When Brad found himself looking for a career change, he and Carolynn bought a box truck to hit the road with every intent of getting \u201cpaid to travel.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it ultimately was easier said than done.<\/p>\n
The husband and wife team spent over two months trying to drum up business, including active e-commerce furniture shipments on the uShip marketplace. \u201cFor us, it was really a sink-or-swim situation. We bought this truck, so we had to make it work<\/strong>,\u201d Brad says.<\/p>\n Eventually, they landed their first uShip shipment. Carolynn recalls that it was a dresser traveling from Maryland to Long Island. \u201cWe had no reviews but this older couple took a chance on us. It all worked out, but we quickly realized the $150 we made on the delivery just wasn\u2019t going to cut it as a business model,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n To make it work on the road economically, they needed volume — and fast.<\/p>\n It was about this same time — late 2017 — that uShip was launching In-Home Delivery<\/strong>, a service dedicated to helping online furniture sellers and e-commerce marketplaces<\/a> ship their large and bulky goods.<\/p>\n One of those customers was (and continues to be) Everything But The House<\/strong><\/a>, or EBTH, an online estate auction marketplace that uses uShip to get furniture and other large and bulky items from their various warehouses to end buyers\u2019 homes.<\/p>\n As Brad and Carolynn tapped into a consistent shipment volume from EBTH\u2019s Baltimore warehouse, what started out as sink-or-swim survival turned into catching the perfect wave of e-commerce furniture shipping and uShip’s In-Home Delivery.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWe just kinda fell into it,\u201d Brad says.<\/p>\n Over time, the Bogles have found a regular route, a stable schedule, and gained a better understanding of the economics of shipping. They also learned early on that traveling with their cat was a really bad idea.<\/p>\n And now, in just three years, they find themselves among uShip\u2019s Top 20 In-Home Delivery carriers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In the last 12 months, they\u2019ve booked over 300 In-Home Delivery shipments, mostly through EBTH and another In-Home Delivery partner Chairish<\/strong><\/a>, making CircleB Shipping a Platinum Power Carrier<\/strong>. They have 100% feedback, a 4.9 star rating, and an even more impressive 1% cancellation rate.<\/p>\n Their business now includes other uShip categories as well as private clients. Overall, uShip represents 60% of their overall business.<\/p>\n Given the couple\u2019s shipping success and volume, they were ideal candidates for uShip\u2019s latest product, Electronic Bill of Lading<\/strong>, or eBOL for short.<\/p>\n eBOL makes it easy for carriers<\/a> like the Bogles to replace the paper BOL process with digital photos, notes, and customer sign-off. As one of the main ways logistics is going digital, it’s designed to give consistent, instant, and secure digitized shipment documentation to carriers and their shipping customers.<\/p>\n \u201ceBOL forces you to take photos of items. For anyone in shipping, this is a really good idea,\u201d <\/strong>Brad says.<\/p>\n Carolynn has started using eBOL\u2019s \u201cUnable to Collect Signature<\/strong>\u201d feature, allowing her to obtain a \u2018signature\u2019 even when no one is available at pickup or delivery, or when customers prefer not to handle the Bogle\u2019s cell phone to sign out of an abundance of COVID-19 caution.<\/p>\n Admittedly, adopting eBOL during the beta testing period had a learning curve for the Bogles, especially as they worked around COVID-19 restrictions and customers\u2019 safety concerns. They continue to mask up for protection. But now, they use eBOL almost exclusively on eligible shipments.<\/p>\n While they\u2019ve been getting their eBOL sea legs, they\u2019ve been using a combination of eBOL on the uShip app as well as their in-truck printer that spits out paper BOLs. This is allowing them to compare and contrast the differences, benefits, and efficiencies.<\/p>\n While there\u2019s familiarity with the printer-and-paper method (along with disposable pens), Brad admits the traditional method isn\u2019t foolproof.<\/p>\n \u201cThe printer has tripped us up at times,\u201d he says. \u201cAs I think about it more, given the time spent printing and buying ink, eBOL overall can be faster.\u201d<\/p>\n eBOL is now widely available across uShip to all carriers and shipping customers in select categories and commodities<\/a> in Household Goods<\/strong> (including furniture), Motorcycles &<\/strong>\u00a0Mopeds<\/strong> (including ATVs), Cars & Light Trucks<\/strong> (including RVs), Boats<\/strong> (including powerboats and sailboats), and Less-Than-Truckload\/LTL<\/strong> (including new and used commercial goods).<\/p>\n Plus, for carriers with drivers, they can send a single magic weblink to their drivers<\/a>, who can then use eBOL without having a uShip account or the uShip app.<\/p>\n To tap into eBOL, download the latest version of uShip\u2019s updated mobile app on both iOS<\/a> and Android<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really important that both shipping customers and transporters exercise caution so that we can continue to provide a safe delivery process \u2013 eBOL will be an essential tool moving forward to make this happen,\u201d<\/strong> Brad says.<\/p>\n![\"Man](\"https:\/\/www.uship.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2099-1024x754.jpeg\")
<\/a>Catching the In-Home Delivery Wave<\/h2>\n
![\"transport](\"https:\/\/www.uship.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-06-at-5.42.44-PM-1024x644.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nTapping into eBOL<\/h2>\n
![\"woman](\"https:\/\/www.uship.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_2097-1024x820.jpeg\")
eBOL Now Available<\/h2>\n
![\"uShip](\"https:\/\/www.uship.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/01-Share-eBOL-with-a-driver-172x300.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n