Article: FUEL COST NOT AN ISSUE FOR PAPER IN MAINE Bangor Daily News realigns routes, devises formula to assist carriers with gas.

The high cost of fuel sparks a job action by carriers in San Jose, but one paper in Maine has defused the issue through a carefully crafted policy of tying payments to its carriers to a monthly gasoline price report.

The San Jose Mercury News ended nearly a week of delivery disruptions by giving its carriers, all independent contractors, a 12 percent raise (boosting their monthly profit from $1080 to $1210) and changing two rules concerning collections and fees.

In a statement, Publisher Jay Harris concedes that the carriers "brought some legitimate concerns to our attention" through their job action, which impeded delivery of the paper Oct. 8-12.

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