So we have been watching "Shipping Wars" out of curiosity. I was really not familiar with U Ship, but checked out their website. I figured there was, although I really didn't realize how big independent contractors are in the shipping business. Having an underemployed adult son, and a retired father, I'm curious to know how hard it would be to start picking up bids to move, say a car or two on a regular business. I understand the need for insurance, etc, etc. Already have suitable equipment. Just interested to hear from those, 'in the know' their experiences.
The show is an anomaly. Most auctions on the site do not have automatic wins, deadlines, etc. I shipped a non-running full size Jeep from WA to FL on the site for $1200, and it took 2 months to get the "bids" down to acceptable. And guess what picked it up? A major national carrier with a trailer full of mostly normal cars. Just FYI.
There are tons of private logistics guys out there just dying to ship things around the world (whoops, I almost typed "E36 M3"). A very hard business to get into. More than likely, the people in the show were put there with the purpose of making a show. By default, I assume everything on TV is a lie. Along with the cake. The cake is a lie.
Parents of a friend had a Unishippers franchise back in the late 90's and all their kids worked there. My understanding at the time was that they bought "Bulk" parcel shipping from UPS and then resold it at slightly better-than-brown rates. I don't know how well it really did or how it worked precisely, but I do know when the sold it about 10 yrs back they took down almost 1.5 mill on it.
My uncle has the best job ever. He owns a race shop in San Diego that builds, maintains, tunes, transports, and does on the site work for Formula Fords, Formula 500's, Can Am cars, etc. He gets paid by clients to build, maintain, tune, and transport their cars to the race tracks and then assist on race day. Client pays for everything.
Now... On a personal note... I'm going to be starting a little business that I would be in need of a transporter for some race cars. (Queue movie music) PM me and we'll talk.
