{"id":554891,"date":"2026-03-30T21:15:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T21:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/554891\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:15:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T21:15:14","slug":"people-who-drive-for-work-are-getting-squeezed-by-higher-gas-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/554891\/","title":{"rendered":"People who drive for work are getting squeezed by higher gas prices"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leslie Sherman-Shafer, an Uber driver<\/a> in the San Francisco Bay Area, likes to start each shift with a full tank of gas.<\/p>\n

It used to cost her around $25 to fill up her Toyota Corolla. She\u2019s spent closer to $40 since the Iran war<\/a> began and pushed up the average U.S. price for a gallon of regular gasoline by $1. Sherman-Shafer, a retired dental office assistant who picks up Uber passengers five days a week, said she\u2019s putting in extra hours to cover the difference. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t get reimbursed for gas. We rely on the generosity of the tip,\u201d Sherman-Shafer said. Some passengers have tipped more to compensate for higher gas prices, but most don\u2019t tip at all, she said.<\/p>\n

Driving a car, van or truck is a big part of many Americans\u2019 workdays. Nearly 27% of civilian workers cited driving as a physical demand of their jobs last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Millions of drivers use personal vehicles for their work, from delivery and ride-share providers like Sherman-Shafer to self-employed electricians, nannies, home health care aides and real estate agents. <\/p>\n

As the war enters a fifth week and continues to disrupt global oil supplies<\/a>. many of those workers are now scrambling<\/a> to make ends meet. The national average price for gas reached $3.99 per gallon on Monday, up 34% from a month earlier, according to AAA.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith everything going up, it\u2019s impossible to save a dime,\u201d Sherman-Shafer said.<\/p>\n

Some companies compensate employees for using their own vehicles, including the cost of gas. In the U.S., the Internal Revenue Service sets a standard mileage rate every year that businesses and private contractors can use to calculate tax deductions. Alpine Maids, a housekeeping company based in Denver, pays cleaners the 2026 federal reimbursement rate of 72.5 cents per mile for the distance they drive to clients\u2019 homes. <\/p>\n

But with gas prices spiking<\/a>, that money is not going as far, said Chris Willatt, a former geologist who now runs Alpine Maids.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur maids drive their own cars, so it\u2019s kind of like their paycheck got smaller,\u201d Willatt said. \u201cThey\u2019re all upset.\u201d<\/p>\n

Willatt said he reduced how often maids must report to the office, from daily to once a week, and rejiggered cleaning assignments so employees aren\u2019t driving as far between clients. If gas prices climb further, he said he might increase what he charges customers so he can pay workers more. <\/p>\n

Molly Kenefick, the owner of Doggy Lama Pet Care Inc. in Oakland, California, said she recently raised her gas reimbursement rate to 80 cents per mile for 15 employees who use their own vehicles to pick up dogs and take them for hikes around the Bay Area. The rate increase will stay in place until gas prices in their area drop below $5 for at least a month, she said.<\/p>\n

Kenefick said she planned to raise prices for the company\u2019s services in May. But she doesn\u2019t want to increase them too much because she\u2019s worried she\u2019ll lose clients. So Kenefick is also dipping into her savings to pay for gas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe economy is hard for people. Everybody\u2019s under strain,\u201d she said. \u201cI can take some of the load and the company can take some of the load, provided this doesn\u2019t go on too long.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ride-hailing and food delivery platforms that rely on gig workers don\u2019t reimburse drivers for gas, but some are offering temporary incentives<\/a> in response to rising gas prices. DoorDash, Uber, Lyft and Instacart are providing more than the usual cash back on gas purchases for drivers who use company-branded debit cards. DoorDash and Instacart are giving a weekly fuel payment to drivers who travel 125 miles or more making deliveries.<\/p>\n

Sarah Noell, who spends about 20 hours a week making deliveries for DoorDash in Lynchburg, Virginia, said the measures help somewhat. But she said she\u2019s noticed more customers declining to add tips to their orders as gas prices have increased. <\/p>\n

Noell has started refusing any order that won\u2019t average out to $1 per mile, including the $2.50 per order she gets from DoorDash. That cancels out many users who aren\u2019t tipping or give only small tips.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes nearly double the cost to fill my tank,\u201d Noell said. \u201cTen dollars used to get me a decent amount. Now it only gets me 3 gallons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Owners of diesel-powered vehicles have seen even steeper fuel price increases since the war started on Feb. 28, affecting drivers around the world.<\/p>\n

Drivers of diesel-powered \u201cjeepneys\u201d in the Philippines, went on strike<\/a> for two days last week to protest their higher costs. In France, dozens of buses and trucks drove slowly on the Paris ring road Monday to demonstrate their concerns about rising diesel prices. Drivers and businesses want the French government to provide aid to mitigate the impact. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe major difficulty right now is finding our balance on our business since we sold services with the vehicles at a certain price for diesel that was much cheaper. And we\u2019re not going to ask customers to pay that difference,\u201d Sarah Bahezre, manager of the bus transportation company Ulysse Cars, told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

Average U.S. diesel prices climbed 44% over the last month, according to AAA. <\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, Rachel Hunter paid $3.62 a gallon to fill the single diesel truck used by Cactus Crew Junk Removal & Thrift Store, a Phoenix business she and her husband co-founded. The same fuel now costs $6.09 per gallon in Phoenix, according to AAA.<\/p>\n

The truck carries all kinds of heavy cargo, from slabs of solid maple bowling lanes to loads of concrete paver tiles. So fuel costs quickly add up, Hunter said, particularly with a truck that only gets 12 or 13 miles to the gallon.<\/p>\n

Hunter has started quoting prices that reflect the jump in prices. She worries she\u2019s in a \u201cvicious circle\u201d that could hurt the business if oil prices remain high.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to get a bad name for being overpriced,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ll be able to explain it where people can understand, but it doesn\u2019t mean they can afford it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leslie Sherman-Shafer, an Uber driver in the San Francisco Bay Area, likes to start each shift with a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554892,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[22758,1017,3830,28,2356,246546,1687,1685,1840,48122,69620,793,2601,851,801,1570,228242,246549,149,115527,246545,246547,139727,117411,246550,246548,795,965],"class_list":["post-554891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-american-automobile-association","tag-arizona","tag-az-state-wire","tag-business","tag-california","tag-chris-willatt","tag-climate","tag-climate-and-environment","tag-denver","tag-doordash","tag-energy-markets","tag-general-news","tag-health-care-industry","tag-inc","tag-iran","tag-iran-government","tag-iran-war","tag-leslie-sherman-shafer","tag-lifestyle","tag-lyft","tag-maplebear","tag-molly-kenefick","tag-oil-and-gas-industry","tag-rachel-hunter","tag-sarah-bahezre","tag-sarah-noell","tag-u-s-news","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}