Troy's Paper Route Page 62 houses · 7 days a week · rain or shine

My name is Troy. I'm 13 and in 8th grade in Missouri. I deliver the morning paper to 62 houses before school, every day of the week, including Christmas. I made this page to keep my collection records in one place where I can't lose them (like I lost the green notebook) and because my dad says it will look good someday. It's also for other carriers who want tips. There are no customer names on here, and no house numbers. That's just good business.

1. The Route

I took over the route in August from a high school kid who got a job at the grocery store. He gave me the route book and one piece of advice: never, ever skip a house, because the one you skip is the one that calls.

2. My Morning

The Sunday paper is a whole different thing. On Saturday afternoon the ad inserts come in a separate bundle and I have to stuff them into the Sunday papers myself. Then on Sunday morning the papers are so heavy that my dad drives me in the van and I run them up to the porches.

How heavy? I weighed it. I stood on the bathroom scale holding 10 Sunday papers, then without them, and the difference was 24 pounds. So one Sunday paper weighs about 2.4 pounds, and all 62 weigh about 149 pounds, which is more than I weigh. Mr. Hutchinson, my district manager, says the Thanksgiving Day paper is the heaviest of the year because of all the Christmas ads. I'll weigh it and report back.

3. Collections

Here's how it works. A customer pays $2.75 a week for the paper every day plus Sunday. I collect on Friday nights and Saturdays. Every week I have to pay the paper $1.90 for every house on my route, whether that house paid me or not. 62 houses x $1.90 = $117.80 a week. Whatever's left after the bill is my profit. Tips are extra.

"Weeks paid" is how many weeks of paper got paid for. It's more than 62 when people catch up on weeks they owed.

In 7 weeks I delivered 62 x 7 = 434 weeks of paper and got paid for 427, so 7 weeks are still owed to me. Four of those are the same house. (See "The Never Home," below.)

Out of my profit I also buy my own rubber bands and plastic bags, about $4 a month. Dad says that's called overhead.

4. The Bike Fund

I'm saving for the 21-speed mountain bike at the bike shop by the high school. It costs $289. (Plus tax, which Dad says I'm paying too.) My rule: every week, $10 of my profit and all of my tips go in the bike fund. The rest is mine to spend. I had $61.25 saved from August and September before I started this table.

Progress to $289 (each box is $28.90):

$174.90 of $289.00. Six boxes! $114.10 to go. If the Christmas tips are anything like what the last carrier said, I'll have the bike by New Year's. I'm not riding it on the route, though. The route bike is my old one with the big basket, and it stays the route bike.

5. Best and Worst Customers

No names! These are TYPES. If you are a customer of mine and you think one of these is you, it probably isn't. Unless it's a good one.

6. Dog Warnings

7. Tips About Tips

I've been doing this for three and a half months, so I'm not an expert yet, but here's what I know.

1. Be on time every day. People notice the day you're late, not the 30 days you weren't.
2. Put the paper where they want it. Ask! Write it in your route book.
3. Bag it when it might rain, even if it doesn't. Nobody tips for a soggy paper.
4. Bring change when you collect. Ones and quarters. If you can't make change, you don't get paid, and sometimes the change is the tip.
5. Say thank you, even when there's no tip. Especially then.
6. Collect at the same time every week so people expect you.
7. Give out a Christmas card with your name on it in December. The last carrier said this is the most important one. I bought a box of cards for $3.99 and I'm handing them out on December 14.

If I'm sick or we're at my grandma's, my friend Neil subs for me. He knows the route and he knows about the tiny white dog.

Visitors:

Questions from other carriers welcome: [email protected]
Last updated Sunday, November 17, 1996