Head line news.....nice little way to make a good living riding a bicycle all
day...........
--- On Tue, 9/2/08, john earp <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
From: john earp <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: bicycle messengers NYC
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Tuesday, September 2, 2008, 9:47 PM
[messengers] Unburdened by Gas Costs, Bike Couriers See a Chance
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Joe Hendry to messengers show details 8:56 AM (12 hours ago)
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Unburdened by Gas Costs, Bike Couriers See a Chance
New York Times, September 2, 2008
By APRIL DEMBOSKY
New York
City's bike messengers remain a fixture on the streets, having
weathered the advent of the fax machine and, of course, e-mail. Now,
with the cost of gas pummeling courier companies that rely on motorized
vehicles, a few enterprising cyclists are using the opportunity to
generate more business.
A small but
growing number of pedal-powered messengers are outfitting their
bicycles and, in some cases, tricycles, with boxes and flatbeds on
which they can load hundreds of pounds of cargo.
"Eighty
percent of the jobs done in a van I can do," said Hodari Depalm, the
owner of Checker Courier, a cargo messenger company in Manhattan that
says it can move up to 200 pounds of documents by bike. Mr. Depalm said
his two-man messenger business had increased by 20 percent within the
last year.
Gregg Zukowski
has had similar success. A couple of years ago, Mr. Zukowski, the owner
of Revolution Rickshaws, a fleet of pedicabs in Manhattan, replaced the
passenger seats on a few of his tricycles with flatbeds and lockable
cargo boxes capable of carrying up to 550 pounds of goods. He started
using the tricycles to make deliveries for bakeries and catering
companies and was even hired last month to help a man move into a
one-bedroom apartment.
"We've joked
about doing funerals," Mr. Zukowski said. Mr. Zukowski's business is
catching on swiftly enough that he hopes to have as many as 30 of his
tricycles on the road in the next 18 months.
The messengers
can appeal to customers by charging less than couriers who use cars or
vans, and to their consciences by pointing out that they are not
hurting the environment.
Meanwhile, car
and van couriers in New York City are struggling with mounting fuel
costs. Local companies are passing the cost of gas on to the customer.
Some apply a flat fuel surcharge, while others try to negotiate
delivery rates with each of their clients.
"Some clients
refuse to pay a surcharge," said Charles F. Chiusano, vice president of
Avant Business Services in New York City and Connecticut. About 15
percent of Avant's business is with state and county agencies, whose
rates were established in contracts signed years ago. When fuel prices
soared, and agencies refused to alter their terms, the company had to
cover the extra costs or risk losing the contracts.
"If the contract goes out to bid, other companies are willing to underbid,
hoping things will get better," Mr. Chiusano said.
As much as
courier companies feel the pinch, those hit hardest by fuel costs are
the drivers. Almost all car and van couriers are independent
contractors responsible for their own operating costs: gas, parking,
vehicle payments and insurance, health insurance and taxes. When gas
prices rise and customers like the city or state refuse to pay a fuel
surcharge, the money comes directly from the driver's pocket.
"It hurts,"
said Ken Moody, a courier from the Bronx who makes deliveries for
Breakaway Courier Systems in his Honda Fit. "Things have been very
tight for me lately."
Mr. Moody, 57,
said he needed to make $1,000 a week to cover all of his business and
living expenses. That often requires working seven days a week. But
during the usually slower summer months, he has been earning only $600
to $700 a week.
"I'm here from
9 a.m. to 9 p.m., but that doesn't mean I'm working the whole time," he
said as the movie "Alien 2" played on a DVD player behind him at
dispatch headquarters.
Mr. Chiusano
said he negotiated better pay rates for his drivers with fuel-efficient
vehicles, and he tries to adjust delivery routes to be more fuel
efficient.
But other
drivers have quit because of the tough economic circumstances. Lucky
Singh, a dispatcher for N.Y. Minute Messenger and Trucking in
Manhattan, said three drivers left the company in recent months to
drive taxis. Mr. Depalm said a few of his friends working as couriers
sold their vans and are now bike messengers.
Meanwhile, Mr.
Depalm's cargo bike company is doing fine, he said. "The more they keep
raising gas prices, the better it is for me."
Mr. Zukowski
has not only been getting more accounts for his delivery services, he's
also been making money by renting or selling the cargo tricycles, which
are manufactured in England, to local businesses. "Green Apple Cleaners
bought a work trike from us so they could move their dry cleaning," he
said. "The manager of Stuyvesant Town is interested in purchasing a
trike to move office supplies."
He said the director Wes Craven rented one to film a scene for his next movie,
and Nike borrowed one for a photo shoot.
"We're mobile
and agile," Mr. Zukowski said, ticking off the tricycle's selling
points. "You never use gas or fuel, parking is never an issue, you
don't get tickets and maintenance is low."
Still, courier
companies that rely on gas-powered vehicles say they expect to remain
in business for a long time. "Until someone figures out how to
transport things like they do on 'Star Trek,' I'll be fine," said Rick
Katz, a partner at LightSpeed Express Delivery Systems in Manhatta
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