OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — YRC Worldwide, the beleaguered LTL giant whose every move these days is being monitored by financial analysts and trucking rivals, reported another quarterly loss, despite implementing extensive cost cutting and a debt-for-equity exchange program.

The carrier reported a first quarter net loss of $274 million, which is very similar to the hit taken during the same period in 2009. The carrier also reported operating revenue was $1.1 billion, down from $1.5 billion in the first quarter 2009.

At YRC National Transportation, total shipments per day dropped 33.6 percent, with total tons per day down 34.6 percent. YRC Regional Transportation saw total shipments drop 12.9 percent, with total tons down 9.1 percent.

Still, YRC chairman and CEO, Bill Zollars, said he was encouraged by the progress the company is making to dig itself out of this hole.

"Despite the headwinds from the note exchange in the latter part of December and the harsh winter weather we experienced during January and February, we are pleased with the sequential operating improvement during the quarter and the traction we achieved in the month of March," said of YRC Worldwide.

The company says volumes in both major divisions increased in April.

Perhaps feeling more confident in YRC’s ability to remain afloat, large customers such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot have begun to increase shipments with YRC once again, Zollars indicated.

In a recent market report, Dahlman Rose & Company LLC was somewhat hopeful as well.

Examining whether freight is coming back fast enough for YRC, analysts at the research-investment bank noted that the trucking company is slowly benefiting from an upward tonnage trend throughout the first quarter and heading into the second quarter.

"Pricing, which was the proverbial bane of LTL carriers’ existence during the economic downturn, is showing signs of strengthening," stated the report.

Meanwhile, the carrier has "begun to see more rational behavior in the marketplace from competitors and that the company’s general rate increase is holding better than it has over the last few years."

However, Dahlman Rose cautions that the LTL market is still somewhat slower than truckload in responding to improving conditions and with many of its currently suspended financial obligations likely to resurface in 2011, YRC "can only hope that the likely acceleration in the LTL recovery for the remainder of 2010 will be strong enough to boost the company’s long term survival prospects."

While liberal lenders and the company’s recent financial gymnastics may have placed it on the road to survival, "the ride," notes Dahlman Rose, "may still be long and bumpy."