MetaChat - UPS hires bicyclists to help with holiday deliveries

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21 December 2009

UPS hires bicyclists to help with holiday deliveries - it's more cost-effective to hire bicyclists than extra delivery trucks, and saves an average of 17 gallons of fuel per day (compared to one truck). →[More:]
I found this info after my wife called and told me she received packages from a UPS delivery guy on a bike. Our town is only about 10 miles across, so you can access most areas pretty quickly. Still, getting from one side of town to the other loaded with packages might be tricky without continuous bike lanes and some rather narrow roads.

post by: filthy light thief at: 20:05 | 7 comments

When I lived in Manhattan, I would sometimes get deliveries from Amazon within 24 hours of ordering because they used bike messengers.

posted by mullacc 21 December | 20:47

Though I'm not sure if "they" in my preceding post was Amazon or UPS. I recall that the packages had UPS labels though.

posted by mullacc 21 December | 20:48

My town has lots of bike lanes (one of which is on the street where I live out here in the fringes). I'm getting a small UPS box tomorrow or the next day and I'll almost be disappointed if they use a big brown truck.

Stil, I can't help thinking of something like this...

posted by oneswellfoop 21 December | 21:00

That's really cool to hear.

posted by Miko 21 December | 22:45

On one hand, this makes me very happy. On the other hand, I feel compelled to assert that cycling does not require dedicated bike lanes. Bicycles are allowed full use of the lane. We ARE traffic. The bike lane is a 2mm high line of paint, and does not protect you. (This, of course, is the standard opening salvo in the "Vehicular Cyclists Vs. Dedicated Infrastructurist" argument, which is yet another of the endless internet arguments. I don't really mean to open that can of worms.) Maybe I should go ride my bike to clear my head.

posted by Triode 21 December | 23:48

The bike lane is a 2mm high line of paint, and does not protect you.

Especially when it abruptly ends and becomes a right-turn lane.

posted by occhiblu 22 December | 00:28

How much does that pay? Looks like a cool way to make a buck.

(For the record: VC AND Infrastructure)

posted by Doohickie 22 December | 16:28

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