|
Rugged:
Crowned the kings of efficiency,
bicycle couriers flood the streets
|
|
By Cody Glenn
Temple News, October 17, 2006
Remember stories of the Pony Express from history class? You know,
those brave young lads who delivered mail on horseback in 1860 when
there was a need for a fast, reliable parcel service.
They stormed through fields, barreled along narrow mountain trails and
navigated endless deserts at breakneck speed in an attempt to meet
their deadlines.
To qualify, riders had to weigh less than 125 pounds and have
experience with horses. Basically, they were scrawny, toughas-nails
dudes risking their lives in the name of efficiency.
Sound familiar? Today, our major cities see a strikingly similar breed
of messengers: the bicycle courier. These urban warriors also embark on
perilous missions in all weather conditions, weaving in and out of
traffic, dodging car doors and avoiding pedestrians in their quest to
deliver the package.
Swap the horse for a customized bike, substitute narrow trails with
narrow city streets and throw a single-strap sling pack on their backs
and it's essentially the same line of work.
"This job is a lot different than what most people think," said Eric
Nordberg, owner of TimeCycle Couriers, Philadelphia's largest bicycle
messenger service. "It's constant riding, running and taking elevators
- many 'newbies' quit within the first week."
Depending on the time of year, there are roughly 100 professional
bicycle couriers in Philadelphia. On a good day, they can handle close
to 35 orders and those on commission can earn up to $150.
Chet Grundle, a courier for C&E Legal Courier Service Inc., which
caters mainly to law firms, has delivered parcels on his bike in
Philadelphia for more than five years. The 36-year-old veteran
messenger has also worked for more than seven different courier outfits
in his career. He shows no signs of slowing down.
"Being a bike courier in the city is a great gig," Grundle said. "I was
a carpenter before I started messaging and I love this job because I
get to ride around, meet a ton of new people and see new things every
day."
In an era of fax machines, e-mail and parcel services like Fed Ex, DHL
and UPS, bicycle messaging may seem to be something of a novelty
enterprise. This is not the case, according to Nordberg.
"Clients choose bike couriers because we are hands down the fastest,
most reliable means to get something from point A to point B in the
city," Nordberg said. "The post office is extra slow in cities so
people even give us packages for the following day because they don't
trust them."
Nordberg started working as a bike messenger in 1989 and founded
TimeCycle
in 1991 with one other rider and a pair of pagers. Today, TimeCycle
employs 21 regular couriers as well as 15 drivers for larger orders and
extensive distances and handles anywhere from 500 to 650 parcels a day.
In addition to TimeCycle and C&E Legal, there are an abundance of
other courier services for businesses to choose from in the city like
Heaven Sent, 1-Hr. Rapid, Kangaroo, Legal Beagle, American Expediting
and MCS.
"Many companies don't have a favorite, preferred courier," Grundle
said. "They'll just call around and choose the firm that can guarantee
the fastest delivery time."
The way a courier service conducts its day-to-day operations is in this
fashion: An office in City Hall will call to place a delivery order, a
service's dispatcher will then get their location, request and
destination, relay that information to one of its couriers on the road
and the closest rider to the site will get the nod.
TimeCycle, for instance, offers various rates depending on urgency and
location. Their standard 1-hour "Rush" service is $5.50 within the
Center City zone, a 30-minute "SuperRush" delivery is $10 and TimeCycle
Couriers even offer a 15-minute "TimeWarp" which runs for $15.
Nordberg explained that roughly 98 percent of his company's business is
conducted downtown. But, messengers must be prepared to serve areas as
far as Camden and Philadelphia International Airport. Rafiq Young, a
TimeCycle courier, has been in the business for three years and said he
has made some lengthy trips.
"I've picked up packages all the way out in Chestnut Hill and had to
deliver them to the Navy Yard off Delaware Avenue," Young said.
Messengers at TimeCycle earn a 60 percent commission on every package
delivered, while C&E pays their cyclists a yearly salary. Some
other courier services pay by the hour.
"If I was on commission, I would have to work twice as hard to make the
same pay," Grundle said.
Another TimeCycle courier, Matthew Kendig, who worked for C&E for
four years as well as other messenger companies, said that working for
commission beats working for an hourly wage.
"We've delivered some wild stuff for our clients," said TimeeCycle
dispatcher and former courier Colin Trainer. "Our messengers have
brought turtles for a kid's show-and-tell, homework to a girl's school
and even sealed body parts for surgery."
