CHICAGO (Reuters) - Shares of North America's largest trucking company YRC Worldwide Inc (YRCW.O: Quote, Profile, Research) jumped more than 30 percent on Friday on a robust second-quarter outlook and analyst upgrade, despite posting a first-quarter loss on Thursday.

YRC posted a first-quarter loss of $45.9 million or 81 cents a share, but said that despite a soft economy its has now turned a corner thanks to an ongoing restructuring program. The Overland Park, Kansas-based company said it expects earnings per share for the current quarter in a range from 30 cents to 40 cents.

Analysts had on average predicted second-quarter earnings per share of 33 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.

Morgan Keegan raised its rating on YRC stock after the results to "market perform" from "underperform."

YRC is a less-than-truckload (LTL) company. LTL operators consolidate smaller loads into a single truck. Like the rest of the U.S. trucking sector, LTL operators have suffered weak freight volumes and stiff competition on pricing since the third quarter of 2006, making some analysts skeptical about YRC's second-quarter earnings forecast.

"We believe this range will be difficult to attain in the current environment given heightened competition in the LTL market and rising fuel costs," Wachovia analyst Justin Yagerman wrote in a research note for clients.

In January YRC reported a hefty fourth-quarter loss due to impairment charges on two struggling regional units that the company bought in 2003 and 2005.

The trucking company then announced the closure of 27 facilities at these regional operators and said it would shed 1,100 jobs as a result. YRC said this would remove redundancies from its network and lead to cost savings.

Thanks to this restructuring program and a new, more flexible labor contract with its unionized work force, YRC said it should start to see meaningful earnings improvement as of this quarter.