Bob delivered in the job he started after leaving school

AFTER 41 years, Bob Millers will deliver his final Daily Mercury on Saturday, June 27.

Mr Millers was saddened but not surprised by the news he would not be doing his early morning run anymore.

Mackay Mercury deliverer Bob Millers makes the rounds in 2011. Picture: Peter Holt

It's the customers he will miss the most.

"Meeting the customers has been the best part," he said.

"There might be cranky ones, but there were always customers who couldn't wait to get their paper."

He jokes that his favourite part of the paper is the front page.

"It's the only part I could ever see, but I always enjoyed reading the headlines," he said.

Apart from the move to a digital model he said one of the most significant changes over the years had been changing the size of the paper to its current format.

Bill, left, and Bob Millers catch up after a shift in 2011. Picture: Peter Holt

Mr Millers can also recall when people could buy the Daily Mercury for just 5 cents.

He also remembers all his bosses over the years.

"Tom and Monica Breckell, John and Joan Ross, Troy and Gillian Ross, Paul and Marcella Doolan and Susan and Peter Vella …" he said.

He is currently a delivery man for Newsxpress Village Mackay Newsagents, but he has delivered the paper to various parts of Mackay during his 41 years.

"I tried to add it up the other day, 41 years, seven months and maybe two weeks," he said.

Bob Millers on his bike in the late 1970s, delivering papers in Mackay.

The first day of his long career was October 9, 1978. Mr Millers was 15 years old and had left school to work.

He was offered a job by Tom and Monica Breckell, who at the time owned several newsagencies in the Mackay area. He worked as a paper boy, in a newsagency and a supermarket. His brother Bill was also a paper boy.

Mr Millers began his paper route at 3am and, with his other jobs, his shift didn't finish until lunchtime.

He would have to cycle up to 15km a day to deliver 350 papers.

Bob Millers with his first car, a Mini Moke, in 1980.

In 1980 he upgraded his transport to a car - a Mini Moke. The route distance increased, and the number of papers went up to 500. Now, with a van, the area has expanded again to include the suburbs of Beaconsfield, Mount Pleasant, Glenella and North Mackay.

His day can start at 1am.

"It depends on when the truck with the papers arrives," he said.

Mr Millers plans to find another delivery job.

"I have plenty of experience," he laughed.