uShip Forum / Discuss uShip Features & Functionality / Tools and Features

Vehicle Paperwork - Title, Registration

84BadBoy — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:57:28 GMT

Does uShip or its vehicle shippers propose or prefer that the paperwork be iven it to the shipper? or through a 3rd Party? How do I maintain legal possession of the vehicle if I give the title to the shipper? I'm swapping vehicles with another and there is no auction or bidding or PayPal option to go through.

How do I get PAID !!!!!!!!!

FriendlyshipperNo1 — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:01:13 GMT

Any help here drivers??????? Info.on recieving payment. How long? Etc. Thanks

Couple more things about SafePay

4WeHelp — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:52:32 GMT

Since UShip avoided giving a straight answer to my questions I have had to do a lot of my own research. We decided to cancel our SafePay acceptance because as far as we could tell, UShip will not pay you if there should be a cancellation or dispute from the customer.

I know that sounds impossible but UShip has avoided being honest about the negatives even when asked point blank. Instead they reply with talking points that don't even address your questions.

As I have done my research, I have noticed a couple other things. UShip says that it is free to use your Paypal Debit card. That is not entirely true. They do briefly mention ATM fees. What they don't mention is Paypal will also charge you a fee just to accept a payment from UShip and hold onto your money until you want it.

Depending on the type of Paypal account this is roughly 3%-5% of the money sent to Paypal.

So lets figure it out.

You bid $100 on a shipment and Uship takes their normal fees, so you get $80.

Then they take their Safepay fee and that $80 becomes approximately $77

Then they send it to PayPal and lets say PayPal takes 3% making that $74

Then you want it in cash because that is really what you wanted from the start and the ATM takes $3 because PayPal has no fee agreements with any ATM services. Because most ATMs only have $20 bills, you can only get out $60 of your original $100 bid

While there a a lot of nice ways to say it, using UShip's SafePay costs your 20%-30% of your money.

Of course that is as long as the customer doesn't cancel or dispute your service causing UShip to not release payment to you.

Questions about SafePay

4WeHelp — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:14:28 GMT

I just received a notice about the new SafePay system. We have worked with a company (we will call Esucks) who you are probably copying, and have experience with this kind of set up. We have a couple of quick questions.

It happens occasionally that a customer will cancel right after the work is done and the payment code becomes invalid. That way they get the work done and get a refund. When we contact Esucks they refuse to pay us. How would you handle this?

If the customer loses the payment code and in the process of moving, they have no internet access, how can they get a replacement code? Our movers will not leave without payment.

How do I become a power provider?

mrc1970 — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 20:55:51 GMT

How does m y company become a "power Provider"?

Online Bill of lading or Receipt for shipment

mrc1970 — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:00:30 GMT

Can we add a feature to include an online "Bill of Lading" or a recipt for pick-up and delivery with signature blocks. For example. I have received said merchandise in Good condition or a bill of lading that will be filled out using the information on the Users account profile. We could simply print out our accepted bids and click on add bill of lading or receipt and be ready to go. This would help drivers save time with paperwork as well. Thanks.

To the Uship Team, please see what you can do

phiferindustries — Tue, 19 May 2009 08:41:47 GMT

Uship team, is there any way that when someone lists a boat that when they come to the option to tell us whether it's on a trailer or not it can be more clear for them. It seems that they think that means that they want it on a trailer sometimes. Possibly something like:
Is the boat "currently" on a trailer? Yes or No

This would help us our bidding and help the confusion we sometimes run into.

Thanks,
Bryan
Phifer Industries

Is there any history of questions asked of a shipper?

memelet — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:44:52 GMT

I shipping my 42' sailboat (first time shipping a boat, let alone a 30,000lb boat). I am asking each shipper some questions, as the bids and shipper profiles are nearly content free (a different topic). But I see no way to track to my questions similar to how ebay will track correspondence between the buyer and seller. Is there such a feature on uship?

thanks!

uShip Announces the Transportation Price Index (TPI)

clairevo — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:04:33 GMT

The Transportation Price Index (TPI) tracks monthly changes in prices paid for transportation services. The TPI uses proprietary, transactional data from the uShip marketplace and encompasses domestic (US) shipments across our categories/commodities. The TPI is expressed in terms of US$ per ton-mile.

