It has been a trying time for the haulier industry with business volumes falling 30% in 2008 and fuel prices heading uncontrollably northbound, leading to 16% of hauliers going bust in 2008. This dynamic has made transporters sensitive to the wastage and inefficiencies in their industry – UK vans are empty for approx 15% of their miles; for lorries the number is 25%.

Perhaps the biggest commercial saviour for transporters is to iron out these inefficiencies. That’s the mission of Texas-based uShip, the developer of an online market place for goods delivery. uShip connects people needing heavy and bulky goods moved with transporters who have room in their vehicles. The cleantech element here is that it allows transporters to monetize journeys that they may be travelling anyway with spare capacity, particularly return journeys after single trip drop offs. The result is that the same number of deliveries can be completed in fewer journeys and miles.

For a detailed profile of uShip as well as a host of other leading innovating cleantech companies, see Cleantech Group’s new i3 platform (for subscribers only).

Since it was established in 2004, uShip has rapidly expanded its functionality, user base, and geographical …