Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of U.S.-based trucking company Arkansas Best (Nasdaq: ABFS) blew a tire and are currently down 16% after reporting fourth-quarter results.

So what: For the quarter, Arkansas Best reported revenue of $463.2 million and a profit of $0.08 per share, excluding items. This compares to Wall Street estimates for a profit of $0.24 on revenue of $472.5 million. Not only did net income miss by a mile, but tonnage also decreased by 7.6%. Luckily for Arkansas Best, it was able to pass along a nearly 13% price increase to customers to partially offset the drop in tonnage.

Now what: Trucking doesn't look like a very viable way to play the transportation sector as a whole as is evidenced by Arkansas Best's earnings report. Fuel costs and lower demand are really sapping the strength out of trucking, and it's not as if the company pays a big enough dividend to keep shareholders interested. Personally, I prefer the railroad sector over trucking and think it still represents a much more compelling value. Despite today's drop, I'm not touching Arkansas Best here.

Craving more input? Start by adding Arkansas Best to your free and personalized watchlist so you can keep up on the latest news with the company.