You may have seen the TV show "Shipping Wars". Basically, people with trucks bid on shipments from the website Uship, and the customer gets to choose any bid he wants based on price, type of vehicle, rating of shipper, etc. The show, as expected, is made for TV, but Uship does offer a good option if you have items to ship. The reason I am telling you this is because I had to make a shipment and decided to try them out.
First, I did all the packing, weighing, etc. Turns out I had 10 average sized moving boxes with a total weight of 600 lbs. Next, I posted it on the Uship site with details for pickup and dropoff locations (the bidders do not see exact address, just city/state). The first bids seemed like "auto" bids from bigger freight companies, and a lot more than I was planning on paying. I already had a LTL quote for about $200 to go the 500 miles, but I figured I could find someone heading the same direction that wanted to make a few extra bucks and use the empty space on the back of the truck.
Bids continued to come in, dropping down from $500 to $235, then $215, $195, etc. I finally got a bid for $140 last night, which I agreed to because I was hoping they could get it on their truck and delivered today. I was tempted to wait for a lower bid, but I didn't want to wait until next week. Plus, this guy had 97 reviews, 96 of which were positive. On top of the $140, I had to pay Uship $19.99 so my total came out to $160. Try getting that price with UPS! Plus I didn't have to put on a pallet, shrink wrap, get a pallet jack, etc. for a freight company.
The guy came and got the boxes this morning and it turns out he does a regular route from Michigan to Florida about once a month. If things go well, we agreed to do more business without going through Uship and he could do the same job for about $100-$125 because Uship also takes 25% from him. This looks like a win-win for us both, and this guy seems really good.
I hope this info helps you guys with your bottom line. Another thing to consider, too, is becoming a shipper through them. If you are like me and hand deliver your product, you may get frustrated at taking an empty truck all the way home. You can look at the Uship site to see if anyone needs something delivered on the same route you are taking. Just something to consider.
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