YRC Worldwide announced that its YRC National Transportation and YRC Regional Transportation units have seen shipments improve over the course of the first quarter.


The less-than-truckload giant pointed out that shipment volumes were weak in the latter part of December and January as a result of the extensions to its debt-for-equity exchange program. In addition, January and February shipments were hit by severe winter weather. So far in March, however, the company has exceeded normal seasonal patterns, with total shipments per work day up 10 percent for the two segments, compared to the same period in February.

"We operate in a highly competitive environment, yet one where we believe the right value proposition for our customers permits us to recover our cost of capital over the business cycle," the company said in a regulatory filing. "The recent economic recession in the U.S. as well as global financial concerns has impacted the competitiveness of our industry and created unique challenges for both our company and our customers."

The report comes on the heels of the company releasing its fourth quarter 2009 net income figures, which was $119.5 million, up from the year ago's loss of $244.9 million.

In early February, YRC reported its fourth quarter performance, including an operating loss of $95 million, compared to an operating loss of $335 million during the fourth quarter of 2008. The company did not share its net income figures in that release.