View the Transportation Price Index (TPI) to learn more.

As always, uShip welcomes your questions and discussions on this exciting new tool.

Uship green flagged a phone number

Chadharper — Sun, 10 May 2009 16:14:09 GMT

The guy spelled out his phone number.

http://www.uship.com/shipment/1980-Yamaha-XJ-650-Maxim/206696315/

No ability to comment when declining a bid?

memelet — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:53:14 GMT

One bidder for my sailboat shipment does not appear to specialize in large boats (eg, no pictures of boats, no comment about boats, no history of other boat shipments). I would think that this is enough reason to decline (especially since I have bids from other shippers which clearly specialize on large boats).

But there seems to be no way to leave a comment as to why I am declining. Only the option menu with pre-canned reasons. Is this only means of indicating the reason for declining a bid, or am I missing something?

thanks!

automatic bidder

UnitedCommoditiesLogistics — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:44:38 GMT

How does one set the ammount to underbid by? right now Mine is set to underbid by $100.00. How do you change that?

RSS feed

UnitedCommoditiesLogistics — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:24:05 GMT

RSS Feeds
RSS (Real Simple Syndication) is a great tool that lets uShip automatically send the latest loads to you in your favorite RSS reader, a Google or Yahoo home page, and even your my uShip! Watch loads come into the marketplace in real time and get more business fast.

I saw this posted under "tools for moving and tranpsort business" and was wondering where the RSS feed button is to utilize this feature?

Profile question

gslam88 — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:11:09 GMT

Just wondering about something.

I have put all the information about the company on my profile. I have added pictures, etc.. but it still only comes to 95% complete. So I know I must be missing something, what could I be missing?

I think at some point I did have it at 100% done, just not sure.

Just trying to make sure

Any idea's??

price estimator

GriffinsburgEquineTransport — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 07:37:06 GMT

Price estimator, is not an accurate representation for a quote. It does not mention anything about the quality of service or equipment offered by a shipper. It should include those of us that have a high rating with the uship profile on a sliding scale.

Why is uShip quote so far off?

brooksr — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 08:36:55 GMT

I just put in for a quote for a household move and the lowest uShip quote was $427 from R&L Carriers.

I called R&L Carriers and asked if the $427 quote was realistic. They took the information and quoted me $1300+ !!!

They said a big part of the problem was uShip using the wrong Freight Class. uShip assigned class 50 for "Household good, other household" and R&L said they should be using class 100.

This not give me good feeling about the validity of the uShip quotes.

UShip "TIPS" on bid pricing

barnonemorgans — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:44:53 GMT

UShip has a pop up that suggests what the price should be. This is a very "inflated" price suggestion and I personally don't like it there. As a shipper, I am wanting the best price I can get to ship my product or item and USHIP is hindering that process by suggesting what a price should be. As noted in other areas, often the rule or measure they use is faulty. How can that "tip" be removed from our listings?

New Bid Form for faster, easier bidding

community@uShip.com — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:05:05 GMT

uShip’s new bid form features a simplified layout and more options to make the bidding process shorter and easier:

Save default settings – Enter your bid amount and details and save your settings to make placing your next bid even faster.

New timeframe options – The new bid form enables you to set a more precise timeframe for pickup and delivery. Now you can enter either the number of days after booking or a specific range of dates when you can pick up a shipment. Likewise, you can enter either the number of days after pickup or a specific range of dates when you can deliver the shipment.

Advanced tools – Advanced bidding options are also available to qualified Service Providers to further streamline the bidding process.

