Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Bike Messengers Pay???$$$

How much do bike messengers in NYC make a day/week? Anyone know how many drops that is a day?

depends on who you work for, how good you are, how much cred you have with the dispatcher, etc. the bottom line is, sadly, not much. you don't do this job for the money.

I've made $150 in a day.

I've made less than $60 in a day.

Holey cr*p. You people definately need to get unionised or something. Risking life and limb for what someone on an oil rig earns per hour. Plus they get little things like medical/dental, life insurance, long term disability and this strange thing called a pension.

yeah, but they work on an oil rig

i work on a bicycle

yeah, but they work on an oil rig

i work on a bicycle

which is why you should get paid more :)

If you're just starting out you should expect to make next to nothing. I think I made $45 on my first day.

how many hours is a day? do you work on weekends?

We work 20 hours a day, every day. Sometimes there will be bread, but often there is only water. The dispatcher beats us with a fahgeddaboutit chain if we get the packages damp.

Please send help.

9 hour days, 5 days/week

how do you (those of you who are messengers) find the time to post on bikeforums in the middle of the day?

how do messengers post during the middle of the day: the library

anyway, i worked in philly for a shi**y company called heaven sent. i made 23 dollars the first day. i didnt start making like 80 or more a day till this guy got hurt and i took all his steadies. then it was pretty sweet, i made 80 a day before noon.

I worked in DC for a while. Laser or another one will pick you up pretty quick. its much sweeter in DC. about 3.35 a tag is your take, but they charged me radio fees and insurance fees. i made about 350 or so my first week (was in january i think).

right now im out in cleveland. i cant even get a messenger job so i dont know. no one seems to want to hire, and i think there are like 5 messengers total in this city.

lived in san fran, couldnt find a company to hire me there either.

boston is pretty sweet, i worked for city express for about a week. they give you a radio and a bag so you dont have to buy one. you have to be licensed which costs about 25 bucks for the year. i heard one guy in boston made like 150 tags in one day, dont know if tha is just a myth.

how do you (those of you who are messengers) find the time to post on bikeforums in the middle of the day?

Free internet in coffee shops waiting between runs? I know a few messengers here live right downtown, too, so they can be at home waiting for the next call from dispatch. I don't know if any of them have computers at home though...

I just started working in Philly...(not for heaven sent). My first day I made almost 70 but worked for over 9 hours. That was the most Ive made since but i guess i average about 55 a day. But i only work like 3 days a week and It's flexible if i need to take time off for a bit which is pretty important for me. thank god for dirt cheap rent in philly tho!

i wash freakin cars for minimum wage at a car dealership. i would gladly make the same money on my bike

What am I missing here? I putz around in my fixie around town, but don't get paid...

i messengered for a week or so a couple years ago, and had to wrestle up my own insurance, of course. because of a history of f**ked up health, the cheapest coverage i could get was $300+ per month. no way i could ever do it at that cost. i quit as soon as it was clear to me i wouldn't be able to pay rent, insurance, and still eat. i mean, come on.

i wash freakin cars for minimum wage at a car dealership. i would gladly make the same money on my bike

You live in a city where you can pay rent and eat with minimum wage. Try doing it in NYC.

boston is pretty sweet, i worked for city express for about a week. they give you a radio and a bag so you dont have to buy one. you have to be licensed which costs about 25 bucks for the year. i heard one guy in boston made like 150 tags in one day, dont know if tha is just a myth.

That guy is Adam Ford and the Boston Globe reports the 150 as truth. He is sponsored by Independent Fabrication (drool) and took 1st in sprints and the alleycat at CMWC'03.

http://www.thestranger.com/2003-09-18/city2.html

That guy is Adam Ford and the Boston Globe reports the 150 as truth. He is sponsored by Independent Fabrication (drool) and took 1st in sprints and the alleycat at CMWC'03.

http://www.thestranger.com/2003-09-18/city2.html

****** bag of the year?

"I don't think there was any doubt about who the fastest rider out there was," says Ford, 33. "That would be me."

Man, this guy sounds like a complete tool; I don't want to wish death upon him or anything, but him messing up a few tags would be funny.

****** bag of the year?

"I don't think there was any doubt about who the fastest rider out there was," says Ford, 33. "That would be me."

