Uship.com

[UberXY]

Anyone ever use this bidding website for shipping a bike? It's a trip.

 

I needed two bikes shipped so I put in two requests. One was just out of curiosity for a 200 mile haul for my new bike - I received about 20 bids, and they ranged from $203 to $2,400.

 

If someone is actually getting $2400 for a three hour trip, I think I will buy an F-550 and a nice 30 foot Featherlite and go into the bike hauling business

 

The other request was to take my sold bike from Virginia to Chicago. I received exactly 0 bids for this.

 

It's kind of hard to get a handle on who submits these bids. None of them were any of the many well-known brand names in the vehicle shipping business. I had this creepy feeling about some guy showing up in an E-250 towing a Tractor Supply landscape trailer.

 

In the end I turned them all down and will just do the hauling myself.

[na1g]

You could probably find someone to ride the bike there for free, or for airfare back. Well maybe not to Chicago - in January...

 

pete

[markgoodrich]

I dunno anything about the company except this story that appeared in the Austin paper:

 

http://tinyurl.com/7r9frwv

[BarOne]

Used them twice with good results. I did buy a trailer though and it's cheaper in the long run to do it myself over medium to short distances.

[UberXY]

I might add that this is not the best time to be shipping vehicles as a large portion of the reputable companies are doing deliveries in AZ for the car mega-auctions, and then lingering there to deliver the sold cars.

[David13]

I saw it on tv the other day. They under bid to get the job. The high price never gets the job. But he bids high because he doesn't want it.

Some of the low bids didn't have insurance, permits, etc.

Nor proper equipment. Bad tires. Cracked wheel.

But you take your chances with any company or person that does it for you. Yours might be the only one they ever have a problem with.

dc

[realshelby]

I deal with shipping companies every day. We tried the "truckstop.com" type of online services. Yes, once in a while you will get a load moved cheap. Most of the time the effort you have to put into screening the offers/bids and then what shows up is not what was promised makes the process risky and not worth the time. If it sounds to cheap to be true it probably is. Figure $2 per mile ( sometimes a little less )and you will be in the ballpark. Reputable operators will have insurance, will pick up on time, and deliver on time.

[LBump]

...Nor proper equipment. Bad tires. Cracked wheel.

But you take your chances with any company or person that does it for you. Yours might be the only one they ever have a problem with.

dc

 

A few years ago I used this service, from Uship, to have a truck moved from W. Virgina to CA.on a flatbed. The company I went with ended up not transporting on a flatbed. They decided to just drive it out with out me knowing. The idiot driving the diesel truck thought it would run on regular gas and ended up breaking down in Little Rock; ruining the injectors and fuel system. It turned into a real mess and I'm stll out 3800. I came to find out this company(individual) out of Ohio lied to me about everything. I should have done more research... My suggestion is to use a reputable company with a proven history; with all licences and insurance up to date. No flyby nights...

[skinny_tom (aka boney)]

I have a friend who's used them a couple of times. Both were great experiences. Both times the hauler was someone towing a boat or a horse trailer and delivering things for other people at a legitimate price. Both times, the hauler went a little bit out of their way to toss a motorcycle in the bed of the pickup for gravy. One of the guys also had a dog he was transporting for someone.

 

The cheap bids come in from the haulers who are already making money on a shipment that passes by whatever your route is.

[TEDZ]

Used it about 5 years ago with good results. It was to have a bike shipped from Calif. to Illinois. During the winter, so I didn't do a fly and ride.

[sdpc2]

I used them to have my bike shipped from GA to NY. Fair price, good service. I was very happy. Each hauler is different... do as much research as possible. (for instance, i didn't want my bike hauled in an open trailer in December).

 

YMMV

[Lets_Play_Two]

I used Ubid this summer when I was shipping two motorcycles from Florida to Washington (state). I was very specific about pick up and delivery needs and got several bids. I did not take the lowest but one who promised residential pickup and they would palletize, etc. When the shipping day neared, I started to get excuses about residential pickup and the need to charge for palletizing. Needless to say, I told them to forget it even though I had paid a $120 deposit (ubid did give me credit against future use). I ended up using Federal at the same price without any of the hassle.