Where's My Stuff? uShip Launches Shipment Tracking Platform to Expand Marketplace Transparency
Written by uShip
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
uShip Welcomes WaveMarket As First Location-Services Provider to Offer
Transporters Easy and Free Way to Keep Their Customers in the Loop
Austin, TX June 29, 2009 -- uShip, the first and largest online marketplace for shipping and transportation services, today announced beta availability of the uShip Tracking platform (http://www.uship.com/tracking), a new service that gives uShip customers a wide range of options for tracking of their shipments by Transportation Service Providers (TSPs). The uShip Tracking platform provides three primary location-update options ranging from real-time, GPS-based tracking to manual location mapping to simple Facebook-like status updates.
The most common questions I get from my customers when I'm on the road are 'Where are you now?' and 'When will you be here?'
Now I can answer those questions for many people at once through status or GPS updates, and when being considered for future jobs on uShip, I have a better chance of getting that business.
We understand that people hold tremendous value in their 'stuff,' and they want to stay in the loop when it's being moved or transported
uShip Tracking is one of the first shipment tracking services to give customers real-time, location-based updates on their shipment status and location, delivering much more precise and timely updates compared to unpredictable checkpoint updates of other shipping services. Click here for a sample of real-time tracking.
uShip is offering the real-time location-based service (LBS) through VeriplaceT from WaveMarket, a world leader in mobile location-based platforms and applications, and provider of carrier LBS such as Sprint Family Locator and AT&T FamilyMap. To enable this technology, uShip has partnered with VeriplaceT, the gold standard in LBS and the first service on the uShip Tracking platform.
While keeping the customer informed, uShip Tracking supplies Service Providers with various privacy levels, including who, how and when they are monitored while on the road, including what windows of time updates can be shown. Naturally, opting-in to provide location-based updates creates more transparency and likely attracts more business and value to current and potential customers.
"The most common questions I get from my customers when I'm on the road are 'Where are you now?' and 'When will you be here?'" said Mike Garrett, a uShip Platinum Power Provider from Southern Maryland Moving and Storage, LLC. "Now I can answer those questions for many people at once through status or GPS updates, and when being considered for future jobs on uShip, I have a better chance of getting that business."
"We understand that people hold tremendous value in their 'stuff,' and they want to stay in the loop when it's being moved or transported," said Matt Chasen, CEO of uShip. "The uShip Tracking platform - along with our feedback rating system - accomplishes that by giving shipping customers peace of mind that their items are safe and sound. And we are thrilled to be working with WaveMarket, which has created an incredibly simple location-based development platform in VeriplaceT that's helping to enable this whole new level of transparency in the transportation and shipping industry."
About uShip
uShip.com is the first and largest online shipping marketplace that connects people and businesses with feedback-rated Service Providers to make shipping more affordable and efficient. uShip's patent-pending search technology helps 150,000 Service Providers find and bid on hard-to-ship items, such as cars, boats, freight and households, to fill empty cargo space and dramatically reduce transport costs for consumers and businesses. Based in Austin, Texas, uShip's reverse-auction format has generated over $100 million in gross shipping volume since it was launched in 2004.
Mobile Technology Feature - Top 10 Business Apps for Android - Android has become one of the most popular mobile operating systems
in the world due to advanced software, competitive manufacturers, and an
app market that is filled with exciting and useful applications. Read
on for this fine Top 10 List compiled by tech writer, Blake Sanders
The Really Big List of Mapping, Geo location Mobile developer resources, APIs and Tools - The Mobile Ecosystem... no question that mobile is huge and
the opportunity for developers, in particular, geo developers! There's
loads of developer resources on the web so to help the developer,
here's a listing of just some of the fine dev resources, blogs,
toolsets and more to consider when developing or porting your app to a
smartphone or Tablet.
ArcGIS.com Mashup Tutorial with Flickr and Foursquare data-
Here's a simple "how to" tutorial on working with the free ArcGIS.com
to easily import KML or RSS data from Flickr and foursquare into ArcGIS
to create your own custom map mashup. ArcGIS.com has some recent
updates including support for KML, be sure to check it out!
Most Users of Free Photo Apps Say Adding Cool Effects is Most Useful - Adding cool effects
to photos was rated as the most useful thing by more than halfof
consumers surveyed using free online photography services, according to
CatchFree a free
online service that helps people find the best free mobile and web applications
to perform useful tasks.
Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet Up Close - No Replacement for the iPad But Pretty Darned Sweet - As could be
expected, speculation and blogging is rampant with many stories and
pseudo "reviews" coming out, many of them touting the next "iPad
killer".
Mobile Developer Resource - MapQuest & The Mobile Worker - Facility management companies, surveyors, multi-level marketing,
insurance claims, pipeline companies, water utilities; all have field
workers who would benefit from mobile applications. Not only checking in
to work sites, but keeping a record of the work done
Flickr GPS Photo Tag Tip - Here's a tip for Flickr users who want to share their GPS information
with their photos. note, in order to do this you'll need to be
capturing photos using a GPS-enabled or GPS-aware camera (see you're
smartphone hardware settings to ensure that GPS or location sharing is
turned "ON)".
Mobile data usage in Canada to triple between 2010 and 2012 - Some interesting, yet not terribly surprising, numbers on mobile
usage coming out of Canada. According to a report summarized on
Techvibes, mobile usage is soaring, in particular, the smartphone
segment
Social Location Directory
Do you have a location-aware application, social location service or other location-sensitive service that you'd like to share with us? Please browse this growing directory of Social location Services and feel free to leave a link to your favorite service! See the Directory HERE
Suggested Reading
The Underground Guide To The iPhone:
The iPhone is – if I may say so – one of the greatest mobile
revolutions of the past decade. More and more, mobile phones seem to
materialize out of our wildest dreams. Because of the tight integration
of third-party applications, you can do nearly everything with your
device — be it gaming, working, fooling around, and of course phoning.
Good Mobile Messaging: Executives and professional field forces spend an increasing amount of time on the road tending to business.
Mobile Apps - Native or Web?:
You probably have a plan to build a mobile app, but you've struggled
with the basic question - Should I build it using open web standards
such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, or should I build it as a native app
for the devices I want to target?
iBike Coach App- a new “Always On” feature always gathers data
Nike+ GPS App- for sports tracking, recording and sharing
Featured Events
Content & Apps for Automotive Europe 2012 (18-19 April, Germany)
will give you key insights on how in-vehicle connectivity is being
revolutionised as OEMs integrate dynamic content to stay relevant
throughout the vehicle life cycle.
Location Intelligence for Enterprise - Europe 2012, January 16-17, London Hear from Google, Jones Lang LaSalle, Tesco, Willis, Oracle,
ESRI, Microsoft, PBBI and many more as they debate the best strategies
for business models and integration.
Consumer Telematics Show 2012 (Jan 9, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, USA) is the most prestigious and
dynamic consumer telematics focused meeting for the automotive industry.
Held in Las Vegas on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES),
this year's senior-level speakers will include General Motors, Audi,
Toyota, Panasonic, Continental, Hughes Telematics, Gartner, KIA,
Mercedes-Benz and many more
Esri Dev Summit - The
Esri Developer Summit (DevSummit) brings together developers and GIS
professionals from all over the globe. March 26-29, 2012, Palm Springs,
CA