Man, this guy sounds like a complete tool; I don't want to wish death upon him or anything, but him messing up a few tags would be funny.

Yes, but DC Ladycourier Shebba Farrin took the absolute 1st place in the marque race. So yes, ah, girls kick ass.

Yes, but DC Ladycourier Shebba Farrin took the absolute 1st place in the marque race. So yes, ah, girls kick ass.

Awesome, I hope he cried.

What am I missing here? I putz around in my fixie around town, but don't get paid...

You got to get things from people and take them to other people. And the people you get things from have to want you to take them to other people. And they have to want it bad enough to pay you for it. And the other people have to be there to accept it. And it's all kind of secret and coutureish.

You live in a city where you can pay rent and eat with minimum wage. Try doing it in NYC.

true. but im a student so my minimum wage is really just like.... food and bike stuff. ... rent is covered cause i am smart. lol

in boston, city express is the bottom of the barrel. if you aren't friendly w/ a dispatcher and/or real fast: don't expect more than 20-25 tags in a 9 hour day. about half of them will clock in at an astounding $1.78 a piece.

i work for ground express now, and i break a $100+ guarantee every day without much of a problem.

if you are good at the job, the oppurtunity is there.

ground express eh? that sounds pretty sweet. i took that city express job because i didnt know what the deal was. damn, i quit in like a week cuz the dispatcher kept sending me across the mass ave bridge holding one or none, i knew i was going to make any money there.

city doesn't care about their riders at all...but they don't have to. they'll hire anyone, and that makes it that way. if you show dedication, are easy to work with and work hard, you can do well there...it's just much easier somewhere else.

however,i have heard city is REALLY strapped for riders at the moment, so if you want to make some $$, hit em now.

What is a good company to work for in nyc. A company that would hire a rookie?

Start the countdown to 'best messenger bag' thread.... NOW

What is a good company to work for in nyc. A company that would hire a rookie?


good luck. as a rookie, take what you can get and bust your ass. if you have what it takes you'll move on naturally to a better company, and better pay over time.

does anyone know if its possible to find part time work as a messenger in nyc....and if so the companies that are cool w/part time messengers

good luck. as a rookie, take what you can get and bust your ass. if you have what it takes you'll move on naturally to a better company, and better pay over time.

Try Urban Express. They employ around 1/4th of the messengers in NYC and I was hired right away. They even wanted me to start working that day and it was already 4:30pm. They don't care about their workers and they pay ****, but it's a start.

Try Urban Express. They employ around 1/4th of the messengers in NYC and I was hired right away. They even wanted me to start working that day and it was already 4:30pm. They don't care about their workers and they pay ****, but it's a start.

too right, Urban will hire ANYONE (but they'll make it sound like they're selective when you talk to them). when i first moved to NYC from Phila, i worked there for about 6 weeks, but it killed me inside... probably a personality flaw on my part, but i couldn't take the combination of making zero money and being treated like **** by everyone involved... clients, dispatchers, managers, etc... if you're a rookie it won't matter because, like other people have said, if you're good you'll naturally either find a good fit at Urban or move on to a better company. as a rookie, you have the advantage of not knowing better. my problem was that i came from working at TimeCycle in Phila; a company with good clients, good management, and a good crew where it was fun to work and i was able to make a living. Urban Express was, to me, messengering stripped of everything that ever made it fun, which leaves a pretty terrible experience. i never knew messengering to be so desolate and lonely as the short time i worked there. when i first started in Phila, i worked at Heaven Sent, but at that point i didn't mind the terrible pay and overall crappiness of the company because i didn't know any better. and it wasn't long before i moved on. i guess when i moved to NYC, i just didn't have it in me to go through that process again, especially with no savings and not being able to make a living while doing it.

