ABF stores some fuel for its tractors and trucks in approximately 98 underground tanks located in 27 states. Maintenance of such tanks is regulated at the federal and, in some cases, state levels. ABF believes that it is in substantial compliance with all such regulations. ABF is not aware of any leaks from such tanks that could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company. Environmental regulations have been adopted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") that will require ABF to upgrade its underground tank systems by December 1998. ABF currently estimates that such upgrades, which are currently in process, will not have a material adverse effect on the Company.

The Company has received notices from the EPA and others that it has been identified as a potentially responsible party ("PRP") under the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act or other federal or state environmental statutes at several hazardous waste sites. After investigating the Company’s or its subsidiaries’ involvement in waste disposal or waste generation at such sites, the Company has either agreed to de minimis settlements (aggregating approximately $250,000 over the last five years), or believes its obligations with respect to such sites would involve immaterial monetary liability, although there can be no assurances in this regard.

The Company remains responsible for certain environmental claims that arose with respect to its ownership of Riverside prior to its sale in 1989. Riverside was notified in 1988 that it had been identified as a PRP for hazardous wastes shipped to two separate sites in Arkansas. To date, the Company, as a part of a PRP group, has paid approximately $50,000 on Riverside’s behalf related to one site, with additional assessments expected related to that site. Riverside was dismissed as a PRP from the second site in March 1993. Management currently believes that resolution of its remaining site is unlikely to have a material adverse effect on the Company, although there can be no assurance in this regard.