What is uShip and How Does It Work?
uShip is an open, online marketplace that connects you with service providers that can ship your personal belongings. You can ship a wide variety of things with uShip, including:
-
- Vehicles and boats (e.g., small cars, trailers, RVs, motorcycles & vehicle spare parts)
- Heavy equipment like farm and construction equipment
- Household items like furniture and appliances
- Animals (e.g., dogs, cats, horses & other animals)
How it Works
To benefit from uShip, you can post an offer with your shipment or browse instant rates. You’ll then complete a form stating your shipping locations and date. After that, several uShip service providers will send you their offers.
The other option is to post your shipment on the uShip marketplace. Consequently, various uShip carriers will bid on your job. Go through their profiles, paying attention to their reviews and ratings, before accepting the bid of the carrier that suits you most.
How Much Does uShip Cost to Ship a Car?
The cost of shipping a car with uShip varies, depending on a wide range of factors. However, it's almost similar to other players in the industry. For example, if you're shipping a Toyota Rav4 for a distance of about 1,500 miles through open transport, you'll pay about $1,060 with uShip and an average of $1,056 with other leading car shipping companies.
Apart from the typical shipping costs, uShip also requires you to pay a fee ranging from $25 to $150. This fee applies because uShip operates as an online marketplace but not a traditional car shipping broker.
Posting your shipment job at the uShip marketplace will attract bids from various service providers. In the process, you may be able to find a service provider that charges lower prices and save money.
However, it's not advisable to use cost alone as the basis for hiring a service provider. You should also look at other parameters, such as their reviews and overall ratings.
What Affects the Cost of Auto Transport with uShip?
Many factors determine the cost of shipping vehicles with uShip. These include:
Shipping distance: The greater the distance of shipping, the more you’re likely to pay for the service. That’s because longer distances require more preparation and more vehicle fuel.
Vehicle make and model: Your car's make and model will determine its weight. Moving a heavier vehicle typically requires more fuel and will cost more than moving a lighter one.
Type of service: Transporting your vehicle on an enclosed transport trailer comes with more safety and peace of mind, but will cost more than shipping on an open transport carrier.
Condition of vehicle: uShip service providers usually charge more to ship inoperable vehicles. Such vehicles require more time, effort, and resources to load and offload from the carrier.
Season of move: Generally, it’s more expensive to ship a car during the winter, as the demand for services is at peak levels then. Besides, drivers have to contend with harsh elements like ice and snow.
Location of pickup and delivery: If your vehicle is being picked up or delivered in a remote location, you may pay more compared to someone else whose things are being picked up or delivered in an urban area, even if the shipping distance is the same. Rural moves usually involve more challenges, like poor roads, making a move difficult and time-consuming.
Shipping Services Offered by uShip
uShip offers a wide variety of services, which include:
Transport solutions
uShip offers transport solutions for almost anything, as long as it’s a legal item. You can ship your car, boat, motorcycle, heavy equipment, household item, or anything else you need from anywhere in the world.
Also, you get to select your preferred carrier, from single truck owners, large trucking companies, small fleets, or even individuals on road trips. The shipping services can be door-to-door or terminal-to-terminal, depending on the carrier.
Insurance coverage
The service providers usually carry some form of insurance protection for your stuff. However, their insurance limits may not be sufficient. For this reason, uShip offers extra insurance coverage protection against physical damage or loss of your cargo.
The insurance protection offered by uShip covers loss or damage up to $75,000 for car shipments. You’ll pay a deductible of $750 if your vehicle’s value is over $10,000 and $500 if your vehicle’s value is under $10,000.
GPS tracking
Depending on the carrier you're working with, you may be able to track your shipment during transit. To achieve this, your carrier needs to turn on their location-sharing services, so be sure to confirm with them when booking shipment.
On top of GPS tracking, you'll get push notifications during pickup and delivery.
Pros and Cons of uShip
Just like everything else in life, shipping your items with uShip has its pros and cons.
Pros
-
- You can ship almost anything with uShip (cars, boats, furniture items, equipment, pianos, animals, etc.)
- By posting your shipment in the uShip marketplace, you can benefit from a cheaper deal from one of the service providers.
- Your payments are protected through uShip’s secure payment system.
- uShip carriers can handle every aspect of your move, from the loading at the pickup location to the offloading at the delivery location, making what would have been a complicated move easier for you.
Cons
-
- You are not sure how much your move will cost until a carrier accepts your offer or sends you a bid.
- Some service providers may be unprofessional.
- You have to organize your move within the time frame and space of your service provider.
- Depending on what you’re shipping and your route, you may not get a carrier that can handle your needs.
How to Transport Your Car with uShip
Here are the steps to follow when transporting your car with uShip:
Create a uShip Account
The first step is to create an account with uShip if you don't have one. Once you've done that, you'll be asked to list your shipment. Here, you provide details about your car, including its make, model, year, etc.
Receive a Quote
You can get quotes from various service providers by creating a marketplace listing or using uShip's instant quote tool.
If you decide to create a marketplace listing, you’ll set a date range for cargo pickup and then specify the type of service needed (open or closed) and any other special requirements. Various carriers will then bid on your shipment. The more you wait, the more you're likely to benefit from lower rates.
If you’re using uShip’s instant quote tool, you’ll select a suitable offer from already created shipping offers. After sending your payment, uShip connects you with the carrier.
Prepare Your Car for Shipment
Once you’ve booked your shipment, go ahead and prepare your car for the move. This may involve:
-
- Removing personal items from the car
- Washing the car Turning off alarms
- Checking whether the vehicle is operable
Meet Your Carrier at the Pickup Location
Now that the car is ready for the move, you can meet the carrier at the pickup location on the day of the move. During pickup, you and the carrier will check the vehicle's condition and note any existing damage before signing a bill of lading. You can also take photos of the car as evidence.
Meet Your Carrier at the Delivery Location
On the day you’ve agreed the car will get to the delivery location, be there on time to receive it. You will note if the car has suffered any new damage during the journey and sign a bill of lading.
Take photos of any new damage, as this will come in handy when filing a claim with the carrier's insurance provider or uShip if you bought the extra cargo insurance. If there is no new vehicle damage, you will complete any remaining payments and get your car.
Is uShip Legit and Reputable?
uShip is a legit and reputable company. However, keep in mind that uShip is not a moving company and hence is not responsible for moving your things. Its work is to connect you with carriers who will transport your stuff.
Therefore, if you’re working with uShip, it’s your responsibility to ensure that the carrier you choose is legit and reputable. The good thing is that you can always check the reviews and ratings on their profile to see how they handled other previous moves.
You can also use NearbyMovers to find more reputable car shipping companies around you.