I want to be a bicycle courier/messenger!

Bhima

It seems like the ideal job! I might as well put the hours I use for training to good use and make some money at it!

Anyone else done this? What's it like?

Been trying to find groups of guys who do it so I can get involved but it's tough. So i'm thinking of starting my own thing, targetting businesses and independant shops, etc, who I reckon could increase productivity with a delivery service.

Not too sure how to go about doing it though...?

I was looking to try and get hired by a pizza shop/takeaway/etc, but the hours seem quite limited and I couldn't charge much because it would all be local deliveries; nothing special. They probably have guys in cars to do this anyway... :?

So now i'm looking more at delivering shopping to elderly/more fragile people who find it hard to get down the local shops or even transporting stuff to the shops from suppliers and whatnot but trying to find those types of people is difficult in the first place.

Has anyone tried to do this? Would you be able to give me any advice?

I could always work as a postman but it looks rather boring/tedious - I see them around and they're barely on the bike. It's simply a way of getting back to the post office quicker. :?

cougie

One of the top schoolies I used to know did deliveries for the chemist ?

Oh hang on - I wonder if he took a certain % of the tablets ? ;-)

Bhima

I was thinking about the chemist - I know some people personally who are so ill, it's hard for them to get down there for thier perscriptions... Not too sure about the security issues and stuff... I'd rather look for stuff that includes more valuable items - so I can charge more.

drewfromrisca

I don't think it's much of a 'fun' career. I do remember a thread on here about it some while back and a geezer who was an ex messenger posted on here about hazards etc. have a search for it see if it sheds some light.

Also to make some money I would think you would have to be in a city/thriving busy town.

Jimi_08

Depends where your location is really, if your in a city then it is usually worth while, I usually do it over the summer periods (past two summers) in London. Its insane thats all I can say, its highly polluted (hence wear a mask) and watch out for drivers especially the white van man. Depending on your location it can be worth while. The best I've ridden in so far is New York though GPS was the way forward. Hours are good usually either 8am - 4pm or 9am - 5pm, it really does vary in London you could be a courier for a particular post code or the best run a friend of mine had was around the bank area of London, just cruising delivering packages for high end companies.

What is your location because thats the biggest factor? Doing runs for chemists and other small companies is good but as all things go, you either get layed off, not enough money or someone undercuts you and takes your place.

Bhima

Yes, i'm in Manchester (UK).

I'm trying to target the big companies but I'm not too sure where to start with them... What sort of "packages" do the bigger companies need to send? Obviously, so far, i've only thought about companies I completely understand... I'm having trouble working out which big businesses to target as I am unaware of thier internal business affairs etc... :?

I might just blindly knock on a few doors of the posh-looking buildings round the city centre and see what happens.

Jimi_08

Thats a pretty good city. First think you want to look at is for an established cycle courier/messenger network in your area. If you find that its all easy, another port of call is local to Manc delivery companies, though they might not show they have bike couriers its always worth checking their website or phoning (persistence is always handy, you never know you might even convince them they need bike couriers).

You either get given a bag or have to buy one, heres a link to usual bags
http://treadly.net/assets/bike-courier.jpg

usually most companies say a bike messenger will not carry more than 5kg so it ranges depending on the job and client. Item's differ usually couriers tend to work shifting things for law firms and banks. A good section is always the fashion industry and photography, delivering small clothing, pictures, photos for development stuff like that for magazines.

The pay differs but it tends to be either get the bag free or buy one, usually have to rent or buy a radio to stay in contact with depo then your looking at roughly anywhere from being paid by hour or by package. Some even do both get payed a small amount per hour anywhere from £2-4, then by package a few extra pounds. On average if you are good standard take a week can be £350 plus in a big city.

redddraggon

Willhub wants to be a bike messenger too.

Anonymous

Yeh.

But I'm worried about not remebering locations properly, I have a GPS (Garmin 605), but it's a bugger to put in a post code and go straight to it, I might try it out sometime.

And to be a good messenger it appears you have to thrash it through red lights and all that, I prefer to stop at red lights.

Jimi_08

Depends some parcels work on before a certain time (UPS style) others don't make a difference. The biggest problem is sometimes depending on company you get paid per package so the more you do the more you take home. GPS is good, especially when I was in New York but what you tend to find is you run either one postcode so everything in a given area maybe a few miles worth or like a friend of mine every thing in the bank area of London so GPS isn't a necessity. Picking up the route comes with time, so do short cuts and knowing like when in London sometimes getting the tube with your bike is faster than getting through London traffic.

