The parent company to the carrier YRC Freight and others moved to a bigger loss in the first quarter of the year.

Kansas-based YRC Worldwide lost $70.2 million, or $3.95 per diluted share, compared to a loss of $24.5 versus, or $2.93 per diluted share during the same time in 2013.

Revenue for the first quarter of 2014 increased to $1.211 billion compared to $1.162 billion a year earlier.

"We faced numerous challenges during the first quarter as we battled both the distractions from the ratification of the Memorandum of Understanding [with the Teamsters Union] along with Mother Nature," said YRC Worldwide CEO James Welch. "This was one of the worst winter seasons in my more than 30 years in trucking. We estimate that it negatively impacted our operating income by approximately $20 million. The main culprits were lower volumes, decreased productivities and higher use of purchased transportation.”

During the quarter YRC Freight, the company’s national less-than-truckload business, saw its revenue increase 0.4% to $756.8 million, while its operating income moved from a $2.4 million profit a year ago to a $32.5 million loss.

Its regional LTL operations combined saw revenue increase 11.1% to $254.1 while operating income fell 34.2% to $7.9 million.

Despite the increased red ink Welch sounded positive about the remainder of the 2014.

"Since his appointment as president in late February, Darren Hawkins has restructured the organization at YRC Freight to align sales with operations and three terminals are set to open to meet demand for service in certain areas of the country,” he said. “For the remainder of 2014, these changes, in addition to our regimented service cycle, are anticipated to provide additional efficiencies that will intensify our operational improvements".

More details are on the YRC Worldwide website.