For this website I created a new shipping module that allows the shop owner to use item based shipping while some products have a higher shipping price. This module is flexible and was recreated to be used for several zone definitions, in this case USA and Canada zones.
This module enables teh shop owner to define two levels of per item cost for shipping products. A comma separated list limits the values for this small shop, while different define options could be created for shop where each level holds an equal amount of products for larger stores.