uShip Joins Big Haulers at First Annual Movers' Olympics

On Sunday, June 26, uShip joined local moving companies for the first annual Movers' Olympic Games in Austin.

Throughout the 100-degree afternoon, teams of local movers competed in different events to earn points toward medals and cash prizes sponsored by uShip. The event was organized by Craig Budreau, a veteran mover and author of "Your Move." 

Among the events, moving olympians hauled large items up and down an outdoor staircase and carried heavily-weighted boxes across a field. In keeping with the realities of moving jobs, movers had to dodge over and around obstacles throughout the competition. 

The Shipping Price is Right! - Answer and Testimonials, Week 2

It's week two of our "The Shipping Price is Right!" contest on Facebook!

How much did it cost to ship this vintage Coca-Cola vending machine from Mont Vernon, NH to Cumming, GA?

The answer is $445. 
Here's the shipment listing. Congrats to this week's winner!

This shipment covered a distance of over 1,100 miles-- a long haul for a bulky, unusual item.  The customer provided a fantastic review for the carrier, GenosHD (aka Alternative Motorcycle Transport, Inc.):

"Excellent Job Geno & Jim! Picked up and delivered a mint Restored 1950's Soda Machine from NH to GA, delivered without a scratch. Yes, I would recommend you to all. 5 star shipper! Job well done!"  

-   CocaColaJunior

Here are just a few of this week's "tickled pink!" testimonials:

How Much to $hip? - Play Again Next Week!

This week, we posted our very first "How Much to $hip" contest on Facebook.

So, how much did it cost to ship this piano coast-to-coast using uShip?

... The answer is $1,002. Here's the completed shipment listing.

This piano shipment from Basking Ridge, NJ to Cupertino, CA had a route of almost 3,000 miles, so this represents a substantial savings for fragile item transport.

The transporter, Artisan Shipping Co. Inc., has been on the site since 2004 and has stellar all-time feedback. Artisan focuses on transport of fragile items including fine art, vintage cars and musical instruments.

Sound Off: $1.5M Rock Transport -- Object d'Art or Object d'umb?

Here at uShip, we’re all for movin’ stuff.  But every once in a while something comes along that, well, maybe shouldn’t be moved.  The reasons run the gambit, including "just plain stupid" like the one we came across today and that's been buzzing recently.   

Here's the situation:  A 340-ton, 21-feet high, 16-feet wide boulder of pure granite in Riverside, Calif., east of Los Angeles, is getting moved to the LA County Museum of Art (LACMA) to become an art installation called the Levitated Mass.  While the hunk of earth was purchased for $120,000 – not bad considering the cost of California real estate – the price tag to move the monolith is expected to top $1.5 million.  That's about $25,000 a mile if you are a service provider keeping score at home.       

Apparently, a 200-foot long, 200-tire trailer is going to be assembled around the mass.  One semi-trailer will push, another will pull.  “They'll go about eight miles an hour. It will take eight days to get there. They'll do it all at night, and take surface streets the entire way. It will be quite an undertaking,” according to Stephen Vanderhart of Stone Valley Materials.

It certainly will be an undertaking.  But the real question is:  IS THIS WORTH IT? 

The Shipping Price is Right! - Win $25 Every Week on our Facebook Page!

How much does it cost to ship this sheep dog from Mount Vernon, KY to Clearfield, UT? 

Post your guess to our Facebook page for a chance to win a $25 VISA Gift Card! The first person to guess correctly or to submit the closest guess without going over will win.

How it Works

Each Monday this summer, uShip, the Online Shipping Marketplace, will post a recently-shipped item to Facebook. To win, simply “Like” us and guess the accepted shipping bid price in the comments on our wall!

Since you can ship Anything Anytime, Anywhere on uShip— cars, boats, pets, bulldozers, home moving, tractors and heavy freight— we’ll feature a very different item each week.

 

uShip's Top 13 Strangest PPC Search Queries

Hi there!  I’m Shawn, and I manage paid search marketing here at uShip.  In this role, I make sure our text ads appear when people type uShip or shipping-related search terms, phrases and queries into Google.

It turns out that people have been searching for some pretty weird stuff in order to find our site.  I have collected the thirteen most bizarre and amusing search queries below, along with my expert commentary:

Verification Now Required to Display Carrier Authority on Profiles

As of June 7, 2011, in order for US carriers to display MC/DOT numbers in their uShip profiles, uShip will require verification that the account holder is the owner of the MC/DOT numbers provided.  Carrier authority will then be automatically monitored by CarrierWatch.

This update will make it easier for customers to identify carriers with active authority and prevents anyone else from displaying fraudulent or stolen authority information on uShip.

• Carriers - We have simplified the verification process – follow this link to get verified.
• Brokers - If you are a broker but are still operating with a carrier account type, you can now easily update your account type (note that use of the broker account type requires a valid broker MC number).
• Dual Account Users - If you have both carrier and broker authority, once verified, you will still be able to display both of these numbers.

If you have any questions or need help with your account, please contact Member Support.

uShip is Planking Around the Office

It's a trend with many names: the lying down game, extreme lying down, face downs... but mostly, it's known as planking.

Planking is an unusual passtime with exact origins unknown, mostly thought to be of the Australian variety. Basically, it's just active lying down.

And at uShip, we like it. Here's a short tour of our office starring the uShip team... Planking.

‘Highway to Help’ Charitable Shipment Program Available in Wake of Joplin Disaster

All of us at uShip have been saddened to hear of the recent tornado devastation that swept through Joplin, Mo., not to mention the string of tornadoes and floods that have displaced people in other parts of the country.

Often one of the missing links of recovery is transport into and out of areas such as Joplin in the wake of a disaster.  In its role as a connector of customers with transporters – and in the spirit of giving back to community in need – uShip created Highway to Help, a charitable shipment program that can provide delivery and transport support to those in need at little or no cost.  

Created in the wake of Hurricane Ike in 2008, shipping customers or non-profits with legitimate needs can list their shipment on uShip under the “Charitable Shipment” category.  Transporters already heading to or from the impacted area – in this case, the Midwest – can then offer to deliver goods for free or at deeply discounted prices.   There are no uShip booking fees for this category of shipment.

Our customers recently used uShip to find a transportation provider for a fleet of 5 pickup trucks directly to Joplin, all of which will be participating in disaster relief.   While this wasn’t in the Charitable Shipment category per se, it underscored the ability to find reliable and much-needed transport services through uShip.

To find out how you can help with disaster recovery, please contact uShip Support, or find us on Facebook and Twitter.