Echo Global Logistics Named a Top 100 Finalist for 2013 Annual Chicago Innovation Awards
CHICAGO, IL -- (Marketwired) -- 09/26/13 -- Echo Global Logistics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ECHO), a leading provider of technology-enabled transportation and supply chain management services, announced today that its proprietary LTL (Less Than Truckload) pricing engine, RateIQ 2.0, was selected out of 562 nominees as a Top 100 Finalist in the running for the 12th annual Chicago Innovation Awards. The awards celebrate the most innovative new products and services in the Chicago region across all organization sizes, sectors and industries. One thousand five hundred business and civic leaders will come together to honor the winners when they are announced on October 30th at Chicago's Harris Theater. The company was also a Top 75 Finalist for the 2012 awards for its FlexTMS solution.
The RateIQ 2.0 pricing engine, a web-based service designed for the LTL transportation mode, efficiently prices the shipping of items that typically weigh between 150 and 10,000 pounds. The service obtains real-time pricing and transit time information from LTL carriers, combines it with Echo proprietary algorithms, and shares this information with clients to provide them optimal rates and transit times in less than a second. RateIQ 2.0 currently processes more than 1 million such requests for Echo clients each month.
"We are very pleased to again be recognized by the Chicago Innovation Awards and are proud of our successful history in Chicago since our inception in 2005," said Douglas R. Waggoner, Chief Executive Officer of Echo Global Logistics. "Our pricing tool is a fundamental building block of our service offering, and takes the 'complicated' out of transportation management for our clients by adding a new layer of functionality to our customized transportation solutions."
"RateIQ 2.0 stands out because it is the industry's most advanced web-based engine to quickly calculate the best LTL options for shippers," saidMichael Reed, Chief Technology Officer of Echo. "Other companies use out of the box solutions that simply can't match our algorithms for finding the best shipping alternatives in real time."
"Chicago is in the midst of a monumental upsurge in innovation," said Tom Kuczmarski, co-founder of the Innovation awards. "It's inspiring to see the range of vision and the depth of talent among organizations in the Chicago area. Companies are investing in innovation and taking more risks to launch new ventures and uncover new value."
As one of the Top 100 Finalists, Echo Global Logistics will receive a $2,500 scholarship to attend The Practical Innovator, a day-long executive education course on September 27th led by top faculty who teach innovation at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management. Each of the Top 100 Finalists is also in the running for the annual "People's Choice Award," selected through online balloting at www.chicagoinnovationawards.com.
Out of the Top 100 Finalists, the judges will select 10 winners of the Chicago Innovation Awards, as well as winners of the Up-and-Comer Awards representing innovation in the start-up community, the Social Innovator Award and the Collaboration Award. The winners will be invited to ring the NASDAQ Bell in New York City, as well as attend meetings with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Governor Quinn to discuss their innovation.
About Echo Global Logistics
Echo Global Logistics, based in Chicago, is a leading provider of technology-enabled transportation and supply chain management services, delivered on a proprietary technology platform, serving the transportation and logistics needs of its clients. Echo maintains a web-based technology platform that compiles and analyzes data from its network of over 24,000 transportation providers to serve its clients' shipping and freight management needs. Echo procures transportation and provides logistics services for clients across a wide range of industries, such as manufacturing, construction, consumer products and retail. For more information on Echo, visit: www.echo.com.