Poll: Top 10 Sports Shipments on uShip
On July 7, uShip appeared on a segment of CNBC's Power Lunch. The uShip team was star struck, since this was our very first taste of national TV coverage. What made us even more ecstatic is Darren Rovell reported on uShip-- one of the more popular faces at CNBC for reporting on the professional sports business.
Coincidentally, uShip is a great resource for shipping sports equipment. Sports equipment and memorabilia from all over the world shows up as shipments on our site.
In the spirit of college sports rankings (football season's right around the corner!), we've put together our own Top 10 Ranking of the best sports shipments on uShip.
10. The Treadmill
We see a lot of treadmills being transported on uShip. It's an essential part of any athlete's training-- and a lovely dust-gathering fixture in many suburban homes. Whether they're being bought and sold on eBay or just relocated, many customers use uShip for treadmill shipping.
Here's a current treadmill shipment from Illinois to Arizona: nearly 1,400 pounds and 1,700 miles.
9. Large Cargo Bicycle
Bicycles are another common shipment on the site, but this one is especially interesting. This cargo bicycle is up for shipment from Oregon to Ohio. The entire front end of the bike's frame is dedicated to hauling shipments of its own -- meta, right?
8. Kayak
The kayak is an item that is particularly awkward to ship. It's almost always lightweight and durable, but it's difficult to find space in a vehicle-- much less a UPS or FedEx van-- to haul a kayak. Thankfully, uShip is available as a transport resource for kayak enthusiasts.
This active kayak shipment is 11 feet long and weighs only 30 pounds. The route will take it from coast-to-coast, from California to New Hampshire.
7. Pinball Machine
Pinball's a sport... right? I mean, a good round of pinball can get pretty physical. Occasionally we see some really fantastic shipments of vintage pinball machines. These vintage machines need special care and can be of unwieldly size and heft.
Here's a great shipment for a 60's-era pinball machine from Rockford to Mt Vernon, Illinois.
6. The Power Plate
We're not entirely sure what this thing does, but it supposedly induces some sort of "exercise" by sending vibrations through your body. It seems debatable whether this counts as any kind of "sporting" equipment-- but some athletes use it as an enhancement during strength and resistance training.
It's a pretty interesting shipment in itself, and worthy of the number 6 spot. A recent uShip shipment took the Power Plate from Pennsylvania to Minneapolis, Minnesota.
5. Bar Billiards Table
Billiards is a sport. We know because ESPN2 told us so. (The color commentary is proof enough.) But what about bar billiards? Apparently, it's a traditional form of billiards popular in the UK, with holes on the table's surface instead of pockets. There are leagues, championships and rivalries-- so we'll venture to call it a sport.
Here's a bar billiards shipment from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania.
4. Combination Ergometer/Stepper Machine
This exercise machine... ergometer... recumbent... stepper thing is one of the more unusual sports equipment shipments we've seen. We have no idea what this thing does or if it doubles as a torture device, but one of our customers used uShip to haul the machine nearly 850 miles from Illinois to upstate New York.
We ranked it above over shipments simply because the machine looks incredibly difficult to transport.
"... Must be secured during transit, without bending any frame components," meaning its appendages stay intact during transport. uShip transporters are the only independent haulers we're aware of that would have the flexibility and dedication to move this machine at a reasonable cost.
3. Squat Machine
uShip is perfect for moving weight training equipment. Machines like this squat machine are designed to be heavy, so they require the experience of a qualified and experienced transporter that knows how to load and unload big machines.
This machine traveled almost 900 miles from Missouri to North Carolina.
2. Atlanta Stadium Seats
We've seen shipments of old stadium seats quite a few times. After big demolitions, sports fanatics hold onto these relics like they're holy objects-- but will occasionally buy and sell them or move to a new home.
It's not like you can call up Uncle Bob to drive rare and potentially valuable sports memorabilia hundreds of miles-- that's where uShip comes in. This particular shipment is for stadium seats from the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, demolished in 1997, where the Atlanta Braves used to play (and hosted some incredible World Series games).
1. Dugouts from the Seattle Kingdome
Occasionally, we even see people shipping entire sections of stadiums and fields. Check this one out: one of our customers listed a shipment for the original dugouts from the Kingdome in Seattle, WA to a new home in Beverly, MA. That's a long trip with a lot of freight-- nearly 10 sections weighing thousands of pounds each.
