SAN FRANCISCO — As the cost of gas spikes because of the war in Iran, workers who make a living through ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft are being hit hard.
Margarita Penalosa, a full-time driver for Lyft and Uber who sometimes delivers food for DoorDash and Grubhub around Los Angeles, started driving seven days a week — up from six — to deal with the extra $15 it costs her to fill up the tank of her Toyota Corolla hybrid, she said.
Her added workload highlights the often fraught relationship between gig companies and their drivers, who mostly operate as independent contractors. It can be a challenge for them to make a decent living in the best of times. But when gas prices go up — as they have, sharply, since the war started — these drivers are often hit first and hardest. And they say the companies they work for aren’t doing enough to help.
For the first time in four years, the national average price for a gallon of gas has topped $4, according to the AAA motor club. Just over a month ago, it was $3.
In response, tech companies that rely on gig drivers, such as Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart and Amazon, updated their fuel relief programs, for a limited time. The programs offer gas discounts — such as a percentage off — through a company debit card or cash back through Upside, a rewards app.
DoorDash previously offered 2% cash back on gas purchases through its debit card; now it’s offering 10% until April 26. But Penalosa said the program didn’t do enough to help her because it required a particular card or a delayed cash reward through Upside.
Uber also expanded eligibility for a $4,000 grant for drivers who want to switch to an electric vehicle.
Since switching to a hybrid car in 2024, Penalosa, 45, has filled up her tank every other day for 12- to 14-hour shifts. Before the war, she was paying about $3.99 per gallon. Now it costs about $6.70 around Los Angeles, which has some of the highest gas prices in the country.
“They’re not giving us anything extra,” she said, and she does not want to open a new debit card to get a discount.
Penalosa has been driving for eight years and is part of the effort to unionize ride-share drivers in California. While waiting for riders at Los Angeles International Airport, she has talked to other drivers who share her frustrations with the cost of fuel.
“These gas hikes expose why app companies’ labor model is so exploitative,” said Laura Padin, senior director at the National Employment Law Project, a New York nonprofit that advocates for workers. The companies can pass the risks and costs of their business onto workers, she said.
In 2022, when the war in Ukraine caused gas prices to jump for a few months, ride-hailing companies imposed a gas surcharge on customers. Lyft’s surcharge, 55 cents per ride, went straight to the driver.
Uber said it was not adding a fuel surcharge and did not plan to increase fees for Uber or Uber Eats as part of its fuel relief program. “The intention here is to provide relief for drivers and couriers while keeping rider and eater fares stable and affordable,” an Uber spokesperson said in a statement.
Lyft did not comment on whether it would add a fuel surcharge.
Chris Oaks, 64, who has been driving for Uber five days a week for about four years, said a set surcharge would be helpful. He also delivers for DoorDash occasionally and started driving for Lyft last year.
Oaks said he had gotten more creative about finding gas stations with the best deals to fill up his 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander. On the weekends, he often drives regular customers to make extra money for gas or car maintenance.
A former insurance agent, Oaks lives in Humboldt, Tennessee, a small town where the closest major airports are 90 miles away in Memphis and 120 miles away in Nashville. At times, he has driven passengers to those airports two or three times a day.
Before the war, gas cost him about $2.29 per gallon, but he has seen it jump to $3.99. He never lets his tank dip below half full, so he fills up once or twice a day.
While some ride-share drivers in a Facebook group talk about driving less to avoid the high gas prices, “I still have to pay my bills,” Oaks said. “So that means if I have to drive a little bit longer to make my money, I’m going to do that.”
Penalosa said it was already tough for drivers to balance insurance costs and maintenance. And in Los Angeles, she said, driverless Waymo taxis have increased the competition.
But the quick increase in fuel costs has made things even more difficult.
“What would really help us is that they give us some kind of extra per ride or extra per mile — something meaningful that can bring some relief to our pockets,” she said.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.