As far as bulk carriers go, Quality Distribution (QDI) is the bulkiest: It's the largest tank truck operator in North America. Its main subsidiary, Quality Carriers (QCI), transports bulk chemical products in the US, Canada, and Mexico. The company's fleet consists of about 2,800 tractors and 6,400 tank trailers. Major customers include Dow Chemical, DuPont, Procter & Gamble, and PPG Industries. QDI also provides dry bulk hauling, transloading, tank cleaning, intermodal transport, container and depot services, and logistics services through its subsidiaries Quality Transload & Terminals and Boasso America. Affiliates of investment firm Apollo Advisors hold more than 50% of the company.

Lone Star Transportation hauls freight throughout North America on flatbed trailers.Lone Star Transportation company specializes in transporting equipment for wind power generation facilities, along with other heavy and complex loads for customers in industries such as aerospace, construction, and oil and gas. It operates a fleet of about 870 tractors and 2,000 trailers. In addition to freight transportation, Lone Star provides a variety of logistics services, which include arranging the transportation of customers' freight by air, ocean, and rail carriers. Company president Tex Robbins owns Lone Star, which began operations in 1988.

Venture Logistics has truckloads of transportation experience. Providing trucking, warehousing, and logistics services, Venture Logistics delivers full or partial truckloads to destinations throughout North America. Warehouse services include cross-docking, short-and long-term storage options, and 24-hour access to facilities with more than 12,000 sq. feet of space. The company's terminals are located in California, Texas, Indiana, Illinois, South Carolina, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Venture Logistics uses affiliates to provide transportation to and from Mexico.

SPT (also known as Skaugen PetroTrans) may not be in the light industry sector, but it is engaged in lightering -- the offshore transfer of crude oil from the largest tankers to smaller vessels that can enter ports. It operates a fleet of two Aframax tankers and six lightering support vessels. The company performs its services around the globe, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean, the US Atlantic Coast, US Pacific Coast, and the Persian Gulf. When SPT isn't lightering, it provides support services, such as overseeing fuel transfers and providing equipment and personnel. SPT Inc. is owned by I.M. Skaugen and Teekay Corporation, which bought a 50% stake in SPT in 2003.

American Overseas Marine (AMSEA) is not a member of the armed forces stationed in a faraway land, but it does have connections to the US Navy. The company, part of the Marine Systems unit of defense contractor General Dynamics, manages and operates ships for the Military Sealift Command, an arm of the Navy. With a fleet of about 15 vessels, AMSEA transports cargo such as military equipment, supplies, food, and medicine to troops deployed overseas. Its fleet includes large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off (LMSR) vessels, which are designed to carry tanks and armored personnel carriers, and maritime pre-positioning ships (MPS), which are equipped with helicopter landing decks as well as room for freight.

A-1 Express Delivery Service, Inc. was founded in 1997. From the CNN Center to the High Museum of Art, from the Georgia Dome to the Margaret Mitchell House, A-1 Express Delivery Service provides same-day courier services. The company makes its own deliveries in the Atlanta area and partners with other couriers and third-party carriers to serve cities throughout the US. It has about 1,500 clients, including some FORTUNE 500 companies. Working with its partners, A-1 Express Delivery Service can arrange the delivery of freight by a variety of methods, ranging from bicycles to tractor-trailers.

Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides seaborne crude oil, petroleum products, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) transportation services internationally. Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited company offers marine transportation services for national and independent oil companies and refiners under long, medium, and short-term charters. As of March 31, 2010, it operated a fleet of 46 double-hull tankers, including 3 VLCC tankers, 9 suezmax tankers, 12 aframax tankers, 7 panamax tankers, 6 handymax tankers, 8 handysize tankers, and 1 LNG carrier. Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited company was formerly known as MIF Limited and changed its name to Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited in July 2001. Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited was founded in 1993 and is based in Athens, Greece.

China Logistics Group, Inc. operates as an international freight forwarder and logistics management company in the People's Republic of China. It acts as an agent for international freight and shipping companies; and sells cargo space and arranges land, maritime, and air international transportation for clients seeking to import or export merchandise from or into the People's Republic of China. The company’s freight forwarding services include goods reception, space reservation, transit shipment, traffic consolidating, storage, multimodal transport, and export of mechanical equipment. It provides freight forwarding services for a range of merchandise, such as refrigerated merchandise, hazardous merchandise, and perishable agricultural products, as well as clothing and electronics products, and daily merchandise and hardware products. China Logistics Group, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is based in Paramount, United States.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services is a leader of the pack. Its intermodal unit, the company's largest, maintains some 2,200 tractors and 40,000 containers and moves customers' cargo by combinations of truck and train. J.B. Hunt's dedicated contract services unit supplies customers with drivers and equipment; it operates about 4,000 company-controlled trucks. The company's truckload transportation unit, which has a fleet of about 1,700 tractors, provides dry van freight transportation service in the US, Canada, and Mexico. A fourth business segment, integrated capacity solutions (ICS), manages freight transportation via third-party carriers as well as J.B. Hunt equipment.

ASTAR Air Cargo helps DHL take on delivery giants FedEx and UPS on their own turf. Hiring the carrier's fleet of about 40 aircraft enables DHL and other customers, including the US Department of Defense and the United States Postal Service, to achieve overnight delivery of virtually any kind of cargo. ASTAR's service includes scheduled as well as chartered flights. In January 2009, ASTAR suffered a blow when -- in order to cut down on costs -- DHL was forced to shut down its express operations within the US. (Through ASTAR and other carriers, DHL still offers international shipping services to and from the US). An investment group led by CEO John Dasburg controls ASTAR.

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