Offish Topic:
I love the impact/cost ratio of a "weird" bike with advertising on it - everyone notices
it, walkers, drivers, cyclists, children never fail to point out a weird bike to their
parents.
An excellent way to put advertising on a normal bike is with a piece of chloroplast (I
think that's the stuff, you know the corrugated plastic that election signs are made from?
Lots of those available up here in Canada these days
) cut to fit within the main
triangle of your frame. You can get decals printed, or printing right on the chloroplast
(sign shop) and zap-strap it to the top, head and seat tubes. Drivers will see it while
they sit in traffic (which they do a lot of in congested urban areas) and everyone else
will see it when you're inside making deliveries, just start parking your bike in super
visible areas.
I'm not sure if your company has a particular colour pallete or not, but since you're on a
bike you can work the "eco" angle just by using a bunch of green in your layout. People
love to believe that their consumption choices are "good for the planet" these days. If
you can make people feel good while making a tidy profit, you're really on to something!
Back on topic:
Have you checked out the really big "Newsboy" front rack from Wald? They're super cheap,
super strong, easy to get used to, and they're always there so no planning is necessary to
be able to carry large loads. You may also appreciate not having to use your courier bag
all the time. The only thing that I've tried to carry on my bike that I can't do with the
basket is my dog. He goes in a trailer.
Gratuitous basket bike shot:
Image:
http://velospace.org/files/NishikiBasketBike.jpg