Transportation

MedHaul Corporate Office

Founder Erica Hemphill, a diabetic and double amputee, was frustrated by her inability to get to medical appointments due to a lack of proper transportation.

MedHaul was founded in 2017. A Certified B Company, MedHaul enables healthcare providers to find and schedule transportation to care destinations for patients who have special in-transit support needs, as well as those who can travel independently.

Individuals don’t call for rides, but rather, the patient’s healthcare provider will book the appointment. While the company’s current outreach is for Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, northern Mississippi, and eastern Arkansas, they hope to expand to other areas of Tennessee and perhaps even other states.

For many people, including the elderly and low-income patients, MedHaul has been extremely helpful.

In the first two years of operation, MedHaul assisted with 9,000 rides.

Hemphill is among some of the biggest tech innovators when it comes to improving the lives of others in the community.

MedHaul maintains a corporate office in Memphis, Tennessee.

uShip Corporate Office

uShip was founded in 2003 by Matt Chasen, Jay Manickam, and Mickey Millsap. This trio developed the business plan while still attending college at the University of Texas School of Business.

From 2012 through 2015, uShip was part of a reality show called Shipping Wars, which followed a group of independent shippers that would bid for jobs posted on uShip.

The company has developed a Shipping Price Estimator which provides estimates for transport services based on a weighted average of similar goods transported over similar distances on the uShip marketplace.

In 2011, eBay began using uShip’s price estimator for large items such as cars, trucks, motorcycles, golf carts, and engines.

In July 2016, uShip partnered with trucking giant DB Schenker to power an online trucking platform.

Due to the coronavirus, uShip was forced to lay off 65 employees in April 2020.

uShip maintains a corporate office in Austin, Texas.

Waymo Corporate Office

Waymo is a self-driving car development company and a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet.

The company was started by Sebastian Thrun, a co-inventor of Google Street View. The development team consisted of 15 Google employed engineers, who won the 2005 DARPA prize of $2 million.

Their self-driving cars began testing in 2009. Some states had issues with the vehicles as all traffic and parking laws were made with the idea that a human being was driving and was ultimately responsible.

Nevada passed laws in 2011 allowing for special plates and identification of self-driving cars but still required that one person is behind the wheel in case of emergency or malfunction.

In 2014, the company unveiled a new prototype with no controls at all – no brake pedal, steering wheel, or gas pedal. This vehicle, nicknamed Firefly, was tested in San Francisco, California, as well as in Santa Clara, California, as well as Austin, Texas. No problems were encountered.

Google’s robotic cars have about $150,000 in equipment including a LIDAR system. The rangefinder is mounted on top of the vehicle, which uses a Velodyne 64-beam laser. This laser allows the vehicle to generate a detailed 3D map of the environment. The car then takes these generated maps and combines them with high-resolution maps of the world, producing different types of data models that allow it to drive itself.

There have been a total of 12 accidents involving self-driving cars, none of which were deemed to be the automated cars fault, but rather, persons either manually driving the vehicle or the other vehicle’s driver is at fault.

Waymo has begun an “early rider” program where these automated cars are being used by real persons in everyday situations. These tests are, at this time, only being conducted in Kirkland, Washington, Austin, Texas, metro Phoenix, Arizona, and the Mountain View, California, areas.

In 2017, the company introduced Chrysler hybrid mini-van Pacifica models, the first mass-produced, fully automated cars in the world.

Shofur Corporate Office

Shofur is a charter bus booking platform, which provides logistics and transportation. The company uses proprietary software with access to real-time availability data to match customers with bus operators. According to the company website, there are currently over 1,000 active bus operators registered on the platform.

The company boasts the availability of 2,500 buses, in more than 100 cities, and more than 1 million satisfied customers. The company also claims to have zero accidents. Several types of buses are available, including mini-buses, “entertainment” buses, and large charter buses, as well as limo service. The company also offers long term bus transportation for schools, government officials, and other organizations.

Shofur is listed as #21 on the 2017 Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Companies in America. In 2016, the company had annual revenue of $12.1 million and a three year growth rate of 10,448%. Additionally, the company took the #1 spot for both Top Atlanta Companies and Top Georgia Companies, as well as the #2 spot on the Inc. list of Top Logistics & Transportation Companies.

Trinity Air Medical Corporate Office

Trinity Air Medical was founded in Chandler, Arizona, in 2012 by current CEO Seth Bacon. The company provides transportation for those who need medical assistance or devices during transport.

The company works with insurance companies, private individuals, and senior citizen groups and arranges appropriate transportation for those with medical needs. The 2017 Inc. 5000 list of America’s Fastest Growing Companies puts the company as #87. In 2016, the company had annual revenue of $5.3 million and a three year growth rate of 4,316%.

Trinity Air Medical also took the #2 spot for both Top Phoenix Companies and Top Arizona Companies, as well as the #5 position on the Inc. 5000 list of Top Logistics and Transportation Companies.