Notification options – After you submit your bid, you will see a bid confirmation page where you can tell us how you would like to be notified of activity on the shipment you have just bid on. It is easy to stay informed through email, phone, or text alerts.

Recommended shipments – You will also see some other shipments that you may be interested in based on starting location, route, or backhaul.

What is Cop Art?

HitTheRoadCa — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 10:13:21 GMT

Is there a single page on Uship where all of the tags are identified?

I have no idea what Cop Art is all about. But I am guessing that it's a lot of social landscapes of thieves and J-walkers....

Dave

SIGNATURE BLOCKS ON FORUM POSTS

VeteransTransport — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 13:53:58 GMT

WHY ARE SOME PEOPLE ALLOWED AND OTHERS ARE "DENIED" ACCESS?

Nice Job Linking DOT & MC Numbers

cpmarine — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 07:03:58 GMT

It was worth waiting for something like this. Not only for us service providers but for the shippers saftey as well. This allows the shipper to actually check out a providers authority by just clicking on the numbers. Definitely a good move and it gives Uship some much needed creditability.

Provider Directory

EEH2 — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 06:44:27 GMT

I have noticed that the listing order in the Provider Directory, at least in the Vehicles section, does not appear to make any sense. This has been the case for quite a while and it doesn't seem to have been discussed on the forums.

It says on the Service Provider Tools page that "The more active you are the higher you will rank, meaning more business everyday." I don't know if "active" means placing bids, asking questions, booking shipments, or what. But there are highly placed TSPs that do not appear to be active:

On the main directory page (http://directory.uship.com/) just now:

haroldone (0)
a1american (0)

On the vehicles national directory (http://directory.uship.com/vehicletransporters/nationwide/) just now:

kingkopla (2)
muleshoe (3)

Also, it appears that quality of service is not taken into account in the directory. For example:

Vehicles national directory front page:

alessandrabenevides (13) - 57% positive, 17 excessive cancellations, last 7 feedbacks: 2 negative, 1 neutral, 4 cancellations
easytrucking4u (51) - 67% positive, 41 excessive cancellations, 4 negative & 7 positive in last month
muleshoe (3) - 43% positive, 50% cancellations

All this leads me to wonder if the Directory is broken or just severely neglected. Hopefully everyone can see that it needs some work. My suggestion is that the ranking take into account total feedback, quality of service, and recent activity. Also, I believe there was a forum post saying that those who service only one category are placed highest in that category's rankings, which strikes me as an unreasonable idea. One would expect that many outstanding TSPs would service multiple categories, and this should not sink them in the rankings.

Highway to Help: uShip's Charitable Shipment Program

VeteransTransport — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:25:57 GMT

Where does a Carrier find the shipments listed in this category?

http://www.uship.com/charitylearn.aspx

Highway to Help: uShip's Charitable Shipment Program

Helping people help others.

In times of need, many individuals and organizations around the world are quick to donate goods and supplies needed to help others. Many Transportation Service Providers are also willing and able to donate their services to deliver these goods to people and communities in need. Unfortunately, there is no central place for these giving people to connect in their efforts to help others.

That's where uShip comes in – helping people help others. Through our Charitable Shipping Program, we offer our marketplace services for free to help people and organizations in need of donated or low cost transportation services find Transportation Service Providers who are willing to donate all or part of their services.

IS USHIP PAYING FOR THE FUEL AND OTHER RELATED EXPENSES?

New Profile

marineexpress — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 16:11:02 GMT

How does this rating system work? I see some tsp's with 10 shipments and 4 negatives and you have them rated #1 in four catagories including uship it's self. Is the rating system going from highest to lowest. I might also add they have been suspended. What's up with this?

New Carrier profile

VeteransTransport — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 10:46:31 GMT

Mickey and .........,

Was the statement "Please verify all information provided" deliberately left off of the revised Carrier profile layout?

NOT able to BOOK IT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tompands — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:13:01 GMT

I have a shipment with a book it now price. I go to bid on it and there's NO book it now option there. I go back to the listing and there is one. What gives??? I have 20 feedback, so it should be there.

