Courier conversation

October 21, 8:02 AMBicycle Transportation ExaminerAdam Voiland

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Jesse Hinson helps a fellow rider with bike repairs. (Credit: Voiland)

As part of a recent story I wrote about Legba Carrefour and the Alice Swanson ghost bikes, I spoke with DC bicycle messenger, Jesse Hinson, about courier culture in the District. Hinson, 25, rides for Apple Courier.  We caught up at the Mount Pleasant farmer's market where Hinson was volunteering at a bike clinic.  

What did you think of the recent story about couriers in the Washington Post? Did they get it right?
Well, the article was right that courier companies are struggling, but I thought it was funny that it was front page news. The courier business has been going down since, I don’t know, the fax machine, since email. The older couriers still complain about it.

How is your company doing?
Apple Courier, the company that I’ve worked for the longest, was recently bought out or merged with Washington Express, so yeah, we’ve felt it.

They had a section in the article about the bad old days--maybe good old days, depending on your perspective--where we hear about couriers smoking pot in the park and drinking on the job. Does that actually happen?
I don’t want to give the impression that most of the messengers in DC are drunk or high, but, yeah, sometimes that happens. I’ve had to pick up work  in the middle of the day from couriers who were drunk or who had shut their radio off because they didn’t feel like working.

There are certainly some stereotypes of messengers that aren't necessarily positive. Do messengers mind?
I don’t think the community of bicycles messengers--or at least that section of it--really gives a s*** about what people think of them. If you’re drinking in a public park on your workday, then you probably don’t care. Personally, I actually use to dress much "dirtier" than I do now. Now I actually wear nice shorts and a sweater or something, because it really affects the way that you’re treated in the lobbies. You might be allowed to ride in the nice elevators in the front rather than the loading dock elevators, bcause they’ll look at you and not immediately see dirty courier.

What drew you to being a bicycle messenger in the first place?
When I first moved here a lot of the people I met and were becoming friends with were couriers. Even in high school, I had already been biking to school every day. I already loved riding my bike, so it was great to find out you could get paid to ride all day.

Does the job pay OK?
Yeah, it’s decent.

Do people give tips?
Not usually, except every now and then we’ll get personal calls. We used to do this one lady who worked for a law firm in Dupont. She would work late nights sometimes, and we would go pick up junk food from CVS. She’d literally buy like 30 pounds of junk food for us, and she would always tip us. But, it’s usually mail room to mail room.

DC is thought to be such a button-down, serious place in comparison to New York or San Francisco, for example. Does the vibe carry over into the courier community as well?
It's not something I've heard people talk about much, but I’d say we’re known for being a small city with a lot of work. And also we have people that go out for national races, such as the national championships and the North American Championships.