ITAL Logistics is a British freight company with Italian flavor. The firm began by specializing in shipping freight between the UK and Italy, but has since expanded its service to include Spain, Greece, Portugal, and about a half dozen Western European countries. ITAL Logistics provides weekly scheduled and expedited (within 48 hours) freight transport. Within each country, it partners with other regional logistics companies to provide ground and ocean shipping services. Though headquartered in the Manchester area, ITAL Logistics has a depot in the Midlands and in the South of England to provide complete coverage throughout the UK. ITAL Logistics was founded in 2000.

Aspo supports the energy and process industries in the Baltic Sea area. The group operates through four divisions: ESL Shipping, Leipurin, Telko, and Aspo Ventures. ESL Shipping transports raw materials for energy producers and heavy-industry sectors, while Leipurin specializes in supplying the bakery industry with ingredients, equipment, and other supplies. Its Telko chemicals unit imports and distributes industrial chemicals and plastic raw materials, and Aspo Ventures mainly offers maintenance services and automation systems for service stations under the Autotank and Kaukomarkkinat brands. Aspo expanded its operations in mid-2008 when it acquired Kauko-Telko Oy from fellow Finnish company Kesko Corporation.

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.

Attica Holdings, formerly Attica Enterprises, was founded in 1918 as General Company of Commerce and Industry of Greece. Thankfully Attica doesn't provide ferry service across the River Styx. The Greek ferry company, operating as Blue Star Ferries and the Superfast Ferries, does cross the Adriatic, Baltic, North, and Aegean seas, connecting, respectively, Greece and Italy, Germany and Finland, Scotland and Belgium, and mainland Greece and the Cycladic and Dodecanese islands. With two rollon/rolloff ships, Attica transports cargo between Germany and Finland.

Paragon Shipping Inc. provides shipping transportation services worldwide. The company engages in the ocean transportation of various drybulk cargoes, such as iron ore, coal, grain, bauxite, phosphate, and fertilizers. Its fleet consists of 8 Panamax drybulk carriers, 2 Handymax drybulk carriers, and 2 Supramax drybulk carriers, as well as two 3,426 TEU containerships with an aggregate capacity of approximately 794,634 deadweight tons. Paragon Shipping Inc. was founded in 2006 and is based in Voula, Greece.

The Steamship Authority is a quasi-public agency, created by the Massachusetts legislature, that competes with other private ferries but also oversees and licenses their operations. Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority, known to owners of summer homes and year-round residents as the Steamship Authority, provides ferry service from the Massachusetts ports of Woods Hole and Hyannis to the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, off the coast of Massachusetts. Steamshipauthority operates a fleet of nine vessels designed to carry passengers, vehicles, and other cargo. In 2007, it ferried 2.6 million passengers, 450,000 automobiles, and 153,000 trucks.

A company on the fast track, MTR operates Hong Kong's commuter railway system. The company's network was expanded significantly in 2007 through a combination with the rail operations of Kowloon-Canton Railway. Overall, MTR operates about 210 km of track in Hong Kong, Kowloon, the New Territories, and mainland China, plus a light rail network in the New Territories, an airport express line, and bus feeder services. Although railway operations make up the bulk of its business, MTR also manages residential and commercial properties near its stations. Through its Octopus Cards subsidiary, the company provides smart card technology for fare collection. The Hong Kong government owns a controlling stake in MTR.

IAIS was formed in 1984 and acquired by RDC in 2004. Regional freight carrier Iowa Interstate Railroad (IAIS) operates over about 600 miles of track running from Omaha, Nebraska, to Chicago, passing through Iowa along the way. IAIS hauls cargo such as agricultural products, chemicals, coal, ethanol forest products, intermodal containers and trailers, and steel. Because of its central location, the IAIS system connects with all of North America's largest railroads. IAIS has intermodal facilities in Blue Island, Illinois, and Council Bluffs, Iowa. Iowa Interstate Railroad Ltd. company is a subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based railroad management and investment company Railroad Development Corp. (RDC).

DHL Global Mail company is part of the mail business segment of its parent, German postal giant Deutsche Post. DHL Global Mail doesn't actually deliver the mail, but the company does work to speed its arrival. A provider of mail processing and distribution services for business customers, DHL Global Mail operates from more than 20 terminals throughout North America. The company takes mail from its customers that is bound for various destinations, sorts it, and gets it to the post office distribution facility closest to its destination. It also provides international distribution services to some 220 countries through affiliates; in total, DHL Global Mail's international network consists of about 50 processing facilities.

This company stays cool in the sunny South -- and everywhere else it goes. Southern Refrigerated Transport hauls temperature-controlled and dry freight throughout 48 US states and in Canada. Services include transportation of fresh produce from the West Coast to destinations in the Midwest and the Southeast. Southern Refrigerated Transport operates a fleet of over 800 air-ride equipped tractors and more than 900 dry-van and refrigerated trailers. The company is a subsidiary of Tennessee-based truckload carrier Covenant Transportation Group. Tony Smith, the president of Southern Refrigerated Transport, founded the company in 1986 and sold it to Covenant in 1998.

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