uShip, Inc. is an

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

-based

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

company that operates uShip.com, an

online marketplace An online marketplace (or online e-commerce marketplace) is a type of e-commerce website where product or service information is provided by multiple third parties. Online marketplaces are the primary type of multichannel ecommerce and can be a way ...

for

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting Commodity, commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it h ...

services. Individuals and businesses post items they need shipped in a variety of categories, including auto transport, boat shipping, moving services, and the transport of heavy industrial equipment. Transportation service providers on uShip place competing bids for the right to haul a customer's shipment. For some categories, including boats, autos and

less-than-truckload Less-than-truckload shipping or less than load (LTL) is the transportation of an amount of freight sized between individual parcels and full truckloads. Parcel carriers handle small packages and freight that can be broken down into units less t ...

(LTL) freight, customers can select an upfront quote for transport services or enter an acceptable price to be matched with a transporter. Customers can book a shipment immediately from these quotes or opt to wait for auction bids, similar to eBay's "

buy it now eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...

" feature.

History

CEO and founder Matthew Chasen developed the business plan for uShip while enrolled in the MBA program at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

McCombs School of Business The McCombs School of Business (McCombs School or McCombs) is a business school at The University of Texas at Austin, a public research university in Austin, Texas. In addition to the main campus in Downtown Austin, McCombs offers classes outside ...

with co-founders Jay Manickam and Mickey Millsap. In 2004, the uShip team competed in several business competitions, winning first prize at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

, and runner-up at the Venture Labs Investment Competition (formerly the US MOOT Corp Competition) in 2004. Shortly thereafter, uShip.com was launched in the United States and received funding from

Benchmark Capital Benchmark is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco that provides seed money to startups. History The firm's most successful investment was a 1997 investment of $6.7 million in eBay for 22.1% of the company. In 2011, it invested $12 mill ...

in 2005. From 2012 to 2015, uShip became the subject of a

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

series aired by A&E known as '' Shipping Wars'', which follows a group of independent shippers who compete to bid on and deliver shipments through uShip. uShip has developed a Shipping Price Estimator which provides estimates for transport services based on a weighted average of similar goods transported over similar distances on the uShip marketplace.

Partnerships

In 2009, uShip entered a partnership with

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (RBA), or simply Ritchie Bros., is a public company. Its common shares are traded on the Toronto and New York exchanges under the ticker symbol RBA. History The Ritchie Brothers Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers was ...

, the world's largest auctioneer of heavy equipment, to provide real-time estimates and quotes for transportation of industrial equipment and vehicles being sold at auctions. In 2011,

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...

Motors began incorporating uShip's Shipping Price Estimator as a vehicle shipping option within all its U.S. auto, motorcycle and power sports listings.

Awards and recognition

* Greater Austin Business Awards – Environment Category Winner (2011) * Inc. 500 Fastest-Growing Private Companies (2010) * Red Herring's North America 100 List (2010) * Top Workplaces – Austin American Statesman (2010, 2011, 2012)

References

External links

* {{US logistics Online marketplaces of the United States Logistics companies of the United States Companies based in Austin, Texas Transportation companies based in Texas American companies established in 2003 Transport companies established in 2003 Internet properties established in 2003 2003 establishments in Texas

History

Partnerships

Awards and recognition

See also

References

External links