Freightquote.com

Infobox_Company
company_name = Freightquote.com
company_
company_type = Private
slogan = "Ship. Save. Simple."
foundation = 1998
revenue = profit$450 million USD (2007 est)
location = flagicon|US Lenexa, Kansas, United States
key_people = Tim Barton (Founder, Chairman, CEO), Tom Kmak (President, COO), Bill Goodwin (CSMO), Shawn McCarrick (CIO)
industry = Logistic Services
num_employees = 600 (+200 at subsidiaries (2007)
products = Freight Forwarding Services
subsid = Twin Modal, and Rockwell Transportation
homepage = [http://www.freightquote.com/ www.freightquote.com]

Freightquote.com is an online transportation management service. Based in Lenexa, Kansas, USA, a suburb of Kansas City, the company employs approximately 600 people and services customers throughout North America. Annualized revenues for 2007 are approximately $250 million.

The company also operates two subsidiary companies, Twin Modal, based in Minneapolis, and Rockwell Transportation, based in Pennsylvania. Each subsidiary employs approximately 100 people and contributes approximately $100 million in additional annualized revenues.

The combined companies employ almost 800 people, and have annualized revenues of almost $450 million. The company is privately held.

ervices

Freightquote.com derives its primary business through a general interface similar to travel websites like Expedia. Freightquote customers enter their freight shipment information online, then review a menu of options based on carriers, services, and prices. Customers choose options for their shipments, book the shipments, and pay for the shipments, all online; again, similar to the way customers use travel websites. The company extends its primary service though API connections. Assorted e-commerce websites integrate the Freightquote.com technology in order to provide their customers with freight cost estimating and booking capabilities. The most notable example would be eBay, where Freightquote.com technology is integrated into the Sell Your Item processes. Freightquote.com is one of only three official, integrated shipping services providers along with UPS and the United States Postal Service. As a secondary method of business, Freightquote.com extends the same services to customers who call in via a toll free number. Basically, an internal representative enters the information into the same web utility, in the same manner that an external online customer would. The two subsidiary companies each provide more traditional transportation management services.

History

Tim Barton founded freightquote.com in August 1998. The first nine months were spent developing the company's technology and carrier partnerships. The website launched in May 1999. Freightquote.com has grown steadily since its inception. At the end of 2002, revenues topped $46 million; and by 2004, revenues were over $86 million. In 2006, the main company had annualized revenues of almost $200 million. Freightquote.com made its first significant acquisition in December 2005 with the purchase of Twin Modal, a truckload and intermodal transportation intermediary based in Minneapolis, MN. Twin Modal added approximately $70 million in new revenues in 2006. Then in January 2007, the company made its second major acquisition with the purchase of Rockwell Transportation. Based in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, Rockwell provides traditional freight transportation management services, similar to those of Twin Modal.

References

* Freightquote.com on the Inc 5000 list [http://www.inc.com/inc5000/2007/company-profile.html?id=200711840]
* Twin Modal Acquisition Announcement [http://www.gobizkc.com/news/news_details.asp?ID=2551]
* Rockwell Acquisition Announcement [http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2007/01/08/daily7.html]
* Trucking in Growth [http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2007/06/04/focus7.html]