Frozen Food Express narrowed its loss in the second quarter, posting a pre-tax loss of $3.3 million, compared to a $6.6 million loss in the second quarter of 2009.

The net loss was $4.4 million, an improvement of 14.3 percent over 2009.

The refrigerated carrier said operating revenue, excluding fuel surcharges, was down 5.3 percent to $80 million, compared to $84.5 million in the year-ago quarter.

"As carriers continued to exit the marketplace in late 2009 and early 2010, a marginal uptick in demand has put pressure on overall capacity, especially in the truckload sector, and this has had a pronounced impact on pricing," said Stoney M. ("Mit") Stubbs, the company's chairman and CEO. "Increased shipper demand, shrinking capacity and improving freight yield allowed us to regain our momentum and improve our pre-tax results by $2.4 million, or 41.9 percent, compared to the first quarter of 2010.

"Although we are experiencing increased demand and improved pricing for our services, we will continue to manage carefully and not take our eye off improving asset utilization and cost control," Stubbs said. "While we have a ways to go, continued momentum in these areas should combine to provide improved results."