YRC Worldwide: A Compelling Short Idea

Con-Way (CNW) released earnings on Wednesday night which fell short of consensus estimates and reduced guidance for the full year.<!--more--> The Company cited what everybody in the trucking industry has been feeling: a combination of a soft freight environment coupled with weakening prices. From all indications, the second half rebound that gurus on Wall Street were expecting seems to be dead and expectations seem to be coming in, with a 2009 recovery the new mantra amongst the crowds.

All this brings me to a very interesting short idea. YRC Worldwide (YRCW) is the largest LTL carrier in the industry. LTL for those of you not familiar with trucking parlance stands for Less-Than-Truckload. Carriers such as YRC Worldwide consolidate multiple loads from various shippers into one tractor / container and haul it to a distribution center where it is unloaded, sorted and then delivered to the final destination.