Like a little acorn, Oak Harbor Freight Lines has grown -- into a mighty interstate less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier. (LTL carriers consolidate cargo from multiple shippers into a single truckload.) The company operates from about 35 terminals in California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington; it maintains a fleet of some 500 tractors and 1,800 trailers. It serves the rest of the US through partnerships with LTL carriers such as Dayton Freight, Honolulu Freight Service, New England Motor Freight, and Southeastern Freight Lines. Oak Harbor is owned and run by brothers David and Edward Vander Pol. The company was founded in 1916 and acquired by the Vander Pol family in 1936.

DFDS bought ferry operator Norfolk Holdings for $425 million in 2010 from A.P. Meller-Maersk, which acquired 31% of DFDS in the deal; Vesterhavet owns 36% of DFDS. DFDS carries freight and passengers. Most of the company's revenue comes from ro-ro and ro-pax shipping. (Ro-ro is short for roll-on, roll-off, which is how cargo is loaded and unloaded. Ro-pax vessels carry passengers and their vehicles, as well as freight.) DFDS' other operating units include container shipping, cruise ships (which also carry freight), terminal services, and trailer or logistics services. DFDS operates primarily in the North Sea area. its fleet consists of some 60 cargo vessels, with several that also transport passengers.

Echo Global Logistics can help you deliver the goods. The company provides a wide range of transportation and logistics services, such as carrier management, rate negotiation, freight bill audit and payment, routing compliance, and shipment execution and tracking. In addition, its Evolved Transportation Manager (ETM) software analyzes clients' transportation needs and helps reduce costs, as well as manages all procedures in shipping. Established in 2005, Echo Global Logistics serves more than 15,500 clients, primarily in the in the manufacturing and consumer products industries.

Express-1 Expedited Solutions specializes in arranging expedited ground transportation. Customers' freight is transported throughout the US by independent contractors, who give the company's Express-1 unit access to a fleet of vehicles that includes cargo vans, trucks, and tractor-trailers. Express-1 Expedited offers domestic and international freight forwarding through Concert Group Logistics, as well as truckload freight brokerage services through Bounce Logistics. With operations centers in the Midwest and in Florida, Express-1 Expedited provides services to more than 2,000 customers across the US, Canada, and Mexico.

JHT Holdings might very well haul it. Through its subsidiaries, JHT Holdings provides over-the-road transportation of various types of motor vehicles, including commercial trucks and cars. Among its operating units are Active Truck Transport, Automotive Carrier Services, and Unimark. JHT has its roots in Kenosha Auto Transport, a company that was formed in 1933 to haul vehicles made by International Harvester and Nash Motors. Striving to strengthen its balance sheet amid a period of slumping sales, JHT voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2008 and emerged a few months later, in October.

Willis Shaw Express knows how to keep its cool. The company provides truckload transportation of frozen and refrigerated food items throughout the continental US with a fleet of about 700 tractors and 1,100 trailers. Its main operations are coordinated from facilities in Arkansas, Florida, and Idaho; in addition, the company provides regional service from a facility in Georgia. Willis D. Shaw founded the company in 1938 to haul live chickens out of Arkansas. Comcar Industries bought the former Willis Shaw Frozen Express in 1987.

Maverick USA's freight-hauling herd roams throughout the US. Subsidiary Maverick Transportation uses its fleet of tractors and flatbed trailers to transport steel and building materials; it also operates trailers designed to carry glass. The company offers long-haul service throughout the US and regional service in the Midwest and Southwest. Overall, it maintains a fleet of more than 1,400 tractors and 1,900 trailers. Maverick USA also offers freight brokerage services, through its Maverick Logistics unit. A third business, Maverick Truck & Trailer Sales, sells the company's used equipment. Maverick USA CEO Steve Williams founded the company with a partner in 1980; he took full ownership in 1983.

Bruce Oakley provides road and river (barge) transportation of dry bulk commodities, as well as grain storage and bulk fertilizer sales. The company's trucking division, which uses both end-dump and pneumatic tank trailers, serves the continental US, Canada, and Mexico. Overall Bruce Oakley operates some 450 trailers. It maintains about half a dozen ports in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri on the Arkansas, Mississippi, and Red rivers, and the company's river barge transportation unit operates on those and other inland and intracoastal waterways. Grain storage services are available in five ports in Arkansas. Bruce Oakley was founded in 1968.

No, TransAm Trucking isn't that movie where Burt Reynolds helps haul beer from Texas to Georgia -- that was Smokey and the Bandit. TransAm Trucking does haul freight in the South, and in most of the rest of the US, and the company has carried a little beer in its time, along with other products that require temperature-controlled transportation. It operates a fleet of about 1,200 tractors and 2,400 refrigerated trailers. But no black Pontiac Trans Ams with T-tops. In addition to for-hire transportation, TransAm Trucking offers dedicated fleet services, in which drivers and equipment are assigned to customers long-term. The company was founded in 1987.

Averitt Express provides less-than-truckload (LTL) freight transportation service. (LTL carriers combine freight from multiple shippers into a single trailer.)Averitt Express company operates a fleet of about 4,000 tractors and 11,250 trailers from a network of some 80 terminals. Averitt Express directly serves the southern US and Mexico, and it provides service elsewhere in North America through partnerships with other carriers such as Lakeville Motor Express and DATS. The company also offers truckload and expedited freight transportation, along with logistics, warehousing, and international freight forwarding. Customers have included Home Depot, Shoe Carnival, and V.F. Corporation.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.