‘Time is money’ credo |
of local courier drivers |

THERE’S color on
North Shore streets, and
I’m not referring to
street gangs.
The colors I’m talking
about are the courier
vans in your neighbor-
hood — brown, yellow,

_ white...

People love to hate courier
drivers almost as much as they
do taxi drivers, and for good
reason. As often as not these
urban messengers are pushy,
aggressive and seemingly care-
fess; but it’s all for the mighty
dollar that everyone must
work for in order to feed their

' collective dog, so to speak.

I recently rode along with
North Shore resident Rob
Rowat, an owner/operator of
a Grumman-built Loomis Van,
to get a first-hand insight inte
a courier’s average work day.

_ The day started at 6 a.m. at
the Loomis depot in ‘

Vancouver, where we sorted,
recorded and stacked parcels
into some-semblance of an
itinerary. By 8 a.m. we were in
North Van making the first of
80-odd deliveries, which
would continue for the next
five hours. In the four hours
following that, we made pick-
ups at numerous regular spots
as well as “call-ins” randomly
paged in throughout the day.
By 6 p.m. we had unloaded
the truck and finalized the
day’s paper work.

Yes folks, it’s a 12-hour
work day, and it’s every day.

Rob’s route encompasses
the business and industrial dis-
tricts between Capilano Road
and Bewicke Avenue in North
Vancouver, from the water-
front to 16th Street. While it's
a geographically small area, it
contains a lion’s share of the
North Shore’s commerce gen-
erating enterprises.

- Burthermore, Rob works
this zone non-stop save for
one brief break while the fine

- folks at Trend’s Electronics
load his truck for him. There is
neither a coffee break nor a
lunch break,

Rob said it’s a daily routine
and once he slides inte a
groove (perhaps a courier’s
version of a Zen state) it’s just
another day at. the office
(albeit rolling).

But there is more to it than

that. Unlike some other couri-
er companies who pay their
drivers hourly, Kob works en a
commission basis, adding pen-
nies up with a per-delivery,
per-pickup, per-package and
per-pound formula.

Therefore, the more effi-
cient he is, the bigger the pay
cheek -— an hourly driver gets
paid whether packages arrive
on time or not (or at all).

Which brings us to the
meat of this column: How
does Rob drive, knowing that
time is money?

Quite sensibly, as it turns
out. I was hoping to see some
maniacal swerving, insane cor-
nering and mind-warping
speeds just so 1 could shame
him in print. But as Rob

ints out, che biggest risk is
not getting there at all.
Sensible driving, translates
directly into money.

Freely admitting that many
couriers have duly earned their
consolidated bad reputation,
Rob does not fit into this
group. However, he does take
advantage of the warincss
other drivers show when he
approaches, That is to say,
when another driver backs off
at the sight of his six-wheeled,
bright yellow implement of
jnumidation, he'll take advan-

. tage of the space provided.

And certainly, stop signs
and right-of-way laws are com-

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LOOMIS Courier driver Rob Rowat takes ectro
in North Vancouver. Traffic columnist Shaun

ing bay on Philip. Avenue
spent a day with Rowat on

promised upon occasion but
without ever compromising
traffic safety. And considering
the plethora of bonehead dri-
vers out there, Rob is definite-
ly a patient operator.

So in the end, pros like
Rob are putting in a long and

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a brief break

NEWS photo Cody Goodman

at Trend’s Electronics load-

Genlin

the road to find out whai makes courier drivers ict.

honest day’s work. Anyone
frustrated by a courier’s bad
habits, imagined or otherwise,
should realize that these guys
are trying to make atving.
Much more than that, they
are helping every client they
work for to make a fiving, too.

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