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Online Shipping Auctions Gearing Up for Long Haul — E-Commerce Times

By Jennifer LeClaire
E-Commerce Times

The Boeing engineer took note on a trip from Seattle to Texas that his rental truck was two-thirds empty and began brainstorming about how he could lower shipping costs by matching excess truck capacity with people’s oversized deliveries. “Our business model is similar to eBay’s. UShip is a peer-to-peer marketplace that connects drivers with shippers.”

When Matt Chasen’s mother called him in tears because she couldn’t afford to pay US$800 to ship an heirloom dresser across the country, he set out to solve the problem. His solution was the genesis of an innovative online company called uShip.

The light bulb moment came when Chasen was driving from Seattle to Texas to enter the McCombs MBA program at the University of Texas. The Boeing (NYSE: BA) engineer took note that his rental truck was two-thirds empty and began brainstorming about how he could lower shipping costs by matching excess truck capacity with people’s oversized deliveries.

“I didn’t need to reinvent the wheel,” Chasen, founder, president and chief executive of uShip, in Austin, Texas, told the E-Commerce Times. “Our business model is similar to eBay’s (Nasdaq: EBAY). UShip is a peer-to-peer marketplace that connects drivers with shippers.”

Read Entire Article Here: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/41038.html