Posts

"Inside" the Sunday Package

On Thursday of each week the Washington Post sends us 2,500 pre -packs for the newspaper that Sunday. There are a number of names for the advance part of the paper such as "Comics", "Guts" or "Inserts. ________________________________________ Two of the main ingredients that come in the package are the Washington Post magazine and the weekly Television Guide. Others would argue that the Funny Papers and the sales ads are of equal importance but most go in search of the TV Book and the Magazine. ________________________________________ The inserts are put together each week in Springfield and then trucked to us. 99 times out of 100 they are complete but there is the rare occasion that one of the items comes up missing. We encourage to call our office (540)-743-4660 if you are missing either item and we will get one sent back out during our Monday morning delivery hours. ________________________________________ Once or twice a calender year the Post will h...

Merry Christmas to All !

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL and safe travel for those who will be on the road over the Holidays.

Round #1 vs. Mother Nature (Friday 12/17/10)

One of the biggest fears in delivering newspapers back and forth across the mountain comes in the form of snow & ice. Last night/this morning was our first battle with serious elements and with a little help from Above we managed to complete our routes within the time restraints of 6:00 A.M.! ___________________________________ Kudos to the trucking company for bringing the newspapers on time and to the entire team for a solid effort of battling the back roads of both Page & Shenandoah Counties. We can only hope that it will warm up enough today to melt the snow and then stay warm enough to prevent it turning the slush in to ice. ___________________________________ Here is hoping that Round 2 is postponed until the start of 2011!

Today : The origin of the site

Back in the good ole days when the job only required roaming the streets of Luray at night I had set out to create a way to give back to the community. The idea I came up with was a site that promoted local high school athletes in a positive manner and a few adventures mixed in. Around The Valley in 60 Days was the name and there are nearly a thousand posts between the two sites. ________________________________________________ This site here was the original site and on the front page of this site is a link to the sister site we created. Sadly as the newspaper job became much more labor intense over the consolidations the time was no longer there to continue at the same pace. But we kept both sites up and running so that folks can still look back at the stories and pictures. ________________________________________________ The main goal of this site now is to allow me to try and communicate with a customer base that has us distributing 2,600 Sunday newspapers between Page...

Today's Word - Billing from the Washington Post

One of the biggest changes that occurred during the past five years has come in the billing department. The split had been about 50/50 between the number of customers that paid their bills directly to the Post and the number that paid their distributor every four weeks. _________________________________ The change was made to take the billing 100% in house about 2 years ago. Every customer that receives the newspaper from the Post is expected to pay the Post directly now. The invoices are mailed back to Richmond, Virginia and processed there. While the Post has taken over complete control of the accounts and they generate the customer invoices they list my name and number on the top of the paperwork. _________________________________ The idea is to give the customer a local name and number to call if they have a question about their statement. Solid idea but it can lead to a bit of confusion when a call is placed to me with a concern because I was not the one to genera...

Today's Question - Washington Post News Tubes

A large number of our customer bases receives their newspaper in a Washington Post tube. The purpose of the tube is to try and protect the paper from the elements as much as possible. For those of you that do not currently have a tube and would like one at your home here is a few things you should know. __________________________________ * There is no cost to the customer for the tube. * In most cases we can have a tube installed inside of a week. * If the tube becomes worn out or damaged we can replace it. *If there is a change in your subscription we can remove the tube per your request. ___________________________________ Hope everyone was able to enjoy their Thanksgiving !

The Thanksgiving Day Newspaper...The Inside Scoop

Each year the Washington Post publishes a Special Edition of the newspaper on Thanksgiving Day. The goal is to get everyone for Black Friday, especially the ones that are brave enough to hit the stores before the Sun rises. ___________________________________ The product is the largest Daily newspaper of the year and requires assembly that is a challenge for us and then comes the special delivery instructions. Step 1-Take the papers to the local stores with a retail price of $2.50 in the outer market. Step 2-Deliver a copy of the newspaper to all of the 7-Day customers that would be expecting their typical Thursday newspaper. There is no extra charge for the Home Delivery customers. Step 3- Take a free copy to each and everyone of the Sunday Only customers. Both the set that fall inside of the daily boundaries and the folks that reside in the far reaches of our beautiful Valley. ____________________________________ We have learned that some of the four previous Distributors had not be...