Any newspaper delivery drivers here?

I drove a route for the Los Angeles Times... I drove 60 miles a night... and on sunday I had to make two trips two and from the pick up center, because of the size of the papers...

I had a pinto station wagon at the time... and was a single parent.. the back part of the station wagon, i turned into a bed for my son... except for sundays, that night he spent at my moms house and i would pick him up when i was done...

My ex husband was also delivering papers (thats how we met!)...
when we had our taxes down, they allowed for Gasoline, milage, tires, tuneups, etc, etc..

I wore medical gloves in the summer time to keep my hands from cracking and in the winter (it snowed where I was living) as many clothes as i could put on... my son slept in the back with two sleeping bags ..

I would get home in the morning around 6am.. get my son ready for school.. drop him off and then I would go home and sleep the hours he was in school.. pick him up, do what errands I had.. fix dinner and then do homework and take a nap...

I did this for 6 months until I got pregnant with daughter and I quit.

Its not a bad job if you dont mind driving...

LOL.. I got stopped one night by the police, some guy had just robbed a convenience store and was driving a pinto ... when they say me and my son and my papers, they apologized, explained and sent me on my way. After that, because of driving the same route all the time, the police actually checked on me and made sure I was all right.

Lynn in Texas

__________________
If you want to make GOD laugh, tell him Your plans.

Also if by chance she gets offered a vender route later on, it is a lot harder to do than a regular and then she will be dealing with money at least one day a week.

Jennifer

__________________
Use it up
Wear it out
Make do,
or do without

Thanks to everyone for the advice!

She drove this time and (a different) manager rode passenger with her. She didn't really get along with this manager, and this is the guy she would normally deal with. She hopes she won't really have to do too much with him.

I called our insurance company, our ins would go up from $1319 to $1538 for both cars. Not too bad of an increase.

I figured some costs (oil changes every 2500 miles due to stop & go, brakes and tires once a year, and of course, gas). These costs, plus the increase in insurance, would come to $85 a week. The killer is the depreciation of our expensive new car. I'm figuring about $5,000 a year, or $100 a week.

So $560 every two weeks comes to 280 a week. Subtract $85 and $100 for maintenance and depreciation, and she'd only really be earning $95 a week.

If she ends up liking this, we may either switch vehicles so she's using our older car (stick shift would take some beating with 250 starts a day), or buy a beater car as some have suggested.

I'll suggest gloves and lotion to her. I would never have thought of that!

It's a pretty rural area and she said the only people she saw was at the end of the route when she saw farmers heading out to their barns. I don't think she'll have many encounters with junkies or anyone else to give her problems. But a can of pepper spray is a good idea.

I was thinking about a flashing light too, since she does some deliveries on the left side where she would be going the wrong way. Said she only saw a few other cars on the road, and mostly after 5 AM. Hopefully she will be done by 5 once she gets practice with this.

Thanks for all your help and advice!
John

So less than $15 a night, not counting any time on paperwork. Other things to consider:
What will she do if the kids get sick? Will she hold up long term to the schedule change and not get sick more often herself? Eating into more of the profits.

Has she considered selling on ebay?

If a person is self motivated and doesn't need a commitment to a schedule, it's much easier to bring in more than that for less time on ebay in my experience.

It does mean using good ebay tools.. turbo lister, online postage printing, USPS priority mail boxes at the home, and if available USPS pick up. Being willing to watch for things to sell, and spending a little start up time learning what sells, but it can be done with children in the home, according to your own schedule, and without the risk of hitting a deer every night (my uncle who drives a paper route was pretty badly hurt when a deer dashed out and ran into HIS car).

Once the kids are a old enough, they can even learn to help some or sell some things themselves, through mom, and learn good business skills.

What will she do if the kids get sick? Will she hold up long term to the schedule change and not get sick more often herself? Eating into more of the profits.

Just an idea...

Best wishes which ever way you go.
Grandma