Less-than-truckload carrier Saia saw tonnage move back into positive territory in November, reversing a three-month slide. November tonnage per day improved 1.8% year-over-year, with a 2.6% increase in shipments partially offset by a 0.8% decline in weight per shipment. Final October metrics were slightly better than expected, with tonnage down just 3.3% year-over-year.

Shares of Saia were up 4.4% on Tuesday, outpacing the S&P 500 and declines seen by other carriers like XPO and ArcBest. November manufacturing data showed the sector has been in contraction for 35 of the past 37 months, with the Purchasing Managers’ Index registering a 48.2 reading for the month.

Saia’s November tonnage was up 7.5% on a two-year-stacked comparison, facing tougher comps starting in December. The company doesn’t provide revenue-based metrics in its intraquarter reports, but reported no year-over-year change to revenue per hundredweight in the third quarter. Contractual rate increases averaged 5.1% in Q3.

Saia normally sees margin degradation from Q3 to Q4, but management guided to a worse deterioration this year due to subseasonal demand trends. The guide implies a 91% operating ratio, roughly 400 basis points worse year-over-year. However, with tonnage turning positive, the results may not be as bad as feared.

Read more at Yahoo Finance: Saia’s shares up after tonnage turns positive in November