ArcBest Corp., the parent of less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier ABF Freight System Inc. and expedited carrier Panther Premium Logistics Inc., said today that Judy R. McReynolds, the parent's president and CEO, has been elected chairman.

McReynolds, 53, will succeed Robert A. Young III following the Ft. Smith, Ark.-based company annual meeting, ArcBest said.

Young, 75, started at the company in 1964, and served as CEO from 1988 through his retirement from that position in 2006. Young, who has been chairman since 2004, has reached the company's mandatory retirement age, ArcBest said.

ArcBest was founded in 1923 as OK Transfer. In 1935, OK Transfer acquired Arkansas Motor Freight and assumed its name. In 1951, Young's father, Robert A. Young Jr., acquired Arkansas Motor, and in 1956 acquired Best Motor Freight. The following year, the company was renamed Arkansas Best Freight System, which eventually became ABF.

McReynolds, an 18-year veteran of ArcBest, has been the parent's president and CEO since 2010. Prior to that, she was the company's CFO.