Echo Logistics: Maximizing Workforce Potential with Data-Driven Decisions

Echo Global Logistics is a leading third-party logistics (3PL) provider delivering technology-enabled transportation and supply chain management services across North America. With nearly $4B in revenue and more than 2,500 employees across 30+ locations, Echo operates in a highly cyclical industry where workforce demands shift based on market dynamics and customer needs.

To support growth, performance and profitability, Echo needed clear visibility into how work was getting done across its operations and sales teams—which tasks consumed the most time, how capacity was distributed and where efficiencies could be gained.

Following 18 acquisitions and a shift to remote work, Echo faced growing complexity across its various teams. Workforce planning proved difficult without the visibility needed to align headcount with actual work needs. Additionally, while Echo invests heavily in proprietary technology to streamline work, it lacked a consistent way to measure how those tools impacted productivity.

Phased Implementation Approach

Echo implemented ActivTrak’s workforce analytics platform using a phased approach, starting with a 75-person pilot to validate insights and build confidence. After expanding to 150 licenses, demand grew organically as more teams saw the value—ultimately scaling to over 2,000 users across sales and operations.

Data-Driven Decision Making

Before ActivTrak, headcount decisions relied on proxy metrics like loads handled or tasks completed — measures that overlooked task complexity and workload variability. Finance and operations often approached staffing from different angles, making alignment more difficult. Now, both teams can look at the same reports and work off the same playbooks — eliminating guesswork and enabling data-driven decisions.

Strategic Resource Allocation

One early use case came from sales leadership: A top-performing rep, overwhelmed by a growing book of business, considered handing off accounts to alleviate strain. Instead of escalating a headcount request, her manager used ActivTrak data to identify underutilized team members and reallocate support—preserving valuable client relationships without additional headcount.

Workforce Efficiency Insights

ActivTrak also helps Echo align time and task data to better understand effort and effectiveness. In one example, an employee was completing just as many tasks as their peers — but in about two-thirds the time. That opened new conversations about efficiency and how performance is recognized. Echo also started using ActivTrak to better understand which accounts require more effort than others, shaping pricing strategies based on the actual work involved.

Immediate Value Discovery

Even without deep integrations, Echo saw meaningful value right out of the box. Simply by exploring the initial dashboards, leaders discovered that employees were spending 43% of their day in email—twice what was expected. That insight alone sparked new conversations around email efficiency and where AI tools might help reduce strain. It was a clear example of how fast the data can surface opportunities, often without needing complex setup or technical expertise.

Cultural Integration

To ensure adoption at scale, Echo trained HR and team leads to interpret ActivTrak data, guide coaching conversations and differentiate between signs of disengagement and legitimate workflow challenges.

Echo’s “Carry the Load Together” core value drives their approach to workforce analytics. Leaders respect frontline employees as the revenue generators, ensuring transparency about what data is collected and how it’s used. When metrics show unexpected patterns, the focus remains on understanding context rather than assumptions. This approach quickly identifies workload imbalances, enabling fair redistribution that honors both business outcomes and employee well-being.

Echo transformed workforce data into concrete business outcomes that improved the bottom line while strengthening operations and culture:

Financial Impact

• $600,000+ in labor cost reduction through optimized capacity allocation
• Strategic headcount management using data-backed workforce planning
• Integration of productivity metrics into EBITDA-focused decision-making

Operational Excellence

• Balanced workloads that prevent burnout while activating underutilized talent
• Targeted technology investments focused on high-impact areas like email efficiency
• Client profitability analysis that informs value-based pricing strategies

Cultural Benefits

• Reinforced company values through fair, transparent resource distribution
• Trust-building approach that prioritizes understanding over assumptions
• Data-driven collaboration between operations and finance teams

Strategic Leadership Alignment

• Elevated workforce analytics to a board-level initiative

In addition, industry benchmarking has been extremely valuable, providing competitive context for performance metrics.

Echo continues to expand its use of ActivTrak as a strategic lever—integrating workforce analytics into operational strategy and board-level EBITDA planning.