SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 14, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Unishippers Global Logistics, LLC, the nation's first and one of the largest small package and freight shipping resellers, is now rolling out its new national franchise model without geographic boundaries. After selling out all of its original available geographic-based territories, it is modifying the concept of "territories," allowing existing and new franchisees to serve b2b customers anywhere in the country.
The new national franchise model, which carries a relatively low franchise fee, has opened the Unishippers opportunity to many prospective franchisees that were once locked out due to a lack of available territory and investment size. Unishippers plans to sell 6-8 of these new national franchises in 2012 with the first franchisee already on board.
"I'm very excited to be able to identify and service industries and customers nationwide in addition to my local market," said Brian Lendin, the first Unishippers national franchisee. "Being able to sell nationwide with such a low-cost franchise fee makes this an unparalleled opportunity – I don't think I could have made a better business decision."
The new franchise model will add coveted franchise availability to major metro markets that have been sold out for years while also allowing existing franchisees to more freely offer b2b logistic solutions to businesses outside of their geographic area; thereby opening opportunities for both new and existing franchisees – particularly those in rural markets. The unique nature of this expansion concept – laying a geographic system and a national system together – came from Unishippers franchisees that were looking for ways to increase their market share for the system's overall good.
"Unishippers truly is the best kept secret in the entire franchise industry and an ideal fit for proven sales and management executives looking to put their experience and skills to work for themselves and own their own business," said Kevin Lathrop, president of Unishippers. "This is exciting news for both entrepreneurs looking to get into the logistics industry and for current franchisees with existing locations as they will also be given the opportunity to opt into the new system, if they choose. This new model could potentially be replicated by other mature service franchises for which international expansion would be less than ideal."
Serving as an intermediary between small to mid-size businesses and both regional and national shipping carriers, Unishippers consistently saves its 50,000 small to mid-size business customers an average of 20 percent on nearly 6 million shipments annually.
Unishippers franchisees re-sell shipping services, including small package express, ground and freight, and negotiate volume discounts with more than 30 carriers, including UPS®, Saia® and YRCTM Freight, which in turn saves customers money. In addition to savings, customers also have access to a dedicated, often local, account team for service, multiple carrier options from one company, a single point of contact and one invoice for all their transportation needs.
In order to greater assist its customers, Unishippers also has a wide array of superior technological tools and management systems designed especially for the SMB market in place. In addition to its proprietary transportation management software, including Freight Manager and Express Manager, that assist customers rating and routing their shipments, Unishippers also provides an innovative customer relationship management (CRM) system built specifically for Unishippers that makes customer management and billing simple, customizable and efficient.
"From our humble beginning in a single family home in Salt Lake City to the more than 800 workers employed by Unishippers' franchisees nationwide today, there are very few businesses, much less franchise concepts, that can offer customers the kind of service and consistent savings that we provide," added Lathrop.
About Unishippers
Founded in 1987, Unishippers has grown to the largest reseller of shipping services in the nation with more than 290 franchise locations. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT, the Unishippers concept is simple – work with major carriers including UPS®, Saia, Estes and YRC Freight to handle the pickup, transport and delivery of customers' shipments. All the while, local franchisees work to provide customers with service and support. By leveraging the combined shipping volume of all its customers, Unishippers gets deeply discounted rates from its carriers, resulting in lower shipping costs. Unishippers serves more than 50,000 small to mid-sized businesses, and has been recognized as a top franchise by Entrepreneur, Franchise Times and AllBusiness. For information on Unishippers, including information on franchising opportunities and price quotes, visit www.unishippers.com.