.thetrucker.com/trucking-news/the-nation/abf-freight-cited-by-epa-after-ohio-facility-leaks-diesel]. The release is a distinct enforcement event from the 2023 consent decree. Specific monetary penalty and CERCLA or SPCC citation terms are not itemized in the ECHO exporter slice reviewed [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

Action 3 — ECHO-aggregated quarterly noncompliance flags. Across the three ABF-named records, ECHO shows 1, 10, and 12 violation quarters within 24 months, with derived 24-month penalty totals of $2.14M (abf-freight), $11.77M (abf-freight-system), and $6.21M (abf-freight-systems-inc) [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. These figures reflect the 24/60 pro-ration of five-year penalty totals and are dominated by the 2023 consent-decree settlement being amortized across the reporting window.

Huber Heights, Ohio terminal — EPA citation followed a diesel fuel leak described as thousands of gallons released from on-site fueling infrastructure [source: https://www.thetrucker.com/trucking-news/the-nation/abf-freight-cited-by-epa-after-ohio-facility-leaks-diesel]. The facility sits within ABF's active line-haul network and is one of 30 sites tied to the Orlando-registered ECHO record [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

Louisiana terminals under LDEQ jurisdiction — Louisiana joined as a named co-plaintiff in the 2023 consent decree, with penalty proceeds directed to LDEQ's Office of Management and Finance [source: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-03/abf-cd.pdf]. The decree obligates stormwater pollution prevention plan upgrades at covered Louisiana terminals. Those upgrades are ongoing under court supervision.

Maryland terminals — the State of Maryland joined as co-plaintiff in the consent decree. Covered terminals are subject to the nationwide injunctive relief obligations, including sampling and reporting upgrades [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/abf-freight-inc-clean-water-act-settlement-information-sheet].

Nevada terminals — the State of Nevada joined as co-plaintiff. Decree coverage extends to Nevada-based ABF industrial sites with stormwater discharge exposure [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1575486/dl].

Columbus, Ohio (South Linden) former ABF Freight facility — announced April 16, 2026 as the site of a planned $3.3 million operations center by AAA Cooper Transportation, indicating ABF has exited this location [source: https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/news/2026/04/16/transportation-company-aaa-cooper-facility.html]. Environmental-justice index values for the 30-site ECHO set are recorded as 0.0 in the exporter output. That figure reflects missing EJScreen joins in the dataset rather than confirmed absence of community exposure [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

Stormwater associated with industrial activity at trucking terminals — the pollutant category at the center of the 2023 consent decree — typically carries total suspended solids, petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from tire and brake wear, and heavy metals including zinc and copper from fleet maintenance and yard operations [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/abf-freight-inc-clean-water-act-settlement-information-sheet]. EPA's Multi-Sector General Permit program addresses these pollutants through benchmark monitoring and pollution prevention plan requirements [source: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-03/abf-cd.pdf]. Zinc and copper in particular accumulate in receiving waters; their presence in terminal runoff is a direct function of brake pad and tire composition across high-turnover freight yards.

Diesel fuel was the pollutant released at the Huber Heights, Ohio terminal. Diesel contains benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, and PAHs. Releases to soil and groundwater trigger CERCLA and SPCC obligations and can reach surface water through stormwater conveyances [source: https://www.thetrucker.com/trucking-news/the-nation/abf-freight-cited-by-epa-after-ohio-facility-leaks-diesel]. The BTEX compounds in diesel are acutely toxic to aquatic organisms at low concentrations, which is why thousands of gallons reaching a stormwater conveyance constitutes a significant release event.

Diesel combustion emissions form a third pollutant category. Scope 1 tailpipe emissions from ABF's line-haul tractor fleet include nitrogen oxides, particulate matter (PM2.5), and carbon dioxide. ArcBest's 2024 Impact Report discloses Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions, describes equipment efficiency investment, and adds Scope 3 categories for the first time in the 2024 reporting cycle [source: https://s203.q4cdn.com/716791110/files/doc_downloads/2025/2024-Impact-Report.pdf]. Community exposure to diesel PM is concentrated along freight corridors and near terminal gates. ECHO's EJ index averages for the ABF record set are reported as 0.0, which indicates data absence rather than a verified exposure finding [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

Within NAICS 484122 (general freight trucking, long-distance, less-than-truckload), TForce Freight leads the 24-month penalty table at $16.69M across 37 facilities with 77 violation quarters. That works out to a higher density of noncompliance flags per facility than any ABF record in the dataset [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. The two legacy ABF records rank second and third by penalty, at $11.77M and $6.21M. Combined with the $2.14M Orlando-registered record, the aggregate ABF enterprise penalty across the 24-month window is dominated by the single 2023 CWA consent decree amortization [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/abf-freight-inc-clean-water-act-settlement-information-sheet] [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. EJ index averages across all four peer rows are reported as 0.0, indicating EJScreen joins are absent from the exporter slice rather than a verified community-exposure finding.

ArcBest Corporation's forward-looking environmental risk disclosures appear in its annual Impact Report and investor materials rather than in a 10-K excerpt provided in this bundle. The 2024 Impact Report identifies regulatory compliance, greenhouse gas reporting expansion, equipment transition costs, and operational efficiency as focal areas, and signals the addition of Scope 3 categories alongside existing Scope 1 and Scope 2 disclosure [source: https://s203.q4cdn.com/716791110/files/doc_downloads/2025/2024-Impact-Report.pdf] [source: https://www.stocktitan.net/news/ARCB/arc-best-publishes-2025-impact-u1in0cq830d9.html]. The 2023 CWA consent decree is not a closed file. It imposes multi-year injunctive relief, stipulated penalties for future noncompliance, and court-supervised reporting obligations that extend forward risk exposure well beyond the March 2023 settlement date [source: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-03/abf-cd.pdf].