Trucker YRC Worldwide, announcing a new series of cutbacks and charges in its troubled business, said Tuesday tonnage at its national less-than-truckload declined 29 percent in the first quarter.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Overland, Kans.-based trucker said tonnage per day at its regional operations fell 27 percent in the first three months of the year as the company faced the dramatic impact of the economic downturn and a diversion of freight to competitors.
YRC said it will take restructuring charges of up to $185 million as it adjusts its network and combines operations at the merged longhaul LTL operations that were operating as Roadway Express and Yellow Transportation.
The company said some of its tonnage losses have come because of the restructuring and lost network coverage. YRC blamed the economy for a 15 percent decline in freight tonnage per day and said it lost 11 percent of its business to other carriers in a highly competitive LTL market that has seen other operators report double-digit drops in shpping this year.
With its cash flow under pressure and expensive debt payments coming due, YRC struck a new agreement with its lenders in February. But investment analysts say the company still faces financial trouble and one, Thomas R. Wadewitz of J.P. Morgan Research, said in a report YRC faces “a high bar to avoid bankruptcy” in the second or third quarter.
