pedal pushers

Ouch!

That’s me, wincing from the sting of rising gas prices. Shipping costs are a big part of my business. Have you seen the bumper sticker that says, “If you’ve got it, a trucker brought it?”

So, we ALL feel it.

Whether you’re driving to work every day, working as a truck driver, ferrying kids to school, or just running to the grocery store, I bet you dread looking down at the gas gauge.

But that’s enough complaining.

It’s time to look for alternatives, new ideas …

Or maybe an old one?

Long before there were gas-guzzling vehicles on the road, there was the miracle of human muscle power, and it gave a whole new meaning to “get ‘er done”!

That’s the kind of go-for-it gumption that inspired Ruthy Woodring and Alex Jarrett, a couple of motivated Massachusetts youngsters, to put the pedal to the metal.

Or, rather, the pedal to the pavement …

The rumps to the road?

Well, anyway, Woodring and Jarrett started a bicycle hauling service called Pedal People in 2002.

The gist: Pedal People Cooperative Inc. is a worker-owned and human-powered delivery and hauling service for items under 300 pounds in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is operated by 13 active workers who haul recycling, trash, and groceries as well as furniture, computers, cats, friends, laundry, lumber, windows, memorial stones, refrigerators, solar panels, CSA shares, trees stumps, leaves, compost, and more—and they do it year round.

Love it!

If you’re in the Northampton area, their website answers questions about delivery, and it also offers smart suggestions for reducing waste.

Luckily for the rest of us, the human-powered delivery service concept is catching. Here are a few others I found around the country:

Bikes at Work in Ames, IA

HD Hauling and Delivery in Ann Arbor, MI

The Pedal Co-op in Philadelphia, PA

Move by Bike in Portland, OR

If you don’t have one near you, keep your eyes open—this is just the beginning of a terrific trend.

Of course, you could always get out there and start one yourself …