American Freightways was founded in 1982 by F. Sheridan Garrison. Garrison, with the help of a small group of people, created the truckload motor carrier company in the natural state of Arkansas. In the year 2000, the company was recognized as one of the four largest carrier companies in the United States.
American Freightways made an alliance with FedEx in November 2000. This union came to represent the largest sale merger in recent Arkansas history. Today, the company has a fleet of: 17,000 employees and 265 customer service centers. America Freightways now offers direct services to forty states in the United States.
American Freightways was awarded by Fortune Magazine in 2001, as the one of the most admired companies in America; the company became part of the 400 of the best big companies in America.
Garrison, the founder received the Lifetime Achievement Award, by Walton College in 1995, when he started his company, he was looking a company that emphasis on customers needs and not on labor issues. He wanted to build an organization with heart and soul. Once he said: People are the differentiators from one business to the next. They are the tiebreakers.