The Bag Messenger BlogBag Design and Urban Living

Tucker and Bloom caught up with Philadelphia bike messenger Josh ( NO ARMS ) Alsup and asked him to describe what he does for work. Below is a peak into the fast paced hustle that is courier work, and is the strength behind your 12 o’clock delivery. If you see Josh on the street give him a nod, and ask him how he got the name “No Arms”... He just might tell you, if hes not on a rush.
-The Bag Messenger

 
THE BAG MESSENGER:How long have you been a bike messenger in Philadelphia? How did you get into this line of work?

NO ARMS:I’ve been doing the work for four years. I moved to Philly from the burbs in the summer of 2005. At the time I was a landscaper and climber for a small tree service company out on the main line. That work mostly dried up in the winters and I was looking for another day job to supplement my income. Also, I wanted to work in the city, just because commuting out every day is so lame. I was moonlighting part time at Tower Records, but that had no kind of future in it. Sometime in the fall of that year I became aware that cycle courier was a job that existed. I had coincidentally moved in next to some kids that worked for a company called Timecycle, and i saw them coming and going. One time I was walking to the video store and i saw this guy named Sharky making a drop. He’s worked in some other cities and He’s kind of a legend. I saw him come out of a building and jump on his bike, and he looked so frigging hardcore. Pretty soon after that i went around and applied to a bunch of companies. I mountain biked all the time as a kid, so i figured I could do the job pretty easily. Plus, I was already doing pretty tough manual labor. That was when i was still a rookie, and I didn’t know that the job isn’t really about hard work. It’s about hustling.

THE BAG MESSENGER:How does a normal day for you look?

NO ARMS:I start late because i stay late. This is a pretty good situation. I check the weather and pack accordingly and get on the road around ten in the morning. Probably chirp in on the radio when I’m a few blocks from my house. The first thing I have to do every day is go to the National Labor Board and copy new information about labor disputes that were filed the previous day. It’s downtown, about thirteen blocks from my house. It takes a while to get through the security and write down the goods, but I usually have time to get some coffee on the way to my next pickup, at eleven. This is only a few blocks from the labor board. I go to this large firm twice a day, at eleven and at three. I check in their mailroom at these times for various types of jobs. They frequently send out subpoenas to be certified at the court, requests for copies of case files, or simple hand deliveries to other law firms. After I’ve gone there I head uptown to the business district. This is about a ten or twelve block ride. Much of the riding I do is back and forth like this, from the old city to uptown, and back again. Around twelve thirty someone in the crew has to head across the river to West Philadelphia. We do some daily jobs for the hospital systems out there. Between one and three in the afternoon there can be a lull. We eat lunch or hang out in the park. After three it can get much busier, and this is what we call “crunch time.” If it’s nice and busy, the other five riders and myselft might not stop moving during these two hours. It pretty much dies at five when everyone quits work. One other guy and I stay after five and make our way to a handful of clients to collect certified and express mail that needs to be taken to the post office. These daily mail runs can take an hour or more, with all the waiting in line and processing. By the time I quit, I have probably rode about twenty miles over the course of the day.



THE BAG MESSENGER:How do you deal with being out in the elements all year?

NO ARMS:This is a question that folks frequently ask. My single greatest advantage, I guess, is that I really do love the outdoors. I love working outside. I love battling the inclement weather, and winning. If you approach this whole issue with a sense of exhilaration, then most of the work is done. The other answer is in the gear. Over the years I’ve invested in some expensive cold weather tech. Last year I spent $80 on these gore-tex shells that go over my socks. That’s an expensive item, but they are miraculous, real talk. You gotta keep cotton away from your body, too. Even though it looks silly, I wear shorts over thermal tights when it’s cold and rainy. My pants are usually cotton, and the soaked cotton will compromise the wicking effect of the tights. When I started, I swore that I wouldn’t wear the tights, but you get over it once you realize how necessary they are. It sucks that fancy gear is so expensive, but you learn from other guys what brands last more than one year. It’s an investment. Some good things aren’t expensive, like the six dollar swedish thermals from the army surplus store.

THE BAG MESSENGER:What do you bring with you for work? What’s in your bag, other than packages?

NO ARMS:On the shoulder strap of my bag is a holster for my two-way radio. Below it on the strap is a velcro pouch that holds my phone and my city hall access card. If i have extra rain gear, that is in the main compartment, which is also where the packages go. That compartment has a thin side pouch that holds my notebook and wallet. The bag has two large outside pouches. One holds pens and my clipboard. The clipboard is a metal folding thing that holds my manifest sheets and various receipts or other paperwork. I also keep my spare change in that pouch, since i go through metal detectors a lot and it’s a pain to keep taking it out of my pants pocket. The other pouch holds my camera, city map, sunglasses, and tool kit. Tool kits are fundamental to the job, since sometimes your bike breaks down. My kit contains an air pump, spare tube, patch kit, spoke wrench, chain breaker, adjustable wrench, leatherman, hex wrench set, tire levers, and an extra key for my U-lock. The lock itself hangs from a holster that threads onto my belt. I also carry an old pair of work gloves for messing with chains and greasy stuff, and some extra compression straps for tying on large or unwieldy packages. It sounds like a lot, but it’s actually pretty compact. Like with camping or whatever, you get a system going that works for you.

THE BAG MESSENGER:What sorts of things do you see or experience on the street that normal pedestrians miss?

NO ARMS:Being a courier is working in different zones. I see a lot of things that delivery people see. Like loading docks, freight elevators, mail rooms, hospital labs, alleys, etc.. Then there’s the times when I go a little out of my league, socially. I go to the reception or offices of law firms to meet lawyers personally, or into court rooms during proceedings. I go into judges chambers, private clubs, high class hotel rooms and apartments. In places like that it’s seen as a special circumstance that “a courier” is there. It’s funny when you’re walking in there looking like this scruffy dude that’s been on a bike all day and it’s kind of a fancy or formal spot. I get a kick out of it. Then i guess the third zone is the street. During the down time between jobs a courier is kind of like a homeless person. Maybe I go to the book store and read or go to a coffee shop. But mostly we end up standing around in the park acting like bums. In the winter we stand on this grate that vents the underground parking garage and it’s kind of warm. Probably broke if it’s Tuesday or Wednesday. Actually living out of a bag. I know people see us and think that we’re all huddled like March of the Penguins out there, all miserable. But that’s really the space where the scene exists. If someone gets a new bike, that’s when you see it. A lot of other street level crazies come up to us. Trying to sell stolen batteries or just yelling. And we just sit there and watch the city and are on call.






Hit the road and bring just enough, because sometimes less in more.
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