Not every messenger is lucky enough to have someone like
j.dot looking out for them. By all accounts the job is hard, demanding and dangerous. Add to that the vagaries of bosses, and you have a job that must often be tougher than it is worth. So, it makes sense that some messengers would come together to take control one aspect of their job: ownership. In an irregular series of posts, I'm going to be looking at courier collectives: messenger owned and managed courier companies. I asked a few different courier collectives the following question:
What makes you different from every other messenger company out there? Here's the response from JP at
4Star Courier Collective in Chicago.
"We don't compete with each other over commission. Every other company has camaraderie and genuine friendships, we still do, but this company is quite literally a team. We can coordinate hand-offs like nobody's business and not have to worry about who gets what cut of what because we have this team atmosphere in which we get paid if the job gets done and it gets done right. That's why we collectively work together and use what each of us brings to the table to kick ass and rock out. It's like the A-team except no one gets shot. Wait, has anyone ever been shot on that show?
Our motivation is different. We are directly accountable for keeping
clients happy because they are the ones making our paychecks instead
of a boss. If anything happens with them it is because of us. I've had
bosses ruin relationships with clients and that just pissed me off
because I'd like the people and it would be one less source of work.
We have a very low overhead in comparison and we have no employees.
One thing that makes us exceptionally different is we trust each other. No one in business can understand that. Laws were made to protect people from their business partners and rules and regulations and fees and all that crap because there needs to be a governing body to make sure that people don't screw each other over in business. We don't need some outside body protecting us from ourselves, we just trust each other and respect each other.
You should see how much this pisses off competing companies. Many companies are trying like crazy to rat us out for some supposed illegal practices when, in fact, we're just being honest and simple, equal owners, it just blows their minds. Each of us takes a turn dispatching and working on the street. We don't back down from work, which is why we're always carrying the ridiculous shit like a 4 foot by 3 foot cardboard flat at least twice a day. We have a different kind of stress but since it is like a team we help each other out and keep a good sense of humor."
There you have it. That's what makes
4Star different from other companies. I'll be doing more companies later, so stay tuned. Thanks for the great response, JP! Oh, and no, no one ever got shot on The A-Team.
I ask for 110% from all of our associates. We are limited financially so we depend on having the best crew to build our business. Our rates are competitive and the service is impressive, we are the best!
The North American Cycle Courier Championships this year are in Chicago, and it is going to be insane. Go here for all the details about registration and accommodation.
