The delivery of small packages by bicycle - the courier or messenger business - has a continuous history as old as the bicycle itself. In the twentieth century the role played by bicycles in delivering larger cargoes has been eroded by motor vehicles. As motor traffic finally limits its own speed in the city to that of the machines it replaced, the specialist load-carrying bicycle has made a comeback.This book is the first how-to manual to emerge from the contemporary 'workbike' phenomenon. There are some pamphlets aimed at prospective bicycle delivery operators published by Detour, but this is an attempt to produce a more comprehensive reference.
The author of this book runs a bicycle delivery firm in Iowa, USA. Consequently, much of the advice is US-centric, such as details of tax law and insurance. However, the advice is still useful to people outside the USA because it gives the reader an idea of the kind of things they should be considering before starting in business.
The author covers the obvious areas such as selection of equipment and marketing your prospective service, but also offers the benefit of his experience on keeping a business viable and the recruitment and retention of staff, two areas where most workbike business failures occur.
A large proportion of the book is dedicated to real-life examples of workbikes in use that have proved successful. It begins with the kind of jobs that you can do without much special equipment, such as inner-city pizza, airline ticket and pharmaceutical deliveries, where speed - and therefore the lack of need to find a place to park a motor vehicle - are critical.
The book goes on to detail the ins and outs of grocery, printed matter and furniture delivery. Recyclable material collection is well covered, and mobile bike repair, lawn mowing and window cleaning get a mention too. Ice cream vending, that traditional British use for a workbike, is mentioned in passing - the Canadian operator interviewed for the book has a fleet of twelve hundred trikes.
Pedicabs - bicycle taxis - are covered, including the critical information about local laws that often forbid their use, or make them unviable. There is a view, concurrent with the idea of 'motor vehicle as liberation', that the workbike is backward and a form of exploitation, and must therefore be eliminated. Unfortunately, this aspect of anti-bike legislation is something we've recently exported globally, threatening the literal survival of thousands of becak operators in Indonesia alone. It's especially ironic that pedicabs are now seen every night in London, just as the authorities are clamping down on them in Jakarta.
The author admits to his interest as a manufacturer of trailers in the trike or quad bike versus trailer controversy. Three or four wheel bike advocates point to the greater stability and braking performance of their vehicles, while trailer fans boast how they can quickly detach the extra wheels when a small delivery is called for. It's a debate which is unlikely to be resolved.
The book contains a few typos, but as the only book of its' kind so far, it is required reading for anyone interested in the subject.
