Rand Logistics, Inc. is a leading provider of bulk freight shipping services throughout the Great Lakes region. Through its subsidiaries, Rand Logistics, Inc. operates a fleet of ten self-unloading bulk carriers, including eight River Class vessels and one River Class integrated tug/barge unit, and three conventional bulk carriers, of which one is operated under a contract of affreightment. Rand Logistics, Inc. is the only carrier able to offer significant domestic port-to-port services in both Canada and the U.S. on the Great Lakes. Rand Logistics, Inc. Company’s vessels operate under the U.S. Jones Act – which dictates that only ships that are built, crewed and owned by U.S. citizens can operate between U.S. ports – and the Canada Marine Act – which requires Canadian commissioned ships to operate between Canadian ports. Headquartered in New York, NY, Rand Logistics was formed in 2006 through the acquisition of the outstanding shares of capital stock of Lower Lakes Towing Ltd. Common shares of Rand Logistics trade on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol RLOG.

Big metal boxes mean money for A.P. Moller - Maersk. A.P. Moller - Maersk company's container shipping units, led by Maersk Line, maintain a fleet of more than 500 containerships, and subsidiary APM Terminals is a major container terminal operator. Other vessels in the fleet include tankers and oil field supply and specialty ships. In addition to its shipping-related activities, A.P. Moller - Maersk offers supply chain management and freight forwarding services (through Damco), oil and gas drilling (primarily in the North Sea), and it owns one of Denmark's largest grocery and general merchandise chains. Other units build ships and shipping containers and provide air cargo services. A.P. Moller - Maersk operates in about 130 countries.

Barr-Nunn Transportation aims to be the best, bar none. The dry van truckload carrier provides time-sensitive services throughout the continental US. It uses a fleet of about 700 tractors and 1,700 trailers to transport a variety of freight, ranging from animal feeds to building materials to paper products. The company's Barr-Nunn Logistics unit arranges the transportation of customers' freight via a network of contract carriers, including specialists such as flatbed and refrigerated haulers. Chairman Robert Sturgeon founded Barr-Nunn in 1982.

Watco Companies, Inc. was founded in 1983 by Dick Webb, and is led by his son, Rick. Watco's world of railcar services is a wide one. Watco Companies operates 20 short-line railroads, primarily in the midwestern and southern US but also in the Pacific Northwest and in Appalachia. In addition, Watco offers industrial contract switching services, in which the company operates some two dozen railcar switching facilities located on the sites of manufacturers and other companies that ship freight by rail. Watco also leases and repairs railcars, locomotives, and other equipment; provides warehousing and distribution services, including temperature-controlled storage; and offers transloading of cargo between trucks and trains.

Freight hauler Trans-System operates through three main units: System Transport (flatbed); TW Transport (refrigerated and dry van); and James J. Williams (bulk commodities). The Trans-System trucking companies operate from some 10 terminals in the western US. Overall, the company's fleet consists of about 1,000 tractors and 1,500 trailers. Trans-System also offers logistics services and runs a driver training school. Chairman and CEO Jim Williams founded the company in 1972, although it got its start when Williams' grandfather began transporting petroleum products throughout northern Idaho and eastern Washington.

Algoma Central additionally provides, through Fraser Marine & Industrial, ship repair and steel fabrication services. Algoma company's subsidiary out of water, Algoma Central Properties, owns and manages commercial real estate such as malls, office buildings, and residential apartments. Diversified Algoma Central Corporation proves that business doesn't always have to be dry. The company's Algoma Tankers subsidiary provides ocean shipping through its six Canadian-flag liquid petroleum products tankers and a time-chartered US-flagged tanker. Algoma Central also owns about 20 Canadian-flagged dry-bulk vessels that operate on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Waterway. This fleet is managed by Seaway Marine Transport.

Cargo Transportation offering both truckload and less-than-truckload (LTL) transport, Cargo Transportation Services (CTS) hauls dry and refrigerated freight throughout the US. (LTL carriers consolidate freight from multiple shippers into a single truckload.) Core customers include wholesalers and growers in the produce industry and account for more than one-third of CTS's total revenue. It maintains a fleet of more than 100 trucks and provides other services, including airport-to-airport and cross-border truck transportation, distribution, logistics, and warehousing. CTS maintains terminals in California and Florida.

The Panalpina group is one of the world’s leading suppliers of forwarding and logistics services, specializing in end-to-end supply chain management solutions and intercontinental air freight and ocean freight shipments. Thanks to its in-depth industry knowledge and state-of-the-art IT systems, Panalpina provides globally integrated door-to-door services tailored to its customers’ individual needs. The Panalpina Group operates a close-knit network with some 500 branches in more than 80 countries. In a further 80 countries, it cooperates closely with partner companies. Panalpina employs about 14,000 people worldwide.

Federal employees and tourists who might otherwise have to bring their cars into downtown Washington, DC, can thank the Washington Metropolitan Transportation Authority for saving them stress and shoeleather. The Metro provides rail and bus transportation services throughout the nation's capital and in its Maryland and Virginia suburbs, a 1,500-sq.-mi. area -- the second largest rail transit system and sixth largest bus network in the US. Overall, passengers take about 350 million rail and bus trips on the Metro annually. The agency's rail system includes about 85 stations served by more than 105 miles of track, both underground and aboveground. Metro operates a fleet of more than 1,500 buses.

Even though it does have plenty of horsepower, don't look for truckload carrier Triple Crown Services in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, or the Belmont Stakes. The company instead races for business in the field of intermodal transportation, which involves moving freight by multiple methods -- in this case, trucks and trains. Triple Crown maintains a fleet of about 7,500 RoadRailer trailers (manufactured by Wabash National) that can be pulled down the road by tractors or along the rails by locomotives. The company operates from more than a dozen terminals in the US and Canada. A unit of railroad operator Norfolk Southern, Triple Crown was founded in 1986.

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