Price Stability Follows Three Months Marked by Fluctuation
(Austin, TX – October 14, 2008) Online shipping marketplace uShip, Inc., today released September 2008 figures from the Transportation Price Index (TPI), found at www.transportationpriceindex.com. The index remained steady, rising only .83% to $2.42 from August 2008. This innovative measure uses proprietary information from actual transactions taking place between shippers and transportation service providers on the uShip.com site to provide aggregate and categorical pricing figures expressed in US dollars per ton-mile.The TPI has risen 4.31% since September 2007. The TPI is released on a monthly basis and was designed by uShip to track important data related to transportation costs.
The price of diesel fuel has fallen each of the past four months, settling at $3.96 this September, a 20% drop from its peak of 4.76 in May 2008. Diesel fuel prices dropped 4.58% from their August 2008 levels. The transportation industry saw the largest monthly decrease in diesel fuel prices in the past year from July to August, resulting in a significant drop in the TPI, which had risen sharply for the previous two months.
According to uShip CEO Matt Chasen, “Falling diesel fuel prices have given transportation service providers a welcome reprieve, but many are still facing tough times, especially considering the current economic state.” Indeed, Chasen is already looking ahead to October’s figures. “It will be interesting to see how the recent events in the stock market are reflected in next month’s Transportation Price Index.”
Most of the major categories that factor into the TPI showed very little change from August 2008. Household goods and motorcycles rose 2.22% and 2.23%, settling at $3.69 and $1.83, respectively. The price of boat transportation dropped to $0.69, a decrease of 1.43%, while the price of vehicle transportation remained steady at $0.44. The price of freight shipping has been relatively volatile in the past six months and fell about 20% to $0.58.
Transportation prices for the major TPI categories remain well above September 2007 levels. The cost of boat transportation has risen 27.78% from $0.54 last year. Household goods and motorcycles have each risen just under 20% over the same time period, while the price of vehicle shipping has risen 12.82% from $0.39 in September 2007. Freight transportation prices currently stand 9.38% lower than last year’s level.
For more information about the TPI and its methodology, please visit www.transportationpriceindex.com . To request an interview with Chasen, please contact Mickey Millsap at 800-698-7447, ext 102. You may also e-mail him at [email protected] . High resolution images are available upon request.
About uShip
Founded in 2003, uShip is the first and largest online marketplace for shipping services. Members list anything they need shipped, from household goods to vehicles to freight, and receive bids from thousands of feedback-rated service providers, including movers, carriers, transporters, van lines, freight brokers and independent service providers. On any given day, there are thousands of shipments listed on uShip.com representing millions of dollars of business. It’s totally free for members to list shipments and for service providers to place bids. uShip’s reverse-auction format and patent-pending search technology dramatically reduce shipping costs by allowing service providers to find shipments along their routes and fill empty cargo space. uShip’s feedback system holds service providers accountable for their service and rewards those that perform well. Please visit www.uship.com for more information.
