Talk me into or out of uShip

[bort2.0]

Considering using uShip for a tuba transport about 1000 miles from here.

Basically, instrument in the bag/case rides along in someone's truck/SUV/van, and point to point delivery, along a route of other people's dropoffs and pickups. Fully insured. Carriers bid for the package and you choose who to have transport it for you.

I've heard from one person that I trust, who has used it before and said it was a good experience.

Anyone else?

[tofu]

.

[gnimoyw]

Agreed - seems very hit and miss. I used it to ship a car once and everything was fine. Took longer than expected, but it arrived without any additional damage. Some of the bids I got were all over the map, and you can tell there's a lot of bottom feeders on there.

[bort2.0]

Thanks -- I'll have to think on it a little more. The people who've contacted me with bids have been friendly and helpful, and seem to at least say all the right words. But it's still dealing with strangers, and I'm just very nervous about that these days. At least with FedEx or UPS, if that package goes missing, that's on them. If a uShip package goes missing, I don't know what happens, except that things would probably be a lot different than if it was FedEx or UPS.

And I don't know whether it helps or not, but this is small beans compared to moving boats, cars, heavy freight, etc. A few hundred bucks is just a nice little bonus for people who are already hauling something much larger and heavier. That is, if someone's already been contracted to haul a boat across the country, it's nearly free money for them to stick a tuba in the back of the truck and take it with them, making a stop along the way. And if someone already has entrusted them with hauling a boat for $,$$$, then should I doubt their ability to tack on a piece of (basically) luggage?

[York-aholic]

I’ve been thinking down a similar path now that greyhound is a goner.

[Yorkboy]

Questions to ask, especially if it is being transported in a personal vehicle:

* where does the horn stay when they stop at a hotel for the night?

* if they get in a wreck, who pays for the damage, and what happens to the horn if the car needs to be towed?

* if they get arrested or have a medical emergency, and the car is impounded or otherwise detained, what happens to the horn?

If I’ve learned anything, when dealing with individuals (especially ones I don’t know) anything is possible.

For a distance of 1,000 miles, if it were something I cared about, I’d drive it personally (and have done same numerous times).

Another option would be to buy 2 airline tickets (assuming the horn is only traveling one way) and bring it with me on the plane (I’ve done this, too). A flight of 1,000 miles probably takes about 3 hours; both ways could theoretically be done in the same day.

Once again: I’m not suggesting anything that I haven’t already done personally, and successfully.

[bloke]

Questions to ask, especially if it is being transported in a personal vehicle:

* where does the horn stay when they stop at a hotel for the night?

* if they get in a wreck, who pays for the damage, and what happens to the horn if the car needs to be towed?

* if they get arrested or have a medical emergency, and the car is impounded or otherwise detained, what happens to the horn?

If I’ve learned anything, when dealing with individuals (especially ones I don’t know) anything is possible.

For a distance of 1,000 miles, if it were something I cared about, I’d drive it personally (and have done same numerous times).

Another option would be to buy 2 airline tickets (assuming the horn is only traveling one way) and bring it with me on the plane (I’ve done this, too). A flight of 1,000 miles probably takes about 3 hours; both ways could theoretically be done in the same day.

I believe Brett drives a Nissan Leaf, and it's starting to get cooler outside...

[Yorkboy]

Does that mean his car will be falling from a tree soon (“leaf” and “cooler weather”)?

[royjohn]

We had a discussion once about private individuals taking someone's tuba somewhere and it was pointed out that if they didn't own the horn, and there was a crash or it was stolen, the car owner's insurance would not cover the horn. You could possibly be covered if you technically sold the shipper the horn and they sold it at the end of the trip, but that gets complicated and probably isn't an option with Uship.

[Sousaswag]

So, what’s our consensus here?

I’m considering using uship to bring a tuba to IL from Dallas. The cost is less than airfares would be, and I can’t do a 13-hour one way driving trip right now.

I’m thinking, maybe, stick an AirTag into the tuba somewhere, so that way should the tuba go somewhere without the case, I’ll know where it is.

