New reality TV show features uShip & owner-operators

Dec. 16, 2011
Six owner-operators and uShip, an online auction house for independent truckers, are the “stars” of a new reality TV show set to debut on Jan. 10 on A&E.

Six owner-operators and uShip, an online transportation marketplace, are the “stars” of a new reality TV show set to debut on Jan. 10 on A&E.

The show follows five independent carriers, including one team (using everything from pick-up trucks to Class 8 tractor-trailers) who have decided that fortunes might be made “transporting items that traditional carriers won’t touch.” The 10-episode, half-hour series begins with back-to-back episodes Tuesday, Jan. 10 beginning at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

(To see a clip from the new show, click here)

Dean Jutilla, a spokesperson for uShip, told Fleet Owner that the series centers on competition among the owner-operators for who can make the most profit hauling various specialized loads. Each program follows the truckers from the bidding process to the delivery point, calculating costs of operation all along the way. The winner is the one who has the most to show for their efforts.

Launched in 2004, uShip is “an online shipping marketplace that connects people with customer-reviewed transport companies that can move hard-to-ship items such as cars, motorcycles, boats, household goods, LTL (less-than-truckload), FTL (full truckload), heavy equipment, horses and more. Transporters place competing bids to win a customer’s business.”

(For pictures of the cast, click here)

Today, the privately held company operates globally with localized functionality in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, the European Union, Canada and Australia.

By the way, don’t let the title of the new series fool you. A&E has dubbed it “Shipping Wars,” leveraging off the success of an earlier series called “Storage Wars.” The independent truckers are accordingly called “shippers,” but you’ll know what they mean.

“Shipping Wars” is produced by Megalomedia for A&E Network. The executive producer is Jonathan Nowzaradan. Co-executive producers are Tom Mireles, Jeff Keels and Graham Davidson. A&E executive producers are David McKillop, Elaine Frontain Bryant, and Neil A. Cohen.
About the Author

Wendy Leavitt

Wendy Leavitt joined Fleet Owner in 1998 after serving as editor-in-chief of Trucking Technology magazine for four years.

She began her career in the trucking industry at Kenworth Truck Company in Kirkland, WA where she spent 16 years—the first five years as safety and compliance manager in the engineering department and more than a decade as the company’s manager of advertising and public relations. She has also worked as a book editor, guided authors through the self-publishing process and operated her own marketing and public relations business.

Wendy has a Masters Degree in English and Art History from Western Washington University, where, as a graduate student, she also taught writing.  

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