By Tod Trousdell, Fleet Marketing Consultant
August 6, 2025
In this edition of Fleet Pro Focus, we take a step back from focusing on some of the veterans of the fleet space and speak with a relative newcomer, Nathan Reid, CEO of transporter uShip Logistics, an Austin, Texas-based company that helps fleets ship vehicles and anything else they might need to ship. An AFLA platinum sponsor the last two years, Reid has been encouraged by fleet’s response to his company’s flexible and cost-effective offering, which makes it fast and easy for fleets and fleet management companies to manage the entire transportation lifecycle for vehicles and other assets.
Please tell us a little about yourself.
I was raised in South Florida (Stuart) and moved to Austin, Texas after attending University of Florida. I’m an avid surfer, hiker, and snowboarder. I love to explore and have traveled to all 50 states and over 50 countries – many by motorcycle. I’m getting married in November and can’t wait to celebrate with friends and family. I also look forward to returning to Marco Island for AFLA, as I miss my home state of Florida!
What does uShip offer the fleet space and what do you mean by managing the transportation lifecycle?
uShip Logistics has been around since 2016 – and next year we’ll celebrate our 10th anniversary. We work with many industries – and even consumers – who leverage our proprietary technology to simplify the transportation process and save money. In the fleet space, we provide both one-off transport needs but also what we call “managed transportation services.” This process helps fleets save time and money by managing the entire transportation lifecycle – from asset acquisition to upfitting to repositioning – even when it comes time to remarket or retire an asset.
Being fairly new to fleet, what are your impressions of the industry?
I started my career in hospitality while working with Hilton Hotels. The fleet and hospitality worlds share a lot of similarities and at their heart are in the business of creating great customer experiences. The people I’ve met in the fleet space embody and demonstrate some of the best attributes one might see in the hospitality business. And the fleet professionals I’ve met seem to show a genuine desire to go above and beyond for the clients we all serve. When a business or a fleet has that at the heart of its ethos – and demonstrates it consistently and at a good price point – the rest often takes care of itself.
What stands out to you as the most important factors affecting your corner of fleet right now?
Like the rest of our world, AI is opening up a broad spectrum of new possibilities and some pretty interesting ways to serve fleet customers. Testing how we can leverage AI is among the most important things we’re working to integrate in ways that help our fleet customers save time, save money, and get more done with less. Among other things, we already have plans to use AI for greater client-specific customization, new routing and efficiency gains, and to help fast track the time it takes to turn client ideas into new services. We’re excited about what’s already here and are working quickly to innovate for our customers.
This is your second year as an AFLA Platinum sponsor. What can you tell us about that experience?
In 2023 our team visited almost every trade show or fleet conference out there. AFLA’s Palm Springs event stood out to us immediately. The event was one where we made the most genuine connections and quite frankly – had the most fun. I remember the moment when my colleague Heather and I first saw the schedule and said in unison: “There’s a pool party?!”
Beyond the fun, the extra thought and effort organizers put into the event was immediately noticeable and it fostered an environment for genuine idea exchange, relationship building, and partnership. I guess you could say it was our first taste of how genuine and caring fleet folks can be. It was such a meaningful event that we knew we wanted to find ways to contribute and to make AFLA our primary annual event. The San Antonio event was in our home state and was our first time sponsoring.
We were excited to get involved, started supporting the Hourglass Foundation and also enjoyed serving our favorite BBQ brisket between sessions. We even shipped full BBQ briskets to a few lucky winners on our prize wheel and are still receiving some great feedback from attendees who enjoyed the novelty. Overall, we’ve had a great experience as a sponsor and have found the organization to be a fantastic fit. We expect many more years of continued engagement with AFLA and want to help contribute wherever and however we can.
Have you had any mentors or anyone in the industry who has taken you under their wing or helped you on your fleet journey?
I’ve had invaluable mentors in my life, both professionally and personally. But when it comes to the fleet space, we’re still new and those relationships are just getting seeded. I’m always eager to meet people I can learn from and offer that same opportunity to others wherever I can help. The great thing about fleet professionals is that they are so engaging and so helpful that we’re going to meet some great people just by attending.
What do you think the industry needs to be keeping an eye on these days – what’s in fleet’s future?
Consolidation. We’ve seen it over the last few years with the large FMCs and, specifically, the risk of losing sight of customers along the way simply because of all the disruption. That’s something we’d like to help fleet address.
Consolidation is a natural part of the business cycle but pulling it off successfully requires extensive change management to avoid disrupting or devaluing an outstanding customer experience. I think we’re seeing that with issues like title work. The same can be said for technology disruptions like AI and the numerous ways it’s expected to permeate the customer experience.
To be successful at both, the fleet space will need to balance innovation and cost savings with service expectations and value tradeoffs. What that looks like will be different for everyone, but in our opinion, all fleet providers should look to their customers and their needs to inform them of the answer and decide the best way forward.
About the author
Fleet Pro Focus is written by Tod Trousdell, a marketing and fleet marketing consultant with more than 35 years helping brands communicate better. He and his partner Kathy Roberts own RobertsTrousdell, a boutique firm located in Atlanta. He can be reached at [email protected].
