Milwaukee-based Global Freight Source, a transportation management services firm, manages $40 million in sales with a staff of 26 people.
“We’re a small business doing big business, thanks to technology,” said owner Jim Weatherly.
“I knew early on that if we wanted to set ourselves apart we would need to embrace technology. I looked at the trends and saw how companies like Expedia were allowing customers to book their travel directly. It’s the same premise, although we’re providing companies with the capability to directly book their logistics needs.”
The launch of the company’s web-based platform was integral to Global Freight Source’s growth. “We had 650 percent growth in 2011 and a lot of that goes back to the platform we’ve built,” Weatherly said.
That impressive growth helped Global Freight Source land a spot on Inc. Magazine’s “5000 Fastest Growing Companies” list, and number 6 in Wisconsin.
In 2013, the company, which was previously known as LTL Freight Source, rebranded itself Global Freight Source to better communicate its offerings.
“When we started out, it was just LTL (less than truckload) work, but it quickly grew as we sought to meet customers’ needs,” Weatherly said. “We wanted a name that better reflects what we are – a single source firm that can meet all of a company’s supply chain needs.”
Founded in 1989, the company, which serves such clients as Rexnord Corp. and Rockwell Automation Inc., also has satellite offices in Charleston, SC, and Sarasota, FL. Plans call for a new office in Atlanta in 2014.
