Need a pickup truck on-demand? Now you can request a Bungii in Kansas City.
“We’ve been compared to popular ride-sharing apps (cough, Uber), but instead of moving people, we move people’s stuff,” says Bungii co-founder Ben Jackson.
“We’re an app that puts a truck at your fingertips to help move, haul and deliver stuff around town.”
For example, let’s just say, hypothetically of course, that you went to First Fridays/Warehouse Weekends in the West Bottoms in search of a small, vintage lamp and ended up with a 50-inch antique dresser. No matter which way you turn it, that piece of furniture is not going to fit into your Prius.
Cue Bungii
In a click of a button, a pickup truck is on the way to save the day (for $1/minute and $1/mile with a $30 minimum). The average wait time for a truck is ~15 minutes, 30 minutes max—even in the midst of First Fridays’ craziness!
Download the Bungii App
“We’re constantly monitoring our driver availability, especially during busy times. So if you’re in the Kansas City area, we’re confident there will be a driver available when you need one,” co-founder Harrison Proffitt says.
A gift from Bungii: Use promo code “KCHOMES365” for $10 off your first trip. Enter the promo code in the “Save Money” page of the app and it will automatically be applied to your trip.
Before you hand over your Santa Sleigh for hauling (yes they’ve really delivered one of those), you might be wondering where these guys come from and if they’re, well, trustworthy. It all started on a hot afternoon in Manhattan, KS, in 2014. On that particular day, Jackson had four requests to use his ’99 Ford Ranger. The next day in class at K-State, Ben whispered his predicament to Bungii co-founder Harrison Proffitt who replied, “Let’s start a business.”
Bungii founders Harrison Proffitt and Ben Jackson
Fast forward to present day and now they have a team of more than 50 drivers and they’ve partnered with more than 30 Kansas City companies. In some cases they’ve replaced the company’s delivery service completely.
“Someone caught wind of Bungii at a local fire department and before we knew it, we had local firefighters, policemen and EMTs applying to put their pickups to work,” Jackson says. “All Bungii drivers undergo background checks, vehicle checks, personal interview and driver training. [Even firefighters.]”
And these trained drivers come in handy, because they’ll handle the heavy lifting—all drivers must be able to lift at least 100 pounds. While Bungii is a large-item delivery service, they’ll also be there for you on moving day.
“We find that people will crunch as much as they can into their cars, then use Bungii for the final large objects, like their couch and bed,” Jackson says. “It may take more than one trip but we’ve been told it’s still substantially cheaper and more convenient than renting a U-Haul.”
Plus Bungii comes with another set of hands to help out, he says. Which is kind of how the company name came to be. Flashback to June 2015, Jackson and Proffitt were having trouble coming up with the perfect name but in the middle of a delivery, inspiration hit.
“When putting a customer’s dresser in the back of my truck, I asked Harrison if he could throw me a bungee cord,” Jackson says.
“That’s it!” Proffitt says. “Bungee cords are inexpensive, reliable and flexible, just like our business.”
And from that moment on, they’ve been known as Bungii.