Delivery Diary: Behind the Wheel with Tyler Franciscovich

RAILS delivery is arguably one of the most crucial services provided to member libraries and one of the most recognizable parts of RAILS' services. According to our RAILS: Numbers that Count data, “In 2024, our 46-delivery staff produced a 2813% return on investment by delivering 7.9 million items to our member libraries.”  RAILS delivery service operates five days a week. RAILS has five locations that provide service to the library system: Bolingbrook, Burr Ridge, Coal Valley, East Peoria, and Rockford. Delivery service is an integral component of RAILS. 

Without our team of delivery staff, delivery service would not be possible. Their hard work and dedication result in satisfied patrons and more accessible collections. Without drivers, sorters, and floaters, resource sharing throughout Illinois would suffer. To connect our member libraries to those who work every day to provide them with this essential service, we’ve developed our Delivery Diary series. Read on as we get to know more about our delivery staff, and hopefully, our libraries as a whole. We will be interviewing one RAILS driver, sorter, or floater in each blog post to learn more about the folks our member libraries rely on for continued service. 

This week’s featured employee, Tyler Franciscovich, has been with RAILS for almost two years and works as a driver at the East Peoria delivery hub. East Peoria has 19 employees and is the second-largest RAILS service center. East Peoria’s service area covers approximately 500 member libraries.  

I spoke with Tyler in June 2025 about his experience at RAILS and some of his favorite activities as of late. 

GG: How long have you been working at RAILS? 

TF: I started at RAILS, oh gosh, now I need to think, February of 2023. I'm in my second year. 

GG: Second year, sweet! February is an interesting time to start work, I'm assuming, with [the] weather— 

TF: Yes. It was interesting. I went through training with one of the other drivers and with Robert, my manager. Then the first day I drove on my own, there was a massive snowstorm. It was like the [going] into the fire, so to speak. 

GG: What does a typical day look like for you? 

TF: A lot of miles, a lot of libraries. My Mondays and Fridays, the route is very similar. I head up north, up [I-] 55, and then back down on [US] 24. Those are my longest days, both timewise and mileage-wise, somewhere around 300 miles. 

[On] Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, I [deliver] more locally. 

GG: You start out early in the morning, I'm assuming? 

TF: Yes. Mondays and Fridays are my earliest days as well. Just a lot for the number of libraries, so I'm usually there at 5:00 a.m. Then I'm usually done at 1:30 p.m. or 2:30 p.m., somewhere in that range, depending on the day. 

GG: Do you like to listen to anything when you drive? Podcasts or music? 

TF: I bounce around between just regular radio music, and sometimes I'll throw on—I’ve been listening to this Blackhawks podcast recently. I don't really have a specific thing. If you listen to too much of one thing, you get bored with it. I've learned that I need to expand my horizons. When you're driving by yourself all day, you've got to switch it up every once in a while. 

GG: What about a type of music? Do you have a favorite artist? 

TF: I'm all over the spectrum there, too. I like rock [and] garage rock. I've gotten into jazz a little bit, which is [an out of] left-field choice for rock. There's a cycle, I guess. Just anything that keeps me awake and keeps me moving. 

GG: Not anything to put you to sleep. 

TF: Right. No white noise, brown noise, no Gregorian chants or anything. 

GG: Do you listen to any audiobooks? 

TF: I don't. I've never really gotten into audiobooks. 

GG: What's your favorite thing you've watched or read recently? 

TF: Gosh, that's a good question. I've been watching Dark Winds, the series based on the Tony Hillerman books. [I] watched that recently. I got into that. I should go back and actually read some of his books instead of just watching the show that's based on [them]. I have been reading a book by... I think his name is Kevin Cunningham. It's called Home Ice. 

It's about his time as a Blackhawks fan and his feelings about when they won the Stanley Cup back in 2010. [I’m] in a hockey mood all of a sudden. I think with the Stanley Cup finals on, it's something to watch and something to get back into. 

GG: Similarly, what's one hobby that you've been enjoying lately? 

TF: I've been trying to enjoy running. That's been my sport forever. Something that I really like to do. It's something I did through grade school and high school and stuff. It is not the most fun when it's 93 degrees outside. You either wake up really early to try to do a little bit or try to push it as late as you can. I've got a kayak that I like to go out on every once in a while. 

A lot of outside stuff that's hard to do in the middle of the blaring heat like this, but eventually, it cools off. 

GG: When you're driving, do you like the windows down or windows up? 

TF: Normally, windows down. Right now, windows up. 

GG: What's the best interaction you've had while on the job? 

TF: Here's another [out of] left-field answer. I enjoy my job. I enjoy interacting with the library staff that I meet. The best interaction I think I've had most recently was at Spoon River College. I pulled in, and I'm driving up the very long driveway around their parking lot, and there's just this random dog in the middle of the road. 

I'm like, "That's a little odd." I didn't really think anything of it. It's out in rural Canton. There's a lot of places to walk out there. I figured maybe somebody was just tailing behind the dog, and I didn't see them. I went in to make the delivery. I came back out, and the dog was in a completely different part of the parking lot. I'm like, "This is weird." I got out to try to get the dog's attention, to see if anybody was around. A staff member was driving out. He asked if it was my dog.  

He's like, "Well, there is a house down the road that does have some dogs, usually in the yard, running around, so I can go down and see if anybody's there." He did. There was nobody home. He's like, "Do you want any help?" [I thought] I guess I'll try to get the dog down to the house and see if that's right. I got the dog up in the van with me and drove down the road. I had the windows down, and the dog jumped right over me and out through the window and into the yard. I hope that's where the dog belonged. He had the same collar as the other two dogs. I presume that was the correct move, but— so for interactions, that's one that— [chuckles] I don't know. 

GG: That's fair. They probably recognized their house, and were just like, "All right. I'm going."  

TF: Yes...Other than washing my hands at the earliest opportunity and wiping down the van rigorously. I felt like that was my good deed for the day— 

GG: It's like dog delivery. 

TF: Yes, we deliver dogs too, if we can. 

GG: Is there anything you wish librarians or patrons knew about delivery? 

TF: Hmm. Let me think on this one. I think a lot of people recognize or have come to recognize how important the service is, especially in the last few years, and [in the last] several months. I don't know that there's anything I can tell them about RAILS that they haven't picked up on themselves. Just that, it's a vital service, I would hate to see it altered or diminished in any way. I think a lot of library staff ask [and] they want to know “What are you hearing at RAILS? What are you hearing about everything that's going on?” A lot of it is way beyond my pay grade. A lot of stuff, we just don't know yet, so. 

I think library staff recognize the importance, I hope. I hope the library patrons also recognize the importance and that they make the most of their libraries and, by extension, make the most of RAILS in what we do. 

Interviews for the Delivery Diaries series occured in June 2025. Special thanks is given to Tyler Franciscovich and Robert Morgan for their assistance with this post.  

For more information on delivery, please refer to our RAILS Delivery webpage.