Apr 11, 2011 12:10 PM, By Wendy Leavitt, director of editorial production
Reverse-auction freight marketplace uShip introduced brokered loads into its online freight exchange at theTransportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) Convention & Tradeshow in Orlando. The new function will allow brokers and 3PLs to leverage its spot market exchange to connect with thousands of verified and rated carriers. The brand new brokered load service is currently in beta testing and available through invitation only from uShip.
“Over the last six years, uShip has pioneered the transactional exchange model – first on the retail shipper side of the market and now with brokered loads,” said Matt Chasen, CEO and founder of uShip. “Today’s current load board model leaves much to be desired, so it is a natural evolution for us to bring our high integrity exchange with unique loads, online bidding and tendering, and guaranteed online payments to the brokered load market.
“While we’ve proven the model with thousands of active brokers and carriers, we’re now letting brokers and 3PLs take advantage of our spot market exchange to drive down their costs while easily managing, paying and tracking carriers online,” he added.
“uShip’s unique transactional exchange goes beyond the traditional load board model,” said Charles Myers, former president of Getloaded.com and past member of the TIA Board. “Pre-qualified carriers either take a load at the posted price or bid against other pre-qualified carriers in an online auction format. When the carrier accepts a load at the posted price or wins the bid, the load is tendered to the carrier and the remainder of the transaction is completed online. Through this exchange approach brokers will be able to drive down costs and carriers will get fair market value for the loads they move.”
In addition to utilizing uShip’s existing network of thousands of carriers, uShip will also be allowing brokers and 3PLs to bring their own carrier network and create their own private spot market exchange using uShip’s platform.
Dean Jutilla of uShip, told Fleet Owner that the company has also recently begun carrier verification and monitoring through TransCore’s CarrierWatch service. The service verifies that the business, authority, licensure and insurance information listed on transporters’ uShip accounts is consistent with FMCSA records. CarrierWatch also monitors whether a service provider’s authority and insurance is active or inactive.
Once verified by CarrierWatch, transporters will see the “CarrierWatch Verified” badge on their profile to strengthen their reputation with potential and existing customers who may be considering accepting their bids.
According to the company, uShip has attracted $200 million in business transactions, one million customers, and 200,000 feedback-rated and verified brokers and carriers since 2004. The Austin-based company operates globally with localized sites in the US, Canada, Australia, UK and across the EU.
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