Changes to the Shipping Price Estimator

community@uShip.com — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:46:18 GMT

Since its launch in 2006, the uShip Shipping Price Estimator (“SPE”) has been a important contributor to uShip’s growth. Combining actual proprietary match data from thousands of customers and service providers, the SPE allows prospective customers to get a general sense of how much an item will cost to ship on uShip without actually having to create a listing in the uShip marketplace. Specifically, this:

• Allows potential purchasers of shippable items to use shipping data to inform the purchase decision.
• Allows sellers of shippable items to tell their customers what it might cost to receive the item.
• Allows customers in general to compare uShip shipping prices with other external shipping alternatives available to them.
• Lowers the number of window shopping customers who create listings in the marketplace creating more liquidity for service providers.

The SPE uses a relevancy algorithm to only show users data on completed shipments with the most similar characteristics to their own. Factors such as commodity, distance, region, weight, and others are used in the relevancy determination. We have, however, received a tremendous amount of feedback regarding the SPE’s limitations. Specifically, recent spikes in fuel prices have significantly changed the cost structure for most service providers. Because of the volatility in fuel prices and other costs, effective immediately we have made the following major changes to the SPE:

• Eliminated using data from any match prior to Jan 1, 2007. The SPE will only show prices from matches on or after Jan 1, 2007.
• Added a “recency” variable to our relevancy algorithm. This lowers the relevancy by one point for every calendar month in the past a match took place, effectively putting more recent matches higher on the list that customer see and older ones lower on the list.
• Adjusted all match price data with our proprietary Transportation Price Index (TPI) data which calculates how shipping prices have changed over time. For example, if the average shipping price of a vehicle on uShip in September 2007 was $1000 and in October 2008, it is $1500, that is a 50% shipping price increase. Thus, in the SPE we would now increase all September 2007 vehicle match data by 50% before displaying it to customers to reflect the increase in average costs over that time. Likewise, we will do this individually for all categories and all months.

Overall, this is having a profound impact on the quality and accuracy of pricing data that customers are seeing, and is better shaping their expectations with the reality of what shipping costs are in today’s changing economic environment. We want to thank everyone for their feedback on this product.

Calculate Bid

drmachetti — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 07:21:59 GMT

Since the great update on the bid process every time I would like to calculate the bid the only answer I get is NULL. Will somebody tell the USHIP people I am out here GUESSING every time I place a bid becouse the Calculate Bid button tells me NULL every dang time. What the heck is NULL worth these days? What use is the Calculate bid button?

NULL !

fix the &^%#@%$^%^%#^$#

calculate bid button !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bid page

zts — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 11:01:50 GMT

mickey,please go back to old bid page, this new is really bad, it has slow up my bidding and i do not get any questions from customers, because of the way you have set it up,,we are both losing customers,,,

Book Now option

drmachetti — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:45:24 GMT

I was about to hit my first Book it Now option and I was notified that MY card will be charged? All other transactions the USHIP fee was covered by the person accepting my bid. It looks like I have to pay the Uship fee on the Book it Now option. Is this correct??? Anybody??? Bueller? Bueller?

BookItNow

escobedotransportservice — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:50:52 GMT

I just placed a bid at the shippers set BookItNow price and I have + feedback above 10, but it did not book when I placed my bid. Any ideas?

hi im a new guy

affordableseal — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 09:07:00 GMT

how does one get there listing featured?
Outside of the bid is there any other costs?
like how or who does uship get paid by ?

New Advanced Bidding Tool – Bid Valet

clairevo — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:19:33 GMT

uShip is excited to announce the launch of a new advanced bidding tool: Bid Valet. We have noticed that Service Providers frequently bid multiple times on the same shipment in competitive bidding situations. In an effort to make this re-bidding easier and faster, our new Bid Valet tool allows qualified* TSP’s to automate their re-bidding based on their desired bidding strategy and timeframe.

