P.A.M. Transportation Services narrowed its loss during the first quarter 2010, reporting a net loss of about $300,000, or 3 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $3.3 million, or 36 cents a share in the first quarter 2009

. According to Daniel H. Cushman, president of the company, the truckload dry van carrier incurred costs due to the consolidation of all business operations under P.A.M. Transport.

Operating revenues for the quarter were about $81.8 million, up from about $65.8 million for the 2009 quarter.

"The first quarter of 2010 exceeded our expectations," Cushman said. "While we are optimistic that we are doing the necessary things to regain profitability, we really hadn't anticipated being as close to profitability as we were at the end the first quarter."

The boost in truckload revenue was attributed to structured sales and marketing efforts, he added.

"Our utilization was up 21 percent over the same period last year," he said. "Our empty miles were down 1.67 percent over the same period last year. Our revenue per tractor per day was up 18 percent over the same period last year. Our empty miles were low at 6.44 percent."