"We also have our own equipment transportation management division and 500-plus agreements with other carriers as a third party logistics provider," says Sowers.

Medical equipment is within STI's top five freight categories, and Siemens, GE, STERIS, and Hitachi systems are often taken from point A to point B on STI's watch. "We deal with a variety of equipment, including CT and MRI, C-arms, ultrasounds, and we work with a lot of refurbishers and sellers," says Sowers.


STI, like many carriers today, offers beginning-to-end satellite tracking and is considered one of the top 100 IT transportation companies in the U.S.

"Every piece of equipment gets a barcode and people can go online and track shipments coming and going from our distribution centers," says Sowers.

LTL carriers going international

One of the trends happening in the industry is that the traditionally regional transport companies are building more extensive networks in order to maximize their business. Historically, U.S. LTL carriers have stayed within national or North American bounds, but AIT Worldwide Logistics' Jennifer Culbertson thinks this is beginning to change.

"It seems that LTL carriers are trying to get more into the expedited and international shipping arena," Culbertson notes. "This is an area that freight forwarders have always concentrated on."




AIT is considered one of the top five freight forwarders in the U.S. and the largest in Chicago, Ill. The company does not retain transport assets, instead offering worldwide air, ocean and trucking transport by way of multiple carriers. The company also has an office in Hong Kong with plans for further global expansion.

Steve Vest is president and owner of Nationwide Equipment Transport, a North American transport brokerage firm handling freight throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico. More than 50 percent of the company's business is medical transport.

"We can be using five carriers a week or hundreds," says Vest, who declared October a "record" month for Nationwide. "We haven't been able to grow like we would have liked to this year, but with the economy the way that it has been, we feel that if we've been able to maintain the same level as the year before, we're well-positioned for the next two to three years of growth."

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