May 6 (Reuters) - Global freight forwarder Expeditors International of Washington EXPD.N reported first-quarter earnings above Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, driven by companies pulling forward goods in anticipation of price hikes from President Donald Trump's tariffs.

"While we often have performed well when the marketplace is most unpredictable, I am not sure any of us have ever seen anything like the non-stop, rapidly shifting rules and regulations that have impacted our industry in recent days," said Expeditors CEO Daniel Wall.

The company's airfreight tonnage rose by 9%, and ocean container volume increased by 8% for the quarter ending March 31, compared to the previous year.

U.S. container imports hit record highs in January and February as companies rushed to bring goods early, boosting demand for Expeditors' ocean services.

Wall added that he expects air capacity and rates to remain volatile, saying it is too early to predict the impact of the current economic and geopolitical situation.

On an adjusted basis, the company reported a profit of $1.47 per share for the quarter ended March 31, beating analysts' average expectation of $1.37 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Revenue at its air freight segment rose by 18.8% to about $902 million from last year.

The Seattle, Washington-based company reported quarterly revenue of $2.67 billion, beating analysts' estimate of $2.56 billion.

Shares of the company are down 5% to $107.

(Reporting by Abhinav Parmar and Apratim Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

((Abhinav.Parmar@thomsonreuters.com;Apratim.Sarkar@thomsonreuters.com))