Why should I try Bid Valet?

• Save time bidding and re-bidding - just set your lowest acceptable bid price and Bid Valet will do all the re-bidding work for you to give you the most possible revenue. No need to come back to the site if you are on the road or away from your computer. Bid Valet works for you 24/7.

• Get higher match prices – with Bid Valet, you can start with a higher bid without the hassle of re-bidding down to a lower price. Bid Valet will lower your bid in your customized time and dollar increments depending on how aggressive you want to be.

• Be more competitive by automating your bids - you can set Bid Valet to automatically underbid competing Service Providers until you reach your lowest acceptable bid price.

There are two ways Bid Valet helps you:

1. Automatically re-bid when you are underbid by other TSP's. If you are underbid the Bid Valet will automatically place a lower bid in small, predefined increments until reaching your preset "lowest bid" price. These bids are triggered after a 2 hour delay or if the customer declines your bid because the price was too high.

2. Automatically lower your bid periodically by a set amount. Bid Valet will automatically lower your bids in the time and dollar increments you choose, until you reach your "lowest bid" or until any bid is accepted.

You can use either option above on any bid - or use them both to doubly increase your chances of winning jobs.

In addition, Bid Valet can be used simultaneously with other suites of tools such as Group Bidding, Book-it-Now, and My Rates to provide you with a “virtual business manager” that works on your behalf.

Click here to Learn More about Bid Valet, including examples of when a TSP might choose to use it. You can also give us your feedback and discuss Bid Valet in our uShip’s Discussion forums. We are very excited about the power of this unique, customizable tool and we hope that all qualified TSP’s will give it a try.

*Bid Valet is only available to "qualified" Service Providers who have at least 10 feedback and at least a 90% positive feedback rating.

uShip announces Phone Alerts

clairevo — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:48:39 GMT

uShip has partnered with Unwired Nation to bring uShip members an exciting new service. Now you can be notified via phone when you receive activity on shipments you have listed or bid on in the uShip marketplace.

What are Phone Alerts?

Phone Alerts are automated phone calls that let you know about uShip activity that requires your attention.

Shippers are notified immediately by phone when:
• A new bid has been placed on your shipment, including amount and expiration date
• An answer to a question you asked about a bid has been posted

Service Providers are notified immediately by phone when:
• A question is asked about a bid you placed on a shipment
• A bid you’ve placed on a shipment has been accepted

Why use Phone Alerts?

Communication is essential for a successful uShip transaction. Being immediately informed about uShip activity ensures that opportunities for Shippers and Service Providers to connect are not missed.

• uShip works for you—24/7* – No one can be at their computer all day, managing their uShip account. With Phone Alerts, uShip will call you with updates on important bids and questions.
• The best bids are never missed - Great bids sometimes happen on weekends or are placed on a restricted timeframe and may expire or be cancelled before a Shipper can respond. To keep these bids from being missed, Phone Alerts will notify Shippers the minute a bid is placed.
• The answers you need, when you need them - Because Shippers and Service Providers are called when important bid questions are asked or answered, communication (and matches!) occur faster.
• Connect and ship faster than ever – Even if they are on the road or away from the office, we’ll call Service Providers to let them know about accepted bids. This way, Shippers and Service Providers can get in contact and ship faster.

*When you sign up for Phone Alerts, you can set the hours uShip should call you. No midnight calls unless you want them—we promise!

How to receive Phone Alerts:

• Shippers: Sign up to receive Phone Alerts when you list a shipment

• Service Providers: Sign up for Phone Alerts when you place a bid

All uShip members can sign up for Phone Alerts by updating your communication preferences in My uShip.

We’re excited to have partnered with Unwired Nation to bring this exciting new feature to the uShip marketplace. Phone Alerts are just another way uShip is working hard to improve the shipping experience for all our members.

Another day, another booking lost to uShip's new bid format

boatshipper — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:17:20 GMT

Ok, well I'm finished. Most of my bookings come from my web page anyway and I didn't go into business to have someone tell me how to run it.

