Independent, June 30, 1994
BOB DOUGHTY speaks on behalf and from the point of view of a bike courier.
He is a former courier, now runs City Bikes, a courier company near Blackfriars
Bridge, and is honorary secretary of the Despatch Association, a sort of
trade association (though it was set up originally to negotiate for radio
frequencies with theDepartment of Trade and Industry) and the closest the
industry has to an official body.
From this position Mr Doughty is amply qualified to discuss changes
in the persona of the average professional biker: 'I'm afraid so; they
have,' he replies, forlorn, when asked if couriers have metamorphosed into
respectable individuals.
'They all have mortgages and children, and I suppose that's the definition
of respectability.'
The whole image is changing. Couriers are expected to remember that
they are seen as representing a company, not riding in the TT, and operating
in a business milieu.
Mr Doughty's early experience differed. 'When I started, in 1978-9, it
was something people thought they'd do for a few days or months and 'get
some road together, man'. Now it's much more regarded as a long-term thing.'
The desire not to be mashed on the road, which tends to come with age,
may have made the stereotypical image of the courier - mad, bad and dangerous,
with an inability to stay under speed limits and a fondness for the wrong
side of the road - outdated.After all, more than one captain of industry
has drunk copiously of exhaust fumes and lived to tell the tale. Richard
Gabriel, who founded the pounds 53m franchise delivery service, Interlink,
which was sold for pounds 50.1m in 1991, was once amotorbike courier (and
a milkman).
But as the rough-boy pioneers have grown older and more mature, so has
the industry. Companies concerned about their image have begun to make
noises if they did not like the attitude of the individual often seen as
their representative and sometimes theonly point of personal contact with
their customers.
'Behaviour has changed, because it's a service industry,' says Mr Doughty.
'Appearance has improved up to a point, although they're basically outdoor
workers in all weathers and it's very difficult to impose too much because
they are self-employed.'
Expecting a courier not to look as though he has been personally greased
and oiled and to deal with clients and customers in a statesmanlike manner
has to be balanced against this insistence that they retain self-employed
status. If they are notguaranteed a wage and other perks of being employed
- sick pay, holidays, pensions - why should they behave like company ambassadors?
Surely the companies who use them (and pay them in proportion to work done)
more than share the responsibility if theythen ride like lunatics? Courier
companies challenge any such suggestion.
Jeremy Stuttaford, of Greater London Hire (another former courier), says
responsible companies stress that taking risks is counter- productive.
'I can speak from personal experience. I could earn perfectly good money
by going in a sensible fashion, notwhistling down the outside of traffic
at some ridiculous speed. If you do that you miss your turning, get in
the wrong lane, literally come to grief - you don' t get there.'
The biker's heyday was about five years ago, when they could earn pounds
500 a week, Mr Stuttaford says. But the recession whittled down the numbers
and now companies which take on couriers can be more choosy. GLH insists
that the 30 to 40 couriers ituses daily wear company bibs, and will not
entertain learners. Its managing director, John Scott, is chairman of the
Despatch Association and is in favour of a system of licensing or registration.
Mr Stuttaford, who spent 18 months as a courier as a wayout of a more conventional
job, says his abiding memory is of the cold. 'It's a lovely job in summer;
quite fun to do. Come the winter, though, it's a bit more miserable.'
Rising insurance premiums may have also altered the profile of the motorbike
courier. Mr Doughty says that per mile, they probably have fewer accidents
than most motorcyclists, and their well- used machines are less of a theft
risk: 'The insurancecompanies' policy was not to issue insurance to anyone
below a certain age because they were having so much theft loss. It was
essentially a bit of a knee-jerk reaction. Insurance companies will clobber
anyone they can get away with clobbering.'
Mark Smith, managing director of Securicor Pony Express, a same-day delivery
operation, says his company expects bike couriers to do their bit towards
'total quality management' and image- building. 'Five years ago the industry
was plagued by motorcyclecouriers who wanted to make a fast buck before
moving on. Customer care was almost unheard of, and the thought of being
a company ambassador was considered a joke. Standards were low on all fronts.
Couriers couldn't care less about their appearance,many prided themselves
on being rebellious. Status amongst other couriers was earned by having
the longest hair, dirtiest leathers and riding like there was no tomorrow.'
Uniforms, logoed bikes and standards of appearance have pulled in contracts
from banks and finance companies, Mr Smith says. 'Years on, many of the
larger companies have pulled themselves together and recognised the damage
a bad bike can give his company's image.'
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