Cars.com Selects uShip As Exclusive Shipping Provider

If you’re one of the millions of people who shop for and buy vehicles on Cars.com, your life just got  a lot easier:  Cars.com has selected uShip as its exclusive provider of vehicle shipping services. 

This means while reviewing vehicle listings, shoppers can link directly to Cars.com’s Shipping Center, powered by uShip, where they can access delivery price quotes on a purchase or a potential purchase, based on the vehicle type and origin/destination zip codes.  Shoppers can choose between two formats on uShip – Name Your Price or Auction – to get the best delivery price.

Partner News: Proxibid, uShip Deal Addresses Online Buyers' Transport Pain

Shipping large, oversized items has traditionally been a major pain point for buyers, especially within online auction marketplaces, such as Proxibid, where unique, valuable and oversized items need to get transported with care. 

To help address this issue and bring greater efficiency Proxibid’s auction process, uShip is pleased to announce Proxibid and uShip have joined forces to provide Proxibid’s online bidding community with direct access to uShip’s network of transporters. 

uShip Seeks Pirate; Named Among Austin's 2012 Best Places to Work

If the list of openings on uShip.com/Jobs is any indication, we're GROWING!

We're also thrilled to be named to named among the 2012 Best Places to Work by the Austin Business Journal.

A third-party survey of uShip employees places the company among Austin's top medium-size employers-- and as we grow, it's no mystery why. We have fun at work, we do awesome things and we like each other.

Here at uShip, our culture ultimately lends itself to our #1 core philosophy: "Never stand still-- always experiment and innovate." We're constantly working (day and night!) to deploy new features on our site and mobile app, to implement fixes and improve the many moving parts of the uShip platform.

Highway to Help: uShip Carrier StreetShip Hauls for a Great Cause

As part of uShip's "Highway to Help" charitable shipment program, non-profits and charities can often locate low or no-cost transport services on uShip. Among uShip's network of thousands of carriers, many are willing to haul for deserving charities at little or no charge.

Today we were delighted to find out that auto/motorcycle hauler StreetShip completed a free shipment for one of our favorite charities in Austin, Colin's Hope.

Colin's Hope creates and supports water safety programs to prevent children from drowning. As part of their preparation for the summer recreation season, Colin's Hope had an immediate need to distribute thousands of Water Safety packets. See the shipment listing here.

Executive Director Alyssa Magrum's feedback speaks to the StreetShip's generosity:

"uShip and their member Street Ship helped us prevent drowning yesterday by moving 10,000 of our water safety packets from their stuffing location in North Austin into one of our target zip codes in Hays County & at no cost to Colin's Hope! We can now distribute this life saving information to families more quickly to raise water safety awareness to prevent children from drowning! Thanks again uShip and Street Ship!"

Many thanks to StreetShip and all the generous carriers hauling charitable shipments on uShip.

uShip App All-Star: How Carrier TShreeves Does Business on the Road

uShip Mobile has an MVP! 

Last month, we ran our first-ever Mobile Madness promotion for the uShip Mobile App, giving away thousands of dollars in credit for transporters on uShip. The top "bracket" of 64 carriers that booked the most loads using uShip Mobile won site credit.

We were impressed to find out that some uShip carriers book exclusively using mobile devices! The winner of uShip Mobile Madness, Tobias Shreeves, booked 17 loads throughout the month, all of which where booked with the uShip Mobile App. 

Shreeves (tshreeves) is an owner-operator from Tucson, Ariz. hauling boats, commercial freight, household goods, motorcycles and vehicles across the Western US. Since registering on the site in January, he's hauled 21 shipments with 100% positive feedback.

Seeing carriers doing brisk business with the app is a big deal for us-- we're putting a lot of sweat and tears into making the app an awesome, simple tool for carriers and customers that want to ship anything, anywhere, anytime. 

A couple days ago, we spoke with Shreeves to ask him how he uses uShip while on the road. Here are some of the highlights, along with some general advice for transporters:

 

How do you use uShip Mobile to book loads on the road?

"I have a full-time job during the week, and operate my hauling business on weekends. uShip is basically a vacation for me after work!

Typically I'll start looking for large shipments using Find Shipments during the week. I use search filters to narrow down the shipments that are along my route, and then for shipments that will safely fit on my trailer.

It has to be a shipment that is "significant" or pays well enough to cover my fuel and the way back as well. I always look at photos and shipment details to make sure its something I can haul.

Once I've booked a well-paying load, I'll look on my iPhone for smaller shipments to add along my route and for a backhaul shipment for the return trip. I've found I can book several shipments in one trip."

What are some other mobile apps you use?

"I frequently use Google maps, a GPS navigation unit and my mobile internet browser."

Do you have any practical advice for new transporters?

"Definitely. You'll never have everything you need on the road, so just be prepared to shell out for things you need at the last minute: chains, tie downs, blocks of wood, blown tires… and always ongoing maintenance costs. 

Other than that, you have to be smart about what you book. Pay attention to shipment details, and always know your limits in terms of your equipment and your planned route." 

Congrats to our Mobile Madness winner, TShreeves! Keep on truckin'!

Earth Day 2012: Meet the ‘Prius Trucker’

Among the 250,000 registered carriers on uShip there are some truly colorful characters. Without a doubt, the greenest, most eco-friendly of them all is green tech “trucker” Adam Winters.

But you won’t find Adam driving a Class 8 rig or even a Ford F550.  Adam drives a Toyota Prius. 

Five years ago, Adam transformed his electric hybrid hatchback into a custom, re-engineered, trailer-hauling machine that primarily moves motorcycles, including Harley-Davidsons. 

Known as the Green Technology Transporter, he’s driven ~20,000 miles a month since getting on uShip 4-5 months ago.  Today, he earns 100% of his business though uShip.com, where he’s a Silver Power Provider with a 100% customer service rating. 