Forget a job as a messenger then. Crappy pay and being treated like ****... I dont understand why anyone would want to work that way. I can understand making good money and ahving to put up with the usual ass hole. But having to deal with a bunch of ass holes and a check that cant hardly pay for rent. I would rather stand outside on the streets handing out flyers for 10-15 dollars an hour. much luck to those of you who think its cool to just walk the walk. puhhh

well, i didn't mean to make it sound like messengering is like that as a rule. it's not. the years i worked in philly were awesome, and if i hadn't moved away from there i would definitely still be working at TimeCycle. that said, it is tough, especially as a starter. you have to be very committed to it to deal with the ****ty aspects of being a rookie (working for crappy companies, not knowing the ins and outs, etc...) but once you learn that stuff, messengering is the most rewarding and awesome job i've ever had, even when it's 2°C and raining.

if you are into it, at least try it. if it doesn't work out you aren't under contract or anything. don't let my crappy experience color your view of messengering though... it can be awesome and i'd hate if someone missed out on that opportunity just because i whined on this forum.

I was thinking of doing it here in atlanta. Any of you guys tried it down here? Just wondering if you had any experiences or recommendations for this particular location. Of course I was also thinking of moving to nyc to do it, but I figured I live here now so why not just try it here first and then maybe get a little knowledge before I just go a move there.

****** bag of the year?

"I don't think there was any doubt about who the fastest rider out there was," says Ford, 33. "That would be me."

Man, this guy sounds like a complete tool; I don't want to wish death upon him or anything, but him messing up a few tags would be funny.

He's ok, it's good to be cocky sometimes, helps your game.

He was very fast in Seattle, but while there may not have been any doubt in his own mind I don't think the crowd could say that. I made it to the finals with ease, and was in the same semi-final as Adam. I -smoked- him off the line, he certainly caught me quick enough and got half a wheel up on me, but when I saw that we'd left the rest of the field many many bike lengths behind I knew finishing next to him was A-ok as both of us would up move to the Final. I figure he knew the same because neither of us struggled at that point.

As for the final...broke my chain on the start, maybe it was my chain, maybe my "holder" held a half sec too long (felt like it) but all well that ends well, I didnt get mad or anything. I ran up the hill for 6th place.

I was actually quite lucky to make even the semi-final. On the qualifier I did an un-intentional wheelie when they said go, I'm not used to trackstanding up hill, and that the sprint was up a hill meant I was starting in my small ring in front, normally I'd start on the 53. Anyway I did a wheelie, stopped cold. put both feet down unclipped to avoid falling and laughed and cursed and then started the race. I guess the guys I was with just didn' want it because the leader had 25-30 yards on me and I slalommed all 5 of them to win since only 1st place would go forward in that heat.

I think the fastest person there was Brooks Rapley. He was on a sweet track bike and due to some oversight had no idea til the day that the race was up a hill. Had he the gearing, or if the race had been on a flat he may have beaten those of us on road bikes. Brooks has won before and is super fast on the drome, rode for the canadian national team and may still do so, haven't seen him much lately. He got second in the final and it was close. That's the kind of trackbike rider it takes to beat a good sprinter on a road bike, someone on the national/international level, but it can be done if the track sprinter outclasses the road sprinter to that degree.

Seattle rocked, so much fun, best Worlds I've been to.

Oh, and On Topic,

You have to pay your dues, if you do it right it won't take long at all, anywhere from 6 weeks to a year, sometimes more if you tend to screw up.
The job has to have rookie status because there is a lot to learn, and one thing you'll (hopefully) do at a crappy company is learn to contend with your road rage. you will experience road rage like never before, so powerful it takes you over inside and out and only a supreme effort will prevent you acting out on it. It comes of fear, anger and vulnerability combined with a daily dose of unjustified belittlement and disregard from drivers, clients and at a crappy starter company, your dispatcher. I call it 1st year rookie angst and I've never seen anyone immune to it in my 12 years on the road. You get crazy mad, so a crappy company is best at that time, til you learn to manage yourself. A good company expects quite rightly that you will be a pro, and too many or too frequent incidents will have you in turnover city, one company after another.

I started at a company that had the gall to pay me (my best check from them, once I was top of their crappy heap), get this, $675 for nine working days, pretty good for a rookie right? Sure. But for that I did 479 runs not including returns which numbered at around 200. I probably spent a third that much on food those 2 weeks because I didnt have time to sto so ate purchased food on the go and I was too tired to cook so I at purchased prepared food every night, a lot of it. It's not uncommon to see rookies riding along, mumbling or talking to themselves angrily with a crazed look in their eye. They either get over it or move on. Or not..there is always another company in turnover city until there isn't.

