|
Rain, Shine or Snow (or Postal Strike),
Bike Couriers Pedal On
Toronto Star, July 2, 1981
Two Quebec City brothers and their friends have turned their love of
bicycles into a business that has caught local firms a little by
surprise.
The surprise comes when businessmen are told that the odd-looking
fellow at the reception desk, the one wearing helmet, gloves, T-shirt
and shorts is from Tandem Inc courier service.
Tandem is the two-month-old brainchild of architect Pierre Mercier and
his brother Guy, an engineering student. Both men are known locally as
bicycle activists and both feel that when it comes to downtown traffic,
bikes are at least as fast as cars.
And though the fledgling business has yet to show a profit the Merciers
are confident that they can increase revenues, especially during the
current strike by inside postal workers.
Tandem now has three bicycles each equipped with red flags, tubes (for
blueprints) and saddlebags but the prospect of increased demand during
the strike moved them to acquire another two with options on more if
demand stays strong.
“The idea came to me after I read an American magazine that about 50
businesses use bicycles as well as cars to supplement their delivery
services,” Pierre said.
Guy adds that people don’t expect bicycle delivery to be as fast
because “people drive around in cars and they have a bad perception of
distances.”
Tandem service extends 15 kilometres to the suburbs and the rates are
competitive with conventional courier services - $2.50 for the first
two kilometres and 50 cents for each kilometre thereafter.
Bike couriers average 100 kilometres a day and despite the hills of
Quebec City, they say the real problem is the climate.
When it rains the service slows down, worse still people assume Tandem
doesn’t operate in the rain. And it can be tough when the cyclist
forgets his gloves during the winter.
Pierre says despite the cold, Tandem intends to carry on this winter
“to the bitter end.”
“If grocery store delivery boys use bicycles all winter long, why not
us?”
And finding staff is no problem. Pierre says he has a desk full of
applications from local cycling aficionados “who dream of biking and
getting paid for it.”
|
|
