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Don’t kill the messenger
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Idaho Business Review, November 27, 2006
In his 13 years as a bicycle courier, Patrick
Sweeney has seen his
profession threatened by two technological revolutions in office
communication — e-mail and the fax machine.
He gets hit by cars a lot, too.
Yet this modern Hermes has lived to tell the tale.
In the day of e-mail, cell phones, Blackberries, blogs and text
messaging, Sweeney and business partner Chris Scuglia have persevered
as bicycle messengers.
Despite rapid changes in technology that threaten their business,
they’ve managed to build a solid customer base founding Northstar
Courier Service in Boise a little more than a year ago.
When Sweeney started out in San Francisco in 1993, bike messengers were
already being threatened by the rise of the fax machine.
At his first job, Sweeney said, he would ride through the city with a
pager and a roll of quarters for the pay phone.
Now he uses technology to his advantage. Sweeney and Scuglia both ride
around Boise with cell phones, in constant contact with each other and
their customers.
“You have to embrace technology that’s almost undermining you,” Sweeney
said.
Most of their business is from art galleries and law firms, Sweeney
said. Northstar carries all those things that can’t be electronically
copied —keys, graphic proofs, blueprints or anything that requires a
signature.
If it’s within reason, it’s legal and it’ll fit on the bike, Northstar
will carry it.
The biggest thing Sweeney’s ever had to carry were two file boxes at
the same time — one in his messenger bag and another over the
handlebars.
Aside from the practical needs that certain businesses have for
hands-on delivery, Sweeney thinks Northstar is fulfilling another need.
“People still appreciate the tangible — the peace of mind of handling a
real object,” he said.
On an average workday, Sweeney rides between 20 and 30 miles across the
city. He said he fell in love with Boise when he visited.
Population growth and the escalating cost of living drove him out of
his last home, Minneapolis.
Boise has other advantages: The streets are wider, and people are more
aware of traffic, Sweeney said.
“I’ve been hit by cars more times than I care to remember,” he said.
But he said he’s been untouched since arriving in Boise.
Though it can be a hazardous job, Sweeney thinks he’ll stay at it for
another 10 years or so.
He said he loves the bicycle, and the autonomy his job allows him.
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