Echo purchases another truckload broker

   Chicago-based Echo Global Logistics, a transportation and supply chain management company, has acquired all of the assets of Shipper Direct Logistics, a truckload transportation brokerage based in Nashville, Tenn.
   Shipper Direct is now doing business only under the Echo Global name.
   Shipper Direct was a non-asset-based transportation service provider that focused on truckload transport in the Southeastern and South Central U.S. Echo is using the purchase to expand both its geographic footprint and to enhance existing relationships with carriers and customers.
   Douglas Waggoner, Echo’s chief executive officer, said Shipper Direct’s track record with midsized and large shippers contributed to its acquisition appeal, as did the company’s culture being similar to Echo Global’s. During the past 12 months, Shipper Direct’s gross revenue was roughly $18 million.
   Echo has retained the entire Shipper Direct workforce, including its CEO and its president who will each remain on as regional vice presidents within the division.
   This move follows Echo Global’s June acquisition of most of the assets of Plum Logistics, a truckload transportation brokerage outfit located in Wakefield, Mass. – Geoff Whiting