His 40-50mpg and emission-free driving gives him amazing fuel efficiency and ability to offer the best prices while going green, a double-win for his customers and the environment as the world  celebrates Earth Day on Sunday, April 22.   

Where Adam creates Prius envy is when he transports motorcycles to big cities.  “With my Prius, I can zip in and out of alleys and make deliveries in places bigger trucks can’t or would rather not go.” 

As a ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) certified mechanic, Adam also does a free inspection of motorcycles before he hauls them -- especially for customers who purchase bikes site-unseen.   A significant portion of the motorcycles that he moves come through eBay Motors, where uShip is offered as a shipping service to buyers and sellers. 

Adam’s gone totally paperless in his business, thanks to his array of Apple products, including his iPad2, Macbook Pro and iPhone.  He uses uShip Tracking to keep his customers informed, as well as the uShip Mobile App.  He’s also signed up as a TerraPass Certified Provider. 

When he hauled pets in years past, he even used his iPad to host pet-video-conferences so excited owners could get to know their in-bound pet virtually before delivery.          

While he may not be a trucker in the traditional sense, Adam is a great example of green innovation and entrepreneurial spirit in the transport industry. 

“uShip has been great for me because it’s given me a career where I was the boss and a dream job where I became a workaholic doing something I really enjoy."

‘Shipping Wars’ Season 2 Hits This Summer

 A&E has ordered new 26-episode seasons for three of its popular real-life series:  Shipping Wars, Storage Wars and Storage Wars: Texas.   All three will launch this summer.   uShip serves as the backdrop of Shipping Wars which premiered in January to 3 million total viewers. 

Shipping Wars trucker (and Baja road race enthusiast) Marc Springer loads a vehicle for transport to Mexico.

If you haven’t seen Shipping Wars, it follows six independent truckers who competitively bid to transport oversized, bulky loads found on uShip.com. From rookie haulers to seasoned veterans, no shipment is too big or bizarre for these carriers, who compete in a high-stakes, deadline-driven race where any setback can cost big bucks.

“America is at a crossroads where people are finding new ways to make money and earn a living,” A&E’s EVP programming Davod McKillop told Deadline.com. “We’re holding a mirror up to this trend in our programming and it’s proven to be incredibly relatable to our viewers yet remain highly entertaining.”

Check out the transporter leaderboard at http://uship.com/shippingwars or catch video from Season 1 episodes, the “uShip Utorial” or watch the uShip Webisode, checkout A&E’s Shipping Wars site.  Below is Shipping Wars pilot episode that aired Jan. 10:

Matt Chasen Attending JOBS Act Bill Signing at White House on Thursday

uShip CEO and Co-Founder Matt Chasen is in Washington, D.C. this week  after being invited to attend the White House as President Barack Obama signs the JOBS Act into law on Thursday (April 5). 

Chasen joins a select list of invitees at the Bill Signing Ceremony in the Rose Garden, including partners from top venture capital firms and CEOs from several other Internet companies.

If you aren't familiar with the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act, it is rare bipartisan legislation that will designate a new “emerging growth” category of company that could conduct IPOs without certain financial disclosures and governance requirements for up to five years and less than $1 billion in annual revenue.

"My uShip" Updated for Easier Navigation

We have updated the left-hand navigation within the My uShip screen to make it easier for you to find the information and tools you are looking for from this central location.

Everything has been consolidated into expandable sections – you can either click on the main section title or expand each section using the arrows to the right of each heading to go directly to a more specific section. You’ll also notice that the number of alerts under each section will display to the right of each heading.

Here are the highlights of the new organization:

For All Service Providers:

• Consolidated Inbox – Here you can now find all inbound communication. That’s not just messages anymore – this is now where you can find Bid Requests, Booking Requests and Cancellation Requests.
• Direct Link to Payments & Account Summary – Simply click on the “Payments” section to access your Account Summary. This is also where you can find your Transaction History and Payment Methods.
• Dashboard – This gives you an overview of all your activity at a glance.
• Saved Searches and Watched Loads – These are both now readily accessible under the “Find Loads” section.
• Settings – All of your account settings have been consolidated here: My Rates, Directory, Communication Preferences, Tracking and more.

For Brokers:

We’ve consolidated your My Loads section for quicker navigation between loads you are bidding on as a service provider and brokered loads you are posting to the marketplace. You will find sub-sections for each of these types of loads under the My Loads heading.

For Shipping Customers and Affiliates:

My uShip will also be much easier to navigate for shipping customers and affiliates – and the tools available are customized for each type of user.

 

If you have questions about where to find a specific section, please check to see if your question has been answered here – if not, post your question and we’ll help you out.

 

Mobile App Update: Better Searching, Saved Searches

We’ve been working on some big improvements to the uShip mobile app. You now have the powerful search functionality of the main site available on your mobile device.

Check out the new features:

Point-to-point Search

All of you service providers participating in Mobile Madness will love this one. With point-to-point search, you now have the ability to see all loads that fall along a route. Here’s how it works: simply choose your end points (Dallas to Miami, for example) and how far off the route you are willing to go – the app will show you every load that appears on that route.

Saved Searches

All of your saved searches will now appear on the mobile app. Everything is tightly integrated, so any changes you make on the app will be reflected on the main site.

Category Icons in Map Markers

Now when you view search results in map view, the map markers will include category icons. This helps you quickly identify what type of load each is and will save you time while you’re on the road.

        

The uShip Mobile App is available for both iPhone and Android devices. All smartphone users can also access the uShip mobile site, touch.uship.com, which functions just like the app. 

Make sure to put these new mobile updates to use during our Mobile Madness promotion!