Thrashing through red lights is down to the individual though I would say many may see the white van man with that attitude.

Bhima

willhub wrote:

And to be a good messenger it appears you have to thrash it through red lights and all that, I prefer to stop at red lights.

Nah, if you've got the strength, you can just sprint at 28mph and use the lights as recovery. You only save about 8/9/10 seconds by jumping a light - especially if you're sprinting ALL the time; you just get tired, slow down and get caught up again eventually, if you had a clone version of yourself recovering at the lights behind you.

Jimi_08 wrote:

First think you want to look at is for an established cycle courier/messenger network in your area.

Just been down the local bike shops in the city centre and managed to get a few numbers of the guys who do it. Just need to get some phone credit and i'll give them a call. I got the general feeling that there's not much work going at the moment though - as some of the guys in the bike shops are now "retired" due to lack of demand.

Jimi_08 wrote:

Manc delivery companies, though they might not show they have bike couriers its always worth checking their website or phoning (persistence is always handy, you never know you might even convince them they need bike couriers).

Good point! There a loads of those! I'm gonna dig out the phone directory tomorrow!

Jimi_08 wrote:

You either get given a bag or have to buy one, heres a link to usual bags
http://treadly.net/assets/bike-courier.jpg

I've got a GIGANTIC camping ruck-sack, although the guys in the bike shops said they are not recommended if you need to get your parcels in and out of the bag quick. Maybe they're not as quick, but you'd only be losing about 5-10 seconds max, surely?

Jimi_08 wrote:

fashion industry and photography, delivering small clothing, pictures, photos for development stuff like that for magazines.

Sounds like a plan! Again, i'll be raiding the phonebook tomorrow!

Just asked down the Chemist too - they gave me the number of a larger Chemist firm which does a lot of deliveries to smaller chemists round Manchester, so that could be a possible avenue to explore...

woodford2barbican

go and have a dig about on moving target http://www.movingtargetzine.com/

i think you will find that times are tough at the mo in the courier market

System_1

Media and advertising companies are probably one of the biggest buyers of courier services. At the last graphic design studio I worked we used a courier sometimes 2-3 times a day when we were busy. If you're serious about starting up on your own instead of joining an already establised courier company then printers, graphic designers, film production and photography companies are the best places to get business.

Bhima

woodford2barbican wrote:

go and have a dig about on moving target http://www.movingtargetzine.com/

i think you will find that times are tough at the mo in the courier market

Cool. I'll check it tomorrow when I have time.

I have done a bit of digging around on the net and have come up with 9 courier companies which look like they are close to the city centre and could do with some of my traffic-proof services. Some of them do bikes already and some of them are motorbike-based, so could possibly have something going...



Cheers for that info System. If all 9 of the above courier companies aren't interested, your advice will be my next port-of-call. There are a LOT of printing/fashion/etc companies in the city centre.



If that fails, only then, will I begin to look at takeaways/pizza shops.



Then, if that fails, there's always the postman job. Yay.

:roll: :roll: :roll:

If they wont take me on board, I'll probably give up...



But if I give up and get a "proper job" - no more spare time for cycling...

:shock: :shock: :shock:

...but if...

Hang on, better stop; i'm getting carried away with all these smileys!

Bhima

Update:

The established bike courier groups are really closed off to bringing on new people as they seem to be suffering big time.

However, they can't be trying to get work that much because most courier companies i've contacted have been "convinced" by me slightly (they had no idea that bike couriers existed :shock:) and are sending me emails every two minutes as they try to update thier budgets to acommodate a group of cyclists in thier fleet. This is looking very good! :shock:

Contacted 25 takeaways (in person) within a 5 mile radius and 15 of them NEED bike couriers! Result! Looks like I could have 6/7 good jobs going at once!

Jimi_08

Hey thats awesome news congrats, there is usually a problem with newbie's coming into established courier groups cause of the hole territory thing, you might get their usual run or some are just ignorant/ afraid you might actually be a better courier than them. I'm not as sure as whether I believe there suffering that much as ok fair enough there have been major set backs with the economy but the thriving businesses couriers usually deliver for are still going maybe not so strong but still there, i.e. banks.

Glad your getting some results, hopefully it should be ... welcome to the best job of your life 8)