What CitizenShipper Is and Is Not

In this guide, we’ll explain exactly how CitizenShipper works, what our platform does, and how our Trust and Safety initiatives facilitate a secure, stress-free shipping experience for you and your most valued possessions.

What We Are

CitizenShipper is an online transportation marketplace that connects people who have items they need shipped with qualified transporters in their area. 

• We provide the digital platform where shippers and transporters meet, negotiate, and agree on terms.
• Transporters on the platform are independent contractors and small business owners, not employees of CitizenShipper.
• CitizenShipper provides tools and resources designed to help customers make informed hiring decisions, including reviews, profile badges, identity verification, background checks, and customer support resources.

What We are Not

To ensure a transparent experience, it’s important to understand where our role ends and the transporter's begins.

• We are not a transport company. CitizenShipper does not own a fleet of vehicles or directly employ the drivers. We are not physically involved in the transit of your shipment.
• We do not dictate transporter pricing. Because transporters are independent contractors, they set their own quotes based on distance, equipment, and travel expenses. We enable the independent contractors to use a payment method that’s most convenient for their small business.

How Payments Work on CitizenShipper

Every shipment on CitizenShipper involves two distinct payments: the Booking Fee (paid to our platform) and the Driver’s Quote (paid to the transporter). How you pay the driver depends on what you are shipping:

• The Booking Fee is paid directly to CitizenShipper at checkout. This fee secures your chosen driver, and activates our Booking Assurance Guarantee.

• The Driver's payment is based on an agreed-upon, contracted quote through an internal messaging system.
• For most shipment categories, payment arrangements are made directly between customers and drivers. 

• Eligible pet shipments may use Secure Payments, which holds funds until delivery is confirmed.

   

How CitizenShipper Protects You?

We understand the anxiety of handing over your beloved pets or valuable items. That’s why we enforce strict guidelines to protect our community and offer best practice resources that shipping customers can use to gain insight when selecting a driver. :

• Identity Verification and Background Checks. Transporters must pass a stringent identity verification and comprehensive background screening. We also continuously monitor platform activity and driver accounts to uphold marketplace integrity.

• The Secure Messaging Platform. Our internal messaging system is your safest tool. It allows you to ask questions, request photos of equipment, and negotiate terms directly with drivers. To protect you from scams, personal contact information is kept private and cannot be exchanged until a bid is officially accepted. All communications remain on record for transparency.

• The Pet Protection Plan. Every pet booking automatically includes a $1,000 Pet Protection Plan at no additional cost. This protects you financially in the rare event of pet injuries, illnesses, or unexpected issues during transit.

• Transparent Profiles and Verified Credentials. Every driver’s profile showcases their verifications, verified customer reviews, experience, and photo. Drivers can also earn and display specific badges, such as USDA Registration, Insurance Verified, or "Pet Safety Trained."

Conclusion

When you use CitizenShipper, you are utilizing a secure marketplace to find, vet, and hire an independent transporter. While you contract directly with the driver of your choice, CitizenShipper provides the scaffolding to ensure that choice is a safe one.

By bringing together identity-verified transporters, transparent reviews, secure escrow payments, and safety initiatives, CitizenShipper limits the risks of transport so you can ship with total peace of mind.

Shipping customers and independent contractor transporters utilize our marketplace to find each other and they do so only after agreeing to certain risks and limitations and to indemnify CitizenShipper as outlined in our Terms and Conditions.