Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry, Green Lorry?

Manchester, UK – 3/1/2009 – Official estimates have revealed that a quarter of all lorries¹ and 15 per cent of vans² on Britain's roads are completely empty. That's over 112,000 lorries and 450,000 vans, releasing a shocking and unnecessary 24 million tonnes of CO2 a year - 5% of the UK's annual carbon footprint. Shiply.com was established in June 2008 to tackle this issue by creating an online transport marketplace place which matches consumer and business transportation requirements with empty shipment routes. To ship an item, users simply list the goods they want to move on the website for free and sit back and wait to receive competitive bids (like a reverse-auction) from feedback-rated hauliers looking to utilise their spare capacities to carry out the jobs. In doing so, the website:

– fills empty load space and secures extra shipments for haulage firms;
– cuts haulage costs for businesses and consumers by up to 75%;
– reduces CO2 emissions; and
– decreases congestion on the roads.

Since its launch last year, Shiply.com has established relationships with over 3,500 haulage companies and saved over 1.3 million miles of unutilised transportation. The company broke even within its first 6 months of trading, is currently experiencing growth of 100% per month and is on course to surpass a £500,000 turnover in 2010. It is also now a certified member of the eBay Developers Program and has developed eBay tools which allow bidders to import eBay items they have won or are currently bidding on into Shiply – ready to receive to bids from transportation service providers.

Robert Matthams, managing director of Shiply.com, says: "Anything that needs to be moved from a small box, to cars, boats or even entire household removals can be listed on the site – free. Our aim is to help ease monotonous consumer shipping processes, whilst also contributing towards a greener solution".

Matthams adds: "Users find that they no longer need to waste valuable time phoning around for quotes, they can let feedback-rated transportation companies bid and compete for their work. They can answer questions when it's convenient to them, online, and avoid those unwanted calls."

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For further information about Shiply.com please contact the press department on 0161 408 2979.

Notes to Editors:

• www.shiply.com

1 Freight on Rail - http://snipurl.com/21yn6
2 Department for Transport - http://snipurl.com/2569m
3 Taken: 11/03/08

eBay

At any one time there are over 930,000³ items listed on eBay which are available for local collection, usually due to their oversized nature. This may deter prospective bidders who don't live locally. The prospect of arranging a courier is time consuming and not to mention expensive. Shiply, a certified member of the eBay Developers Program, has developed eBay tools which allow bidders to import eBay items they have won or are currently bidding on into Shiply – ready to receive to bids from transportation service providers.

eBay sellers who copy and paste the Shiply widget into their listings can expect a higher winning price as more bidders are encouraged by the prospect of reduced shipping costs and less hassle.