The 'Best of the Best' selected for ABF President's Quality Awards

Carlisle, Chester, Fargo, and South Bend service centers earn the prestigious award

Four of ABF's North American customer service centers have earned the prestigious President's Quality Award presented annually by ABF Freight System, Inc.' The award-winning facilities are located in Carlisle and Chester, PA; Fargo, ND; and South Bend, IN. The President's Quality Awards program recognizes facilities exemplifying the ABF' Quality Process and is the highest internal recognition available to ABF service centers.

This year's winning facilities are among 286 ABF service centers that compete in the rigorous selection process, which gauges resource management, damage/loss prevention, customer satisfaction and other key performance indicators. Each year, every ABF customer service center undergoes extensive evaluations that include a nomination process, a quality awareness survey, an on-site validation audit and scrutiny by the ABF Quality Implementation Committee. Finalists are submitted to the company president, who selects the winners.

"Quality is a subject we take very seriously at ABF. Highly motivated employees in our customer service centers use the ABF Quality Process to achieve quantifiable results that include satisfied customers and significant cost savings," says ABF President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Davidson. "ABF's ability to continue providing the best customer care to North American shippers is dependent upon the experience and responsiveness of our local service personnel. The customer service teams in Fargo, South Bend, Chester and Carlisle are the best of the best. Their versatility, attention to detail, and conscientious approach to customer service is a benchmark for best practices in the transportation industry."

Mr. Davidson presented the awards in Carlisle on May 3, in Chester on May 4, and in South Bend and Fargo on May 10. The winning facilities received a permanent plaque and a traveling Quality Cup in a ceremony attended by the ABF Quality Implementation Committee, local employees and special guests.

"The ABF Quality Process identifies areas of nonconformance and establishes proven methods for correcting and eliminating problems and their source," says Joe Davis, ABF director of quality awareness. "ABF institutionalized quality as a structured process in 1984. By emphasizing quality, which we define as conformance to the agreed upon requirements of our customers, we create a means for developing the industry's highest quality people, facilities, equipment, tools and procedures.

Davis said the President's Quality Awards competition prompts benchmarking among ABF's network of service centers. "Each year, the standard for excellence and the levels of performance are a little higher than the year before. This leads to continual improvement in productivity, efficiency, and most important, customer loyalty."