The idea of the sharing economy is taking the world by storm. Look at Uber, a taxi service with no taxis; Airbnb, an accommodation service with no real estate; Jumpr, a transportation service that owns no cars – what about a shipping service with no hired employees or shipping routes?

This is DropTrip, a shipping service that lets drivers rent out the unused space in their car. Similar to the rideshare concept of having riders pay for an empty seat, DropTrip allows drivers to use unused space to transport everything from kayaks to kittens.

Doug Warner, DropTrip founder, thought of the idea when his job moved him from Bozeman, Montana to Sydney, Australia. As an avid climber, he hoped to ship some equipment from the U.S. but found it cost three times as much to ship as it was to buy it.

“It got me thinking about transferring between locations,” Warner said. “There are things difficult to get from point A to point B – but there are people moving between them all the time so why can’t they carry it?”

From Startup Weekend to Success

He pitched the idea at Startup Weekend Bozeman in 2013, created a stellar team, and won. After a year of market research and another year of writing code, they officially launched DropTrip in February of this year. Since then they’ve averaged 30% user growth a month, and have made 4 months of revenue, Warner said.

Warner has watched a variety of shipping demands emerge through DropTrip. Small businesses are using it to ship items that are problematic to ship by carrier, such as pre-packaged specialty foods like BBQ sauce, pickles, and relishes stored in glass jars. Pets have also become a popular one, moving from pet stores to new homes, Warner said.

On the consumer end, a popular demand is transporting used furniture purchased off craigslist, Warner said, as well as bicycles, kayaks, stand-up paddleboards and other clunky outdoor equipment.

“You can ship a bike but it has to be broken into components and then reassembled,” Warner said. “With DropTrip you can find someone who has a bike rack. It’s a lot more straightforward.”

Safe Shipping

What about illegal activity and theft?

Those are the two big questions Warner receives, he said. His answer relies heavily on the honor system of the sharing economy – the same that has made Airbnb, Uber, and rideshares successful.

“We study the market and the sharing economy,” he said. “It’s very interesting because of the social context that happens. The driver meets the shipper. They have to meet them. So there’s this very strong social bond, that is not unlike Airbnb. When you have a social contract, people treat things better than when you don’t. Like the FedEx guy tossing the package? That won’t happen.”

DropTrip offers a $5,000 insurance coverage on the shipping item, for damage or loss. There is a $1M insurance policy on the vehicle as well.

“When you accept a dollar for moving something, your insurance may consider that to become a commercial activity,” Warner said. “We didn’t want our users to be surprised by that. We got a policy to cover all of that.”

As for illegal activity, Warner said that no one would ever be arrested for doing something they didn’t know they were doing. If the situation feels sketchy, drivers and shippers can cancel at any time, he said. Drivers also must be 21 or over, he said.

The Dough

The person shipping, or “the shipper”, sets the price based on length of trip and the object being shipped. Of that money DropTrip takes $2.00 + 20% and the driver, or “the traveler,” takes the remaining money.

Drivers are paid through their DropTrip accounts, which include direct deposit to their bank accounts. DropTrip uses PayPal product Braintree to manage the transactions using an escrow model, Warner said.

Fargobound

DropTrip is seeing success in Montana. Now, they’re ready to expand.

After hearing Doug Burgum speak at a tech conference in Bozeman, Warner turned his eyes towards Fargo. He liked what he saw.

“Fargo is right in that connection,” Warner said, noting that the well-traveled route between Minneapolis and Fargo is exactly the situation they look for with DropTrip. “Fargo has the concept of what it’s like to be in rural state where they are connected to the outlying communities and need to travel things back and forth.”

Ultimately, Warner said, they have their eyes set globally. Although there is some national and international competition with similar models, Warner is pressing forward moving from “neighbor to neighbor.”

“If your community has an interest they can jump start it on their own,” he said. “There are travelers everywhere. You’re just leveraging the trips already being taken.”

Come learn more about DropTrip with Doug Warner at 1 Million Cups tomorrow, November 11. 9:15 AM at the Stage at Island Park.