"What couriers deliver has definitely gotten a lot bigger in size,"
Nordberg said. "We used to deal mainly with letters, whereas now the
demand is there for packages. Our riders can generally handle up to 50
pounds of parcels."
As the bike is the courier's livelihood, it is crucial to have
something that is both light weight and durable. Most professional
messengers opt for a fixed chain setup allowing the rider to brake
simply by stopping pedaling.
This also means that the messenger must pedal constantly and cannot
coast.
"A lot of couriers use racing bikes," Young said. "I ride a light steel
track frame from the late 80s, which is used in Velodrome races."
"My bike is my pride and joy - my baby," Kendig said. "She's a Japanese
racing frame, but I put close to $1,500 into customized parts, so it
only weighs 16 pounds. Some messengers go with something lighter, but
if you go too low, you sacrifice strength and in a crash, the bike
would fold up like an aluminum can."
Though lugging heavy packages on a stripped-down bicycle among
notoriously reckless city drivers may seem like a death wish, Nordberg
explained that cyclists just need to be aware.
"There are really not as many crashes as one would expect," Nordberg
said. "The more experience [couriers] have, the less mishaps occur. Pay
attention, watch traffic and you'll be fine."
Accidents do occur, nonetheless. "It all depends on what part of the
city you're in," Grundle said. "Drivers in South Philly drive
differently than those up north, but Center City is probably the most
dangerous
because it's such a mix of people from all over."
"I've had two major wrecks in my time as a courier," Kendig said. "One
was my fault as I just ran a red light and got thrown off my bike to
the sidewalk. The other time, I was on East Market Street in the bike
lane when a guy pulled a U-turn. I couldn't avoid him, so I just braked
as hard as I could and took the brunt of the car's impact which
separated my shoulder."
Young also said he had to get seven stitches in his shoulder last
summer because a car door opened on 8th Street.
"Car doors are the most unpredictable," Grundle agreed. "Everything
else we can pretty much control. I've been fortunate to not have any
major accidents in my five years."
In spite of obvious dangers, most couriers leave the helmet at home.
"I can never get our staff to wear [helmets]," Nordberg said. "We
always encourage it, but only about one-third wear them."
Behind this rugged facade, beyond the tattooed, pierced stereotype,
what really makes the bicycle courier tick?
"We're basically a very loose-knit community that gets together to
drink," Nordberg said, laughing.Courier hangouts include bars like
McGlinchy's and Good Dog on 15th Street along with Bob & Barbara's
on South Street.
"People in the media love to lump us into these specific categories,"
Grundle said.
"The stereotypes don't apply. Messengers come from all walks of life
and range from the twenty-something to middle-aged."
Bicycle couriers can be found in practically every major city around
the world. Each year, the 14th Annual Cycle Messenger World
Championships are held in a different global city. This year, the
championships will be held from Oct. 20 to Oct. 23 in Sydney, Australia.
"The event is a conference and race, but it's more about just shooting
the breeze and hanging out," Trainer said. "I'm attending it next month
and will compete, but I don't get too cutthroat."
When asked about the emergence of the recent bike messenger fad,
Nordberg said, cackling, "There's definitely a fashion trend that
spawned from our line of work. You see those wannabes riding around
with their satchels and customized bikes, but what are they delivering?
When I started as a courier, there was no such thing as
messenger-chic!"Kendig agreed. "Fashion is fashion. Anyone who picks up
on a trend is most likely not actually involved in the lifestyle," he
said. "I just wish the kids riding the bikes looking like us actually
knew how to ride."
"We call them decoys," Grundle added, "those kids who rock the cut-off
Dickies and have the packs, but aren't actually couriers. This
profession used to be full of people who simply loved to ride and
needed the work. Now, people try to come out because it's the cool
thing to do. We have kids showing up applying with their $1,000 racing
bikes and a new pack, like they did their research, or something. If
you put that much thought into a career, wear a suit. Who the [hell]
wants to become a courier? It seems dumb that kids want to be me - I'm
a knucklehead."
Professional bicycle couriers are a diverse, committed group of working
stiffs. Though it's hard to put a finger on the mysterious community,
they are known for their love of the job and ability to have fun at
what they do.
"If you would've told me when I was 10 that I'd be getting paid to ride
bike, I would've been ecstatic," Kendig said, laughing.
"I'll do this until I retire if my body lets me."
|
|