Still formulating… I’ve heard good things from Dr. Tindall’s posts here and some others on the other forums…

[arpthark]

So, what’s our consensus here?

I’m considering using uship to bring a tuba to IL from Dallas. The cost is less than airfares would be, and I can’t do a 13-hour one way driving trip right now.

I’m thinking, maybe, stick an AirTag into the tuba somewhere, so that way should the tuba go somewhere without the case, I’ll know where it is.

Still formulating… I’ve heard good things from Dr. Tindall’s posts here and some others on the other forums…

You could always ask the buyer to mail it back to you, too.

[Sousaswag]

I am the buyer

[Stryk]

I believe the Horn Guys use BikeShip to send tubas. They said the cheapest and best they have found.

[cjk]

Is this uShip thing a community run thing, or backed by a company?

If backed by a company, wouldn't the company be responsible for theft, damage, or loss? It'd be better business for them to carry insurance to cover that to inspire customer confidence. If they don't, I don't think I'd bother.

[bloke]

If it's worth upwards of $10,000 or more, either the two of you need to meet in the middle or the more motivated of the two needs to do all the driving to sell or fetch it.

If it's only worth a couple thousand bucks or less and will fit in the largest UPS or FedEx ground carton, I would bubble wrap and packing pillow the thing and use all the packing strategies that bloke would use, and send it on its way.

I'm no more interested in some dude that I don't know delivering stuff that I care about than I am having some dude that I don't know driving me somewhere in their car.

I think an instructive question to ask is "why do people sign up for either of those enterprises?" Seemingly, the logical answer is that "they have time on their hands", so then the next question is "why do they have time on their hands?"

[bort2.0]

I seem to recall a few different coverage options with uShip -- and because the carriers are independent contractors, they also have a variety of coverage for themselves.

I ended up not using uShip, but only because the timing with the better carriers didn't work out.

For example, one person had a large SUV and typically hauls/delivers boats across the country. He was picking up a boat in MN and driving it to TX, which is where my tuba was going. Nothing else in the back of the SUV, which had blacked out windows and is otherwise secure. And since he was used to transporting $$,$$$ boats, he carried a higher level of insurance coverage than most people. Beyond that, I think you can purchase additional insurance, and clearly, you can insure the tuba yourself through Clarion or whatever.

But then another person was light on details, and kind of pushy about meeting up to make the deal. No thanks.

So I get what you're saying, Joe, about "why do these people have time on their hands?" For some of them, they are glorified DoorDash drivers and who knows what you're getting. For others, they are professional drivers who basically are freelance/self-employed with the help of the shipping platform... and it's a matter of "I'm going there anyway, can I make a few extra bucks by filling the rest of my truck with other stuff?" The latter seems like something you would appreciate!

[Breavdah]

One common profile of a Ushipper is a motorcycle transporter who can throw some extra junk on top or in-between bikes.
It works pretty good. It only gets handled by one guy, instead of multiple transfers in FedEx/UPS so numbers are in your favor.

After seeing 2 FedEx doubles set trucks wrecked in the highway median in 3 weeks, it looks even better.

[Mary Ann]

Just a short comment on coverage: Insure it with Clarion before the trip. I did that when I bought the 184 that was shipped from Idaho to Tucosn via UPS. It arrived fine, but if it hadn't, it was insured. I have had Clarion for a very long time, so it wouldn't have been a case of "you just insured it last week, and now you want to collect, and we've never heard of you before."

[bort2.0]

"you just insured it last week, and now you want to collect, and we've never heard of you before."

If it's a legit claim and you paid your premium, that shouldn't matter. Same with car insurance. Start a new policy and someone crashes into you tomorrow... That's why you have insurance.

Now, they might pay and then drop you, but I think they still have to pay you.

It's not like life insurance where people try to buy a new policy, then do something awful like suicide, murder, or fake their own death to fraudulently collect the payout... Only to find out that there's a time requirement that doesn't pay out for things within the first year or whatever.

[Sousaswag]

I'm still on the fence about it. I think what is most likely is that I will fly out there. I'd like to do it over the course of one day. We'll see.