My wife has an assignment in one of her classes to research Bike Messengers and Messenger Companies. She needs a brief group of questions answered if you guys are willing.

1) Any special training to be a bike messenger, or licensing required by the Municipality?

2) What city is bike messenger heaven?

3) On the pay, hourly or piece rate per package?

4) Is there insurance for accidents or injuries, and if not, is this something that would be of interest?

5) What equipment works the best?

6) What is the range of packages carried, by type, from documents to............?

Thanks in advance!

1. In Columbus, OH, no license is required. Some places may require permits, but I think that this is more the exception than the rule if at all practiced in the US. Skill is not mandated, but obviously more experience will tend to secure you better paying jobs.

2. I suspect that depends on what you're looking to get out of it. Larger cities like New York and Chicago tend to have the most jobs and largest workloads, but that's not necessarily the best thing. You may very well have to bust your ass all day every day, which may be undesirable. Columbus, for example, has few messenger jobs, but from what I gather from talking to people from other cities, the rates that messengers earn here are pretty competitive, especially given that the downtown area is fairly small and easy to navigate. Most runs can be completed quickly and easily. On a given day, most messengers in town have a reasonable amount of downtime while still being able to do 20-30 runs. So, if you measure "messenger heaven" by the number of jobs, you may receive one answer, but if you are looking at it more qualitatively, you may very well get another. Of course, none of this is to say that Columbus is at all ideal; it just happens to be an example that I know something about.

3. Most companies pay you a commission per delivery. This commission can range from ~50% to 100% (if you work for yourself). Some will provide a guarantee, agreeing to pay you at least $X/hour. If the day is slow, you may get that amount, but if your commission adds up to more, then you receive that. Also, some law firms will hire an in-house messenger to do their runs. Often, these will be employees who are paid hourly and may have other duties when not riding.

4. Companies that hire contractors do not pay insurance. Obviously, most messengers wish that this were not the case. The BMEF (bicycle messenger emergency fund) can help out a bit when injuries occur, but as we all know, medical bills are brutal. In a job where being physically active is requisite, injuries also impair your ability to work. That said, some messengers who are employed (by law firms, typically) rather than contracted, may very well be insured and even given stipends for equipment repairs.

5. This depends. A lot of people favor single speed or fixed gear bicycles, due to ease of maintenance and simplicity, but, despite popular myth, it is perhaps more common to see people on geared bikes of various types. What is best can depend a lot on the climate and terrain that your location provides.

6. Blueprints, medical images (x-rays, ultrasounds, etc), cookies, restraining orders, court proceedings (sometimes entire file boxes), stationary, t-shirts, mugs, magazines, medical samples (these can get extremely bizarre), various other documents, large amounts of cash, checks, etc.

Hopefully this is somewhat helpful.

1
.. no ..but you have to know where you are going I was a cat 2 years ago
2
I live in tampa not bike heaven but year round work
3
i work for a law firm full time employee
4
work man comp
5
fix gear mt bike 40 x 15 with 1.4 cross tires
6
mail ,x rays , lunches , what ever i am told pleadings

1) no, but if your stupid you won't make good money at it, probably one of the most competitive jobs ever, pure 100% darwinian capitalism
2) depends on what you consider heaven, if you like to play in relentless traffic probably NYC
3) depends on whether or not your a contractor or indie or if your an "in house" messenger for a law firm
I charge $5, $7.50, and $10 for downtown to downtown service for 2hr, 1hr, and 1/2hr service respectively, this is in Columbus,OH where the cost of living is dirt cheap, I average right around $30/hr before taxes
4) NO
5) well the best answer to that is, if you don't like the bike you ride for work you aren't gonna have a nice day, if I was forced to choose, then fixed gear in steel no brake with bullhorns
6) almost anything, my limit is one 50lb box of copy paper or case records, mostly its court documents but I also do misc packages, blood specimens, and gifts during the holidays

If you want to learn about laws in Chicago, visit this site.

NYC

1. no, must have ID from company, reflectors and a bell.

2. NYC

3. commission rate per delivery. extra for oversize, overweight, wait time, and sometimes bad weather bonus.

4. no insurance, OF COURSE IT WOULD BE OF INTEREST!

5. durability....sealed cartridge hubs, bb, headset, steel frames, large spoke counts, deep rims, good locks, etc. of course you can use anything else but expect to do a ton of maintenance. also nice rides will often be disguised with stickers, paint, chips, etc as a theft deterrent. for clothing it would be wool, polyester, wind breaker, rain gear, thermals, etc.

6. documents, letters, architectural rolls, boxes, packages, garments, most everything is wrapped up so you dont know what it is....


ps there are countless messengers that do not have the right gear, bikes, or training and are risking their lives out of necessity for a very low wage. many messengers here (most likely the majority) are not bike enthusiasts, but just doing a hard days work to get by....



"exploitation" is a word that comes to mind.

1) Any special training to be a bike messenger, or licensing required by the Municipality? here in philly you don't need any training or permits, just a good idea of how to get around quickly and safely.

2) What city is bike messenger heaven? i was born and raised in philly and have been a messenger here for 2 years and i love it here so i would say philadelphia.

3) On the pay, hourly or piece rate per package? piece per package, its standard for companies to give you 50% of the commision but the longer you work you can get a higher percentage. it also depends on the company.

4) Is there insurance for accidents or injuries, and if not, is this something that would be of interest? there is no insurance for injuries or accidents but it is always of interest to us to get it for as cheap as possible.

5) What equipment works the best? any bike your most comfortable on, personally i ride a brake less track bike and so do a lot of people but there are all types of bikes ridden by messengers.

6) What is the range of packages carried, by type, from documents to............? tiny envelopes, to samples of blood, x-rays, subpeonas, rolls of blueprints, large boxes, small boxes, everything

1) https://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/licandi...kecouriers.htm

$29 licensing test and a $16 annual plate fee on pain of a $100 City of Vancouver by-law violation fine.

2) Wherever the weather is good year-round, and there's plenty of work to be had.

3) Commission on piece rates, supplemented by a guaranteed $11.80/hr base rate + $0.20/hr uniform cleaning allowance. $500 annual "training allowance". Medical, dental, vision, life insurance benefits.

4) Accidents involving a private vehicle are covered under the auspices of our provincial auto insurance corporation. Accidents involving a commercial vehicle or any other circumstances are covered under worker's comp.

5) Whatever works for the individual rider. Reliability and durability are paramount, as well as good value.

6) Anything and everything you can probably imagine.