Apr 15, 2015

Email  |  Twitter An Austin startup is operating its tech-based truck-and-driver rental business differently from the recently launched Buddytruk Inc. The company, Smackdab Inc., launched Burro in October 2014 and operates a mobile app designed to book trucks and driver in real time without scheduling or bidding. The idea is to enable a person who picked something up at a yard sale to connect with a truck and driver within an hour, co-founder Jason Ervin said. A major factor in Burro’s approach is the warehousing and delivery experience of the three founders, he said. “It’s not something where we just said, ‘Hey, let’s build an app for this,’” Ervin said. TechFlash: Austin's best tech news in your inbox, every weekday. Subscribe for free here. Last week, the Austin Business Journal reported that California-based Buddytruk rolled out its service in Austin with a mobile application designed to generate about $40 to $45 for an hour’s use of the driver and the truck. Drivers keep about 60 percent of the fee. At Burro, the lowest delivery price is $24.95, but the average is $40. Drivers take home 80 percent of the moving fee. Ervin declined to disclose the number of members Burro has enlisted since launching or the average number of deliveries per week. The company, which only operates in Austin, enlists six drivers and plans to expand to two other cities next month. Christopher Calnan covers technology, finance and clean energy for the Austin Business Journal. Subscribe to the Energy Inc. newsletter Related links: