Motor route newspaper delivery tipping?

We live out in the country and our newspaper is delivered by car every morning. Yes, we still get a daily paper. Two actually, the local paper and the WSJ. What do you tip the carrier for the year of service if you're in the same situation?

We do basically a buck a week, so $50 at holiday time, but then considering what I tip in Vegas I was thinking maybe I'm being cheap. No complaints on service. The papers are there every morning.

 

Geez Joe,
I wish I had you on the NY Times route I had
a bunch of years ago. ( $50 ?)
Most people didn't tip.
If I got $20........that was a good tip.

 

I know I'd be thrilled with a $50 gift.

I know what you mean by Vegas tipping, I've had similar thoughts, but all-in-all I have to think that if the carrier received $50 he/she would be very grateful.

 

If I told you that when I delivered papers long ago, if I got a .25 tip on a two week collection, I considered that pretty generous, it might give away how very old I am We had daily home delivery up until about 3 years ago, and at that time we would give $25 at Christmas but also small tips throughout the year. My opinion $50 is very adequate.

 

I give our guy $20 and also $20 to the mailman.

 

Vegas is not reality.

As to the tip... guessing a low number do anything. We have forgotten in the past, but will mail something this year.

 

I always read that the mailman is not allowed to accept tips.

 

They aren't and the USPS tried hiring mystery shoppers to tip their mailman to see if they accepted the tip or not a few years back. I gave my mailman the heads up.

The rule is actually no cash, gift cards $20 or less only, and never more than $50 in gift cards per customer per year.

 

I still give my mail guy $20 and a twenty to the guys on the garbage truck(once a week pick-up) They all say thanks ,thats all I care about.
Friday I'm throwing a few xtra bucks to the bartenders at Harrahs who give me top shelf scotch when they dont have to because I'm just a gold card.

 

$50 isn't what it once was. Why, back then, it was worth $50! I think thats a good tip, seems reasonable to me. $20 for a year of trudging isn't really much. $50 is five trips to in-n-out burger - alone.

 

news paper. lol

 

My in laws do this. It is such a shitty job. Like you Joe they deliver out to country homes. Every night, no days off. Luckily gas has dropped down for them, back when it was $4 a gallon holy crap! MIL does homes, FIL, with lung cancer and emphysema does homes and stores, my SIL has to go with him now. That and with the print industry down they have suffered pay cuts as the years went by.

It is nice to see that people do tip. They do receive some monetary compensation in form of tips, they also will get cookies and cakes around xmas stuff like that. It is one of those things you never think about (I do not get the paper anymore) but when you do you just get used to it coming to the door every morning. I did not think twice about it.

I thought this guy had tough dodging tires, women chasing them with shoes and that weird guy on his back with his feet in the air! The do not even get to do a training course every once in a while!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNk4-Up1aws

 

i still get the paper but dont tip.

 

Dont forget theres more than one customer on a mail or paper route ,you add those 10's and 20's up and some of those guys do pretty good. One of my old friends was a doorman over in NYC. He cleaned up.

 

By the way, many routes these days are motor routes. We live in a normal development surround by homes. Has been via motor carrier for years. One of the main reason is such a small group of people get the paper. Kids on bikes only works if most of the homes are getting the paper. Times have changed.

 

Something happened a few hours after my last post in this thread and it just crossed my mind. I sometimes send over cupcakes to the local fire and police departments so they know the house. I walked in while the house was being robbed and six units showed up within minutes because they heard the call on the radio and knew that it was the house that sends the cupcakes. We also donated $500 worth of toys to the toy drive a few days earlier and had called them to come pick them up and the same cop who picked it up remembered the address when he heard he call.

 

I get the Boston paper delivered because I like to sit in my soft living room chair in the morning with my coffee and read the print edition...so suck to all you who laugh at the thought of reading print media-----to each his own. That being said, Joe, I tip $10 a month and another $20 at Christmas for the service of having the paper on my front steps every morning- rain shine or snow.