Inside ArcBest’s Next-Generation Logistics Technology Strategy with Dennis Anderson

Dennis Anderson, Chief Innovation Officer of ArcBest Corp. (Photo provided)

ArcBest Corp. introduced Vaux, an automated freight handling system, in 2023.

What is the next big technology advancement that ArcBest is working on?

At our investor day last fall, we announced ArcBest View, our new customer service platform that’s currently in beta. It’s a unified digital experience that makes quoting and booking even easier and brings visibility across all our logistics solutions into one place. And our Vaux technology suite continues to transform freight movement and material handling. Vaux Smart Autonomy helps our customers improve efficiency while directly addressing real challenges like labor shortages and safety concerns. Vaux Vision has the potential to dramatically improve the way we capture, analyze and act upon data in logistics operations by providing convenient freight dimensioning and artificial intelligence-enabled visual insights.

How does ArcBest use artificial intelligence?

AI is already embedded across our business for things like intelligent call routing, automated document processing and carrier call automation, and we’re continuing to leverage AI through phases of our City Route Optimization (CRO) initiative within ABF. Phase I alone resulted in reduced mileage, less fuel consumption and better equipment utilization for annual savings of more than $13 million. Phase II adds in automated, customized routing with flexibility to handle near real-time adjustments, and Phase III predicts daily demand to streamline pickup routes for greater efficiency and a better customer experience.

What is the future of electric vehicles and ArcBest?

We are always looking for ways to improve efficiency in our operations. We currently operate nine electric yard tractors, two electric straight trucks and a small number of electric forklifts in the ABF network. All Vaux forklifts and reach trucks are electric as well. We also piloted a Tesla semi in the ABF network in 2025 and saw some encouraging progress in performance and driver experience. Drivers gave specific positive feedback on comfort, safety, controls and visibility. The main outstanding issue remains charging infrastructure, especially for heavy-duty EVs moving over the road. Levels of readiness vary. Forklifts and vehicles like yard trucks or straight trucks on local city routes are the most near-term viable options at this point. We are monitoring the progress in this area and believe EVs can be viable across our business in the future as the technology and charging infrastructure advance.

What are AI’s promises and concerns in transportation?

AI is enabling change at a rapid pace, which does come with both promise and concern. We see substantial opportunity in leveraging AI for continuous improvement, optimizing complex operations and helping our customers solve logistics challenges. Our top priority is the responsible and ethical use of AI. Data quality is foundational for us, and it’s an area we invest in heavily to make sure our data is clean, structured and accessible. Without it, AI is ineffective at best. One of the great things is how generative AI tools help free up our teams from repetitive tasks to focus on more complex work and help our customers build better supply chains. Change management is an important part of introducing new technology, and training becomes especially important around AI to ensure our people understand the value and are equipped to use AI tools with confidence. We’re focused on using technology to augment and empower our expert teams. We’ve said before that technology drives change, but people make it happen. Our people are at the heart of our success, and our customers feel that difference.

What excites you most about the possibilities of technology as a problem solver?

I love seeing how technology and innovation can positively impact our world. Human ingenuity to solve problems has always fascinated me. Personal computers entered homes and the internet began to proliferate during my formative childhood and teenage years. That helped spark a technology curiosity, which led me to continuously learn about how things work, research and experiment with tech in my personal life, and even play the role of family tech consultant and support. As a natural problem solver, I’m excited to see new technologies unlock solutions that we never dreamed might be possible. Generative AI, agentic AI, robotics and machine vision are significantly expanding the frontier of what we can accomplish for our customers.