Firm that links freight companies and customers might be ripe for acquisition.
By By Lori Hawkins
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, April 07, 2008
When Michelle Bynum wanted to ship an antique piano from her grandmother’s home in Oklahoma City to her Georgetown home a year ago, she spent hours calling freight companies and was stunned by the bids, all for upward of $1,000.
She was close to giving up when she stumbled across uShip Inc., an Austin company that operates an online shipping marketplace. Bynum posted her information on the company’s Web site, and within 24 hours she had received a number of bids. When it was over, she booked the move for $275.
“The moving company was already scheduled to pass through Austin and had space on its truck,” she says. “They made extra money by picking up my piano, and I saved a ton of money. It was fantastic for both of us.”
UShip, started in 2003 by three University of Texas MBA students, has carved a niche as the eBay of shipping. Consumers post what they want to ship and freight companies bid for the business.
