The Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram have reached a joint distribution agreement in an effort to reduce costs, the two newspapers said Friday.

Under the agreement, The News will deliver about 5,000 daily copies and 7,000 Sunday copies of the Star-Telegram in Dallas, Cook, Denton and Ellis counties.

The Star-Telegram will deliver about 21,000 daily copies and 20,000 Sunday copies of The News in Tarrant, Parker, Hood and Johnson Counties.

“There are certain geographies where we both have significant distribution, and we’re sending two cars down the same street, each delivering one product of each of the two companies,” said Jim Moroney, publisher and chief executive of The News.

“If we can get one car going down the street, delivering both products, it lowers the cost of distribution for both companies,” he said.

Neither newspaper would disclose the savings it expects to achieve from the deal, which takes effect Oct. 6.

The agreement covers both home delivery and single-copy distribution of the two newspapers, and also includes distribution of Quick, The News’ publication aimed at younger readers; Al Dia, The News’ Spanish-language daily, and La Estrella en Casa, a Spanish-language weekly of the Star-Telegram.

It also includes The News’ third-party distribution contracts with The New York Times, the Financial Times, USA Today, Investor’s Business Daily and Daily Racing Form.

The arrangement is expected to be “virtually transparent” to subscribers, who will continue to contact their local papers with any questions about distribution, the newspapers said.

“This really has an upside in saving us a bunch of costs, and at the same time, we can still provide a high level of service,” said Gary Wortel, president and publisher of the Star-Telegram.

The distribution agreement between the longtime North Texas rivals comes amid growing business challenges facing the industry. Newspapers have been experiencing declining revenue as more advertising dollars and readers go online. At the same time, key raw materials for production and distribution, such as newsprint and gasoline, have risen sharply in price this year.

The News is owned by A. H. Belo Corporation, which has posted losses in two consecutive quarters in 2008 and has seen its stock price fall 60 percent since the market close on its first day of trading in February.

The Star-Telegram is a unit of McClatchy Co., which has seen its stock price decline 70 percent this year.

Both The News and the Star-Telegram have been cutting staff this year and adopting other cost-cutting measures.