Start-up Spotlight | ‘Ship It Pro’ is ensuring transparency in end-to-end logistics
The founder, Wesley Montague was selected to participate in the six-week gener8tor and Company Lab (CO.LAB) Sustainable Mobility Accelerator in Chattanooga.
When Wesley Montague talks about the logistics industry, he doesn’t start with flashy tech or buzzwords. He starts with a problem: a $300 billion global waste issue caused by cargo damage and freight claims.
“People want to know where their product is and when it’s going ot arrive,” Montague said. “But does that really matter if it’s damaged at the end of the day?”
That question led Montague, a 20-year veteran of load securement and damage prevention, to found Ship It Pro, a Memphis-based start-up that’s transforming how goods are loaded, tracked, and protected across all modes of transportation.
Complicated problem: Simple solution
Montague spent two decades climbing in and out of tractor-trailers, containers, and boxcars, designing load plans to prevent shifting and damage. But he kept running into the same issue: high turnover on loading docks meant constant retraining, inconsistent practices, and rising damage claims.
“I’d train all four shifts at a plant, and six months later, I’d come back and see all new faces,” he said. “I thought, there’s got to be an easier way to do this.”
That realization sparked the creation of Ship It Pro’s Transportation Damage Management System (TDMS)—a logistics-first, AI-powered platform that documents loading practices at origin, tracks outcomes at destination, and provides real-time insights to reduce damage and improve safety.
Ship It Pro’s TDMS is designed to be mode-agnostic and commodity-flexible, meaning it can be used across rail, truck, sea, and air transport. The system uses machine learning to analyze loading patterns, identify risks, and recommend best practices tailored to specific cargo types.
“We started developing a 3D load planner in 2023,” Montague said. “Now it’s evolved into a full transportation damage management system.”
The platform doesn’t just track shipments—it documents how they’re loaded, flags deviations from best practices, and fosters bottom-up communication between shippers, carriers, and receivers. That transparency is key to reducing waste and improving accountability.
Montague’s vision for Ship It Pro got a boost this fall when the company was selected for The Company Lab (CO.LAB) Sustainable Mobility Accelerator powered by gener8tor, a 12-week program in Chattanooga that supports start-ups working on the future-forward movement of goods, people, energy, and data.
“I love the focus—getting us into pilot programs, putting finishing touches on the business model from ideation to revenue,” Montague said. “It’s a great accelerator to make things happen quickly.”
The program offers $20,000 in initial funding, access to corporate partners, and a showcase event to pitch to investors and industry leaders. It’s part of Chattanooga’s broader push to become a hub for sustainable mobility innovation, leveraging assets like EPB’s quantum network and partnerships with TVA, Volkswagen, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
With the program as a lunch point, Montague’s goal is to make Ship It Pro the standard for safe loading practices across all modes of transportation.
“If we start utilizing this system widely, we’ll see less waste, rising profits, and enhanced safety on roads, rails, and seas,” he said.
With a clear problem, a scalable solution, and a growing network of support, Ship It Pro has the opportunity to redefine how the logistics industry thinks about damage prevention—and how Tennessee continues to lead in mobility and transportation innovation.
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