PORTLAND, ME—Edgar "Eddie" Perkins, 39, has driven an ice cream truck around town since 2011. The venture started out as a way to make some additional income in his spare time.
"In the beginning I was hoping to make enough on the weekends to pay off my student loans a little faster," shared the married man with two children.
However, as the years passed, and his obligations have grown at work and with family, Eddie has had to adapt. "I used to always try to catch the kids right after school, or on a hot summer afternoon near the park. I'd drive past the swimming pool, too." As Eddie would get more pressed for time, he found that he needed to change his selling routine.
"I realized how much time I was losing when I would go by the schools on hot days, for example. The kids would come right over and there would be lines back to the bus stop, so I'd be there for about 30 or 40 minutes selling ice cream. That meant that I'd get to the parks that much later, and I'd be out of a lot of my flavors. Then at the park, the same thing would happen. I'd get a long line, and they'd buy every last one I had. After that, it hardly seemed worth it to drive by the swimming pools. The kids would hear my tune, come up running, and then start crying when I told them I didn't have any ice cream."
The home owner and Packers fan became increasingly frustrated with his situation. "Some days felt like a waste of time. I had a lot of other stuff I needed to do."
Eventually, it donned on Eddie that he could adjust his schedule or his route. "It all happened one May afternoon. We had a weird cold spell come through, and I went through my whole route in about 20 minutes, and when I got home I had most of my ice cream still in the truck! Well, that saved me a lot of time, and I didn't even have to restock very much for the next day. That gave me the idea."
Eddie reportedly tried out several possible changes to his routine, including driving exclusively on weekdays, at different times of the day, using different music, and driving at different speeds.
"I learned so much those first couple of weeks," he revealed.
At present, Mr. Perkins drives his entire route in about 12 minutes. He attributes his enormous success to always starting it by 8:30 in the morning, where there are very rarely interruptions from customers. Additionally, he has found that he'll have fewer delays if he drives at least 35 mph past his designated selling areas, and he also has replaced his usual music, "The Entertainer," with Metallica's "Enter Sandman."
Although most mornings he can zip through his route, he does have a few regular customers who will be sure to flag him down. He explains that they are mostly in their twenties, and that their purchases have become more frequent since it became legal to use marijuana for recreation in Maine in 2017.
"Sometimes I wonder if I should switch back to 'The Entertainer' to see if that throws them off," Eddie added.