I asked uShip about the transport date field they just put in on the bid page but they have no time for my opinion. I just lost out to a higher bidder with recent negative and 20 recent cancellations. The only difference in bidding was his higher price and willing to pick-up within 10 days of acceptance. I can’t possibly make that claim without getting a lot of excessive cancellations. There is no way to know when the shipper is going to accept and I need to work everyone into my schedule.

Leaving my pick-up date flexible as the shipper is still able to do and discuss schedules with the shipper had worked fine before and did not need tweaking by uShip.

UShip, you already reneged on a promise to give me up to $100 if I came back. Two bookings later I have received nothing. Now you want to try and force me to make bad decisions with my customers scheduling?

Local Moving

nick@uship.com — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:48:40 GMT

uShip is excited to announce the launch of uShip Local Moving, a better way to bid on and book local household moves. Beginning March 19, 2008, uShip will change the way local household moves are handled on the uShip marketplace, which will benefit Service Providers and Shippers alike.

What happens when a shipper lists a local move in your area

When a shipper lists a local household move in your service area, they will be presented local companies and rates and given the opportunity to send an exclusive, pre-paid booking request for their services. These booking requests are:

· Secured with a pre-paid deposit

· Only made to one company at a time

· Guaranteed solely for the Service Provider requested

· Exclusive, which means the move is not listed on the open uShip marketplace

· Available for a Service Provider to accept for only 24 hours

If you enter your local moving rates and cities you service in My Rates, you will be able to receive local moves booking requests.

Local moving in the uShip marketplace

If a shipper declines to send any booking requests, their local household move will be listed on the uShip marketplace like any other shipment. However, local moves will now be bid on by Service Providers based on an hourly rate and the number of movers required.

Both of these changes will help you win more jobs and bid in a more efficient and accurate way.

Improved workflow for My uShip!

community@uShip.com — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:55:54 GMT

uShip is excited to announce a great improvement to the workflow for My uShip:

* When a customer accepts your bid, the shipment will now move to the new "Booked Shipments" section.
* After completing the shipment, you can now mark the shipment as "Completed". This will move the shipment to another new section, "Completed Shipments"
* These new sections have replaced the old "Recent Matches" in order to give you better control over your workflow, making it easier than ever to efficiently manage your shipments.
* You can also leave feedback directly from your "Booked Shipments" section, which will post your feedback and archive your shipment.

Tip: If you ever need to report a problem later on, you can always remove a shipment's "Completed" status. Keep in mind that, once you leave feedback for a shipment, it will be marked as "Completed" and archived as usual, at which point you will no longer be able to report a problem.

As always, we welcome your feedback and suggestions.

Sorting through the chaff...

MREBoatTransport — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:33:20 GMT

I spend a few hours per day perusing the BOATS section of UShip. Have experience a phenomenal growth in the volume of listings, but with that volume is an annoying amount of 'chaff' - or listings that from my perspective, have no value.

However, day after day, week after week, I spend (limited) mental cycles looking at them, trying to recall if they are worth a second look, or if they may work into the latest schedule for our three trucks. The color codes for un-opened, opened, bid items are helpful, but here are two tools that would REVOLUTIONIZE the productivity of high volume haulers, looking for every deal nationwide...

1) 'Scratch' funtion. A way to permantly eliminate a listing from coming back into your personal search criteria. Great for flagging that deal with a shipper that isn't answering questions, is out of range from price expectations, or items that simply won't fit our equipment, but are in a search-intensive area.

2) New heading under 'My UShip' called 'My Q&A' where all listings with questions, (un-answered and answered) would be highlighted for quick reference.

Whaddya think???

Wher do I find this u ship estimater

rodL — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:09:36 GMT

Where do I find this at?

first time user rebate

prissypets — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:38:47 GMT

can anyone tell me how i apply for the first time user rebate? thanks

i cant find a place on the site to do it