Basically, if you are starting out it's going to be hard, real hard. So have a support structure in place if you can.

those of you that have messenged at some point, what kind of work are you normally doing? Is it mainly delivering packages/documents across town? the company in san diego that will hire anyone and pays **** (as it seems every city has one of these) is Cal Xpress (I work for them part time). They are actually a legal service, and so we do lots of stuff with the courts, and serving people (I know very little about the legal aspects, which makes it all the easier to screw up and get yelled at). Just wondering if the legal stuff is normal of most shops, or if thats part of quirky local courier market.

i did practically all my messenger work in philadelphia... in that city there are a couple of companies who only do legal stuff. all the other companies will take legal work, of course... with varying service charges (for instance at TimeCycle, "legal wait time" is worth 150% of normal wait time, and if a subpoena is to be served, there's a monster surcharge due to the risk of having your messenger shot or thrown down the stairs).

I wonder how often that happens!

I guess theres that, and if you're really unlucky the Gypsy might come after you!

Forget a job as a messenger then. Crappy pay and being treated like ****... I dont understand why anyone would want to work that way. I can understand making good money and ahving to put up with the usual ass hole. But having to deal with a bunch of ass holes and a check that cant hardly pay for rent. I would rather stand outside on the streets handing out flyers for 10-15 dollars an hour. much luck to those of you who think its cool to just walk the walk. puhhh


think of it like all the people who pay $30,000 a year for 4 years to get a degree so they can get a job.

companies like city express in boston, urban express in ny, and heaven sent in philly are like school, except you get paid. it's a learning experience at those places. you learn the ropes, and if you can cut it, you will move on to bigger and better things pretty quickly.

those of you that have messenged at some point, what kind of work are you normally doing? Is it mainly delivering packages/documents across town? the company in san diego that will hire anyone and pays **** (as it seems every city has one of these) is Cal Xpress (I work for them part time). They are actually a legal service, and so we do lots of stuff with the courts, and serving people (I know very little about the legal aspects, which makes it all the easier to screw up and get yelled at). Just wondering if the legal stuff is normal of most shops, or if thats part of quirky local courier market.

i've never served anyone anything...

i do some legal filing, maybe 15-20% of my daily work, but for the most part it's business to business stuff.

companies like city express in boston, urban express in ny, and heaven sent in philly are like school, except you get paid. it's a learning experience at those places. you learn the ropes, and if you can cut it, you will move on to bigger and better things pretty quickly.[/QUOTE]


Sometimes it's not such a bad thing to stay with a big company. Nice thing about big companies is that there's always work, and if you've been there for a while you'll probably get a lot of it.

What about these company in NYC. Champion and Breakway? They have open positions and say they pay 300-800 A week....

800 a week is pretty damn generous for a rookie, although you'll make that sometimes. i work for breakaway. they hire part-timers. very flexible, and i think the pay's pretty good.

Treated crappy and ****ty pay? That's like every unskilled manual labor job there is out there. GG.

think of it like all the people who pay $30,000 a year for 4 years to get a degree so they can get a job.

companies like city express in boston, urban express in ny, and heaven sent in philly are like school, except you get paid. it's a learning experience at those places. you learn the ropes, and if you can cut it, you will move on to bigger and better things pretty quickly.

Except that they have the potential to make x293842 what you make as a messenger.

Depends on what degree they get, and what they got getting it. I've topped out at $33-35G as a messenger. I worked some crazy shifts to do it. I met a lot of people and learned quite a bit about people that way. I seriously doubt that my earning potential is limited in any way by my lack of a degree. It's all the individual these days. I may not be able to make more than I did when I messed for that much but I could do it consistently if wanted too and that's a good honest living wage that could afford a family or a nice bachelor life if properly managed. Instead I'm taking some of what I've learned on the street and putting it to use in a related industry. Many industries can be approached this way, many people will respect ability and experience over a degree.

Except that they have the potential to make x293842 what you make as a messenger.

Yeah, but I didn't spend 30g's a year, I got paid. There is a difference there. I was just using college as an example of how at first, in a lot of trades, you go through some sort of "training" period where the money isn't as good.