No route is the same.  Some are easy to contract out and others are not.  Your contractors salivate over your easiest routes, and you can't pay enough to get an agent to sign on the dotted line for the undesirables.

However, once you have an agent under contract, his opinion of the route changes in some respect.  He'll find that it suits him more or less than expected.  The difficult thing for you, the client, is in knowing who isn't satisfied with his route. 

So why should you be concerned if a driver isn't satisfied?  Because you want to make sure that his problems don't become yours.

Your straightforward agents will tell you their problems hoping you'll effect some solution.  You'll generally hear from them on a regular basis until the issue is resolved.  If there is no solution, they may terminate their contracts or become like the dissatisfied who don't complain.

When an agent has an issue and doesn't let you know about it, it's easy to think of this person as one of your better drivers if there are no problems of which you are aware.  Don't feel secure about these routes.  Often times this is just a person who is resourceful enough to solve his own problems, and you may not like the solution.  There is a way to detect these kinds of problems.

When you do an agent's route yourself, you will learn more than by simply spot checking.  The key is in not letting the driver know when this is going to happen.  When the driver arrives to pick up publications to be delivered, simply tell him that the route is covered this time and that next time everything is back to normal.  If he has a problem with this, remind him that you have no obligation to allow him to do the route; you are simply obligated to pay him -- which you will do.  Paying him for not doing his route will be money well spent. By doing the route yourself, you can find out the quality of the agent's work, what stops are being missed, if there are any shady side deals with merchants or any number of things.  You may be pleasantly surprised or horrified, but you will know.  And that's your job, isn't it?

Ray Boddie, Jr.