Freightquote

Freightquote is an online freight transportation brokerage brand headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded by Tim Barton in August 1998, the company developed a technology-led model for helping businesses arrange less-than-truckload and other freight shipments through a digital comparison and booking experience. Its platform allows a shipper to enter shipment details, review available transportation options and rates, select a carrier, arrange the shipment and pay for the service. The model was designed to make freight purchasing more comparable and accessible, drawing an analogy with online travel services that allow users to compare fares before booking. The company’s principal business is the connection of shippers with national and regional freight carriers across North America. Rather than operating primarily as a carrier with its own transportation fleet, Freightquote functions as an intermediary and technology platform. Its value proposition combines carrier access, rate comparison, shipment booking and customer support. The company also extended its capabilities through application programming interfaces, allowing e-commerce and other business websites to incorporate freight-rate estimates and booking functions into their own customer experiences. Freightquote grew during a period in which online commerce and business-to-business procurement were increasing demand for more transparent and convenient transportation purchasing. Its digital platform was intended to reduce the administrative burden of obtaining freight quotes from multiple providers manually. The company’s technology and customer base also gave it relevance beyond direct online bookings, since external commerce platforms could use integrations to present shipping costs and arrange transportation as part of their own checkout or order-management processes. In December 2006, Great Hill Partners entered into an agreement to acquire a minority interest in Freightquote. The investment represented an important stage in the company’s development as an independent technology-enabled logistics business. Freightquote subsequently expanded its physical presence in the Kansas City region. In 2012, it announced plans for a new headquarters project, and in 2013 the company opened a corporate headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, following its move from Kansas to Missouri. Contemporary reports also described plans to add jobs in the Kansas City area. In early 2015, Freightquote was acquired by C.H. Robinson, a large third-party logistics company based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The transaction connected Freightquote’s online freight-shopping and e-commerce capabilities with C.H. Robinson’s broader logistics, freight transportation and supply-chain services. Following the acquisition, Freightquote became part of the C.H. Robinson group while retaining its identity as a digital freight-booking brand. Its role within the group is associated with online customer acquisition, rate comparison, shipment booking and technology-enabled access to transportation services. Freightquote’s positioning is therefore based on convenience, comparison and digital access rather than ownership of transportation assets. Its customers can use the brand to obtain freight options from participating carriers, while carriers gain access to shipper demand through an online brokerage channel. The brand is especially relevant to businesses that need a comparatively simple way to arrange freight without negotiating separately with numerous regional and national carriers. Publicly available reference material describes the business primarily through its online brokerage platform, carrier-rate comparisons, API connectivity and relationship with C.H. Robinson; detailed current operating metrics, leadership rosters and product-level financial information are not established in the supplied sources.

Freightquote was established by Tim Barton in August 1998 as an online intermediary for freight transportation services. Its business model was built around using software to make freight procurement more convenient and more transparent. Instead of requiring a shipper to contact multiple carriers individually, the platform allowed users to provide shipment information, compare available carrier rates and choose a transportation option through an online workflow. The company served national and regional freight carriers and customers shipping goods throughout North America. Its technology handled the commercial steps surrounding a shipment, including the presentation of transportation alternatives, carrier selection, booking and payment. Freightquote also developed API connectivity, enabling external e-commerce websites and other digital services to obtain freight estimates and incorporate booking functionality into their own platforms. In December 2006, Great Hill Partners agreed to acquire a minority interest in Freightquote. The investment occurred during the company’s period as an independent logistics-technology business. Freightquote continued to develop its Kansas City presence, announcing a new headquarters project in 2012 and opening a corporate headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2013. Reports in the period also described planned employment growth in the region. The company’s most significant ownership change came in early 2015, when it was acquired by C.H. Robinson. C.H. Robinson was already a major third-party logistics provider with activities spanning freight transportation and supply-chain services. The acquisition combined Freightquote’s digital customer interface, online rate-comparison model and e-commerce relationships with C.H. Robinson’s larger logistics platform and carrier network. After the acquisition, Freightquote continued as a C.H. Robinson company and remained associated with online freight booking and transportation brokerage. Its historical importance lies in applying an online comparison-and-booking model to commercial freight, an area that had traditionally involved manual quoting and direct relationships between shippers, brokers and carriers. The available reference material does not establish a complete current executive roster, detailed financial history or a separate post-acquisition corporate structure beyond its status as a C.H. Robinson brand.

• 2015

  Acquired by C.H. Robinson

  [1]Freightquoteen.wikipedia.org

  C.H. Robinson acquired Freightquote and connected its digital freight platform with the acquirer’s broader logistics operations.

• 2013

  Kansas City, Missouri headquarters opened

  [1]Freightquoteen.wikipedia.org

  The company opened its new corporate headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, after relocating from Kansas.

• 2012

  New headquarters project announced

  [1]Freightquoteen.wikipedia.org

  Freightquote broke ground on a new headquarters project in the Kansas City area.

• 2006

  Minority investment by Great Hill Partners

  [1]Freightquoteen.wikipedia.org

  Great Hill Partners signed an agreement to acquire a minority interest in Freightquote.

• 1998

  Freightquote founded

  [1]Freightquoteen.wikipedia.org

  Tim Barton founded Freightquote in August 1998 as an online freight transportation brokerage and rate-comparison business.

A technology-enabled North American freight broker focused on simplifying carrier comparison, rate discovery, booking and shipment management for businesses and e-commerce platforms.

• Freight brokerage and booking

  Freightquote online freight platform

  Freightquote’s core platform allows shippers to submit freight details, compare transportation options and rates from participating national and regional carriers, select a carrier, book the shipment and pay for the service. The offering applies an online purchasing workflow to commercial freight, helping businesses obtain transportation options without separately soliciting every carrier.

• Logistics software integration

  Freightquote API integrations

  The brand’s technology platform includes API connections that allow e-commerce websites and other digital services to access freight-cost estimates and booking capabilities. These integrations extend Freightquote beyond its own website by allowing shipping calculations and transportation arrangements to be incorporated into external shopping, ordering or fulfillment experiences.

• 2015

  C.H. Robinson acquisitionM&A

  Background

  Freightquote had built an online freight-rate comparison and booking platform with an e-commerce-oriented customer base, while C.H. Robinson operated a broader third-party logistics and freight transportation business.

  Action taken

  C.H. Robinson acquired Freightquote in early 2015, bringing the digital freight brokerage brand into its logistics and supply-chain organization.

  Aftermath

  The acquisition connected Freightquote’s online customer interface and technology capabilities with C.H. Robinson’s larger logistics services and carrier relationships. The supplied sources do not specify transaction consideration or detailed post-acquisition operating changes.

  Source

1. 1Freightquoteen.wikipedia.org