in about a year ill be moving to NYC to get my masters at NYU in film. being the over achiever i am i am trying to plan out a job a head of time that i can do part time while attending. I was just curious how competitive the market for getting a job as a messenger is. it seems like there would be to many people trying to get the same job.

There are 2000+ messengers and 400+ courier companies in NYC. The industry has a very high turnover rate. You'll have no problem getting a job. The question is can you find a job with a good company that pays decently? Ask that question.

Check out Breakaway courier, it's big enough that they will hire part time guys, but still a pretty decent company with good rates. Not sure what percentage they'd start you at these days though.

I used to work for Urban Express part time. I had a good time working for them, but the pay wasn't good. I'd be interested in hearing what other peeps think of that company, because I have nothing to compare them to.

Everyone I know that's worked at Urban Express said the rates are pretty low. Do you remember what the base rate was? I think Breakaway is like nine fifty or something these days, though I'm not sure what percentage they are starting people at.

Thanks guys for the info. How exactly does it work. im in little town oklahoma right now and well....to tell you the truth i only dream of owning a fixed. i have a road bike that will have to do until i can get some money. trying to convince my lbs to weld me a bike in exchange for my bike and some ...other...favors...haha.

i guess i just dont know how you get paid. its not hourly im guessing? or is it???

Break Away also has a charge account at some bike shops, at least they did at Gotham bikes. I don't know if they paid for stuff for their messengers, or took it out of their paychecks.

Why don't you try getting work at a bike shop? It's easier than messengering and from what I've heard from the guys I worked with the pay is about the same.

I believe urban has the lowest rates in the game ($2.70) ($2.00 from sites). Key to making money at urban is stay away from the sites and do 125 runs a week. Then u get a $75 bonus which balaneces out the low rates. Breakaway rates are $4 dollars i believe same as dynamex. Champion's rate is $3 and they make u pay $15 for the radio. If they have high rates then they dont have alot of work, if they have low rates they have high work. Most company's just plain suck.

NYCBM, I assume you're talking about your cut of the rate, right? Still, $2.70 is shiite, you'd have a really hard time living off that in NY. Sounds like urban express does a lot of work from the many mailrooms they operate, I'm assuming these are the sites you're talking about? It's kind of crazy that those guys are still around, they started as basically a Kozmo clone, but are still out there somehow.

Ultra-G, Breakaway has accounts at Gotham, all the Metro shops, and possibly Toga. And no, they don't pay for anything, it all comes out of your check. Still kind of nice when you're out there broke and need a tube or whatever.

And Jamtastic, messenger companies generally pay by the run, not the hour. So ideally, you want to work for a company that has high rates and gives you a decent percentage of it(like 50%) and has a lot of runs to be had at any given time. This is tough to find, as NYCBM said, alot of these companies pretty much suck. There are some decent ones, but you generally have to weed through a lot of crap to find them, or have them find you. Since you'll only be working part time, you've got a pretty significant disadvantage. Basically, you'll probably have to find a big company who has a lot of work and a whole lot of messengers, one that doesn't care if you're not there everyday. The problem with a company like this is that they also don't care if you make any money when you do come in. If there's not a lot of work it'll go to the fulltime guys who are there who are there everyday, rain or shine.

Beyond that, if you really want to do it, go for it. It's the absolute best and absolute worst job I've ever had.