In August 1990, a lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, by Riverside Holdings, Inc., Riverside Furniture Corporation (“Riverside”) and MR Realty Associates, L.P. (“Plaintiffs”) against the Company and ABC Treadco. Plaintiffs have asserted state law, Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and securities claims against the Company in connection with the Company’s sale of Riverside in April 1989. Plaintiffs are seeking approximately $4 million in actual damages and $10 million in punitive damages. The Company is vigorously contesting the lawsuit. After consultation with legal counsel, the Company has concluded that resolution of the foregoing lawsuit is not expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition.

Various other legal actions, the majority of which arise in the normal course of business, are pending. None of these other legal actions is expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition. The Company maintains liability insurance against risks arising out of the normal course of its business, subject to certain self-insured retention limits.

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 State 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 has 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.