ShipNorthAmerica Transportation, a Mississauga freight management company specializing in crossborder (Canada/US) shipping, switched into the fast lane today and was ranked 35th in the prestigious sixth annual PROFIT HOT 50 list of Canada’s Emerging Growth Companies.

Mississauga, Ontario (PRWEB) September 20, 2005 -- ShipNorthAmerica Transportation, a Mississauga freight management company specializing in crossborder (Canada/US) shipping, switched into the fast lane today and was ranked 35th in the prestigious sixth annual PROFIT HOT 50 list of Canada’s Emerging Growth Companies.

“It’s an honor for our company to be recognized in the PROFIT HOT 50,” said Ian Macdonald, President of ShipNorthAmerica Transportation. “In a very competitive marketplace dominated by large US based common carriers, ShipNorthAmerica has been able to succeed by providing exporters and importers with advantageous alternatives to their Canada/US crossborder LTL (less than truckload) and truckload shipments. It is a testament to the outstanding talent and dedication of our team of experienced trucking professionals that ShipNorthAmerica ranked 35th on the PROFIT HOT 50 and is the only transportation firm to be included in this prominent list of emerging Canadian companies.”

The PROFIT HOT 50 is the definitive ranking of Canada’s emerging growth companies. Published in the September issue of PROFIT and online at PROFITguide.com, the PROFIT HOT 50 ranks young firms by two-year revenue growth. “The PROFIT HOT 50 recognizes entrepreneurial ambition and managerial excellence in Canada,” says editor Ian Portsmouth. “These companies have succeeded by meeting emerging market needs, creating better ways to do business and never hesitating to expand beyond our borders.”

About PROFIT: Your Guide to Business Success
PROFIT: Your Guide to Business Success, offers news, strategies, tips, interviews and other resources to the CEOs of Canadian growth companies. Each year PROFIT, which currently reaches more than 400,000 readers nationally, hosts a number of events that bring together business leaders in the fast-growth segment and champions the interests of those leaders. PROFIT was founded in April 1982 as Canada’s first national magazine geared to entrepreneurs. Visit PROFITguide.com.

About ShipNorthAmerica Transportation
ShipNorthAmerica is a Canadian freight management company which offers a powerful combination of trucking services that are custom tailored to meet each customer’s unique freight requirements. ShipNorthAmerica offers experienced LTL (Less Than Truckload) & truckload freight services, expedited & temperature controlled trucking services and for customers with overdimensional or heavy haul freight they can provide expert flatbed and heavy haul services. ShipNorthAmerica delivers cost-effective crossborder and Canadian domestic shipping solutions with a high degree of personalized service.

To find out more about ShipNorthAmerica please visit www.shipnorthamerica.com
Contacts:
ShipNorthAmerica Transportation Inc.
Ian Macdonald (President)
1-877-744-7762

"These are business-threatening cost changes that give us no choice," he said. "It's difficult for everyone in the supply chain because no one could forecast these types of increases."

The plastics industry is an integral part of Wisconsin's economy. The state ranks 10th in the nation for employment in plastics manufacturing and 12th for plastics shipments, which total more than $10 billion a year, according to industry sources.

As prices of raw materials used to make plastic goes up, consumers could start paying more for a plethora of products, including common items such as packaging.

"An example would be a bottle of shampoo," said Kevin Swift, an economist with the American Chemistry Council, a trade group that works with manufacturers.

Shampoo has contents derived from chemicals that are under cost pressures. And the plastic bottle, cap, label, glue and ink are made from plastic and petroleum-based ingredients that also are susceptible to rising costs, Swift said.

Higher natural gas prices caused much of the problem, since natural gas is used as a raw material for making resins and as a fuel to run factories. To make matters worse, Hurricane Katrina disrupted the already tight chemical and plastics supply chain.

"Raw material prices had started to drift upward in the past couple of months. The impact of Katrina has accelerated cost increases well beyond what we were expecting," said Steve Wetzel, national sales manager for Interplastic Corp., a St. Paul, Minn., resins supplier.

Styrene, glycols and other raw materials are in tight supply because of hurricane-related production shutdowns and transportation issues. Fuel surcharges for trucking materials to their destinations have doubled, Wetzel wrote in a note to customers.

Reichhold Inc., a North Carolina resins supplier, recently announced an Oct. 1 price increase.

"Our industry had begun to see an escalation of raw material costs that began in July and August," Bill Schramm, business management director, wrote in a note to Reichhold customers.

The U.S. trade deficit in plastics products grew to $1.47 billion in 2003 from $526 million in 2002, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures. Many companies that make plastic products rebounded with the manufacturing economy only to be hit with raw material price increases that have battered profit margins.

"We are all stretched to the limit," Feeney said.

Resin prices aren't likely to drop much as long as the price of natural gas remains high. Resin shortages are an even bigger concern, according to industry sources.

"So far, we are not having trouble getting material. But it is my No. 1 concern," said Chuck Hamley, president of Advanced Extrusions Inc., in Franklin.

When prices rise unexpectedly, there's a race to synchronize supplies, prices and promises to customers. Everyone has to negotiate for price relief from their suppliers and customers, said Jim Nurmi, president of Plastocon Inc., a custom molding plastics business in Oconomowoc.

"That takes a lot of effort, and it's certainly not 100% successful," Nurmi said. "So there has been some erosion of profit margins."

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