Ride hailing firms are implementing temporary fuel surcharges in an attempt to offset the cost of gas, which rose sharply following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Beginning March 16 and lasting at least 60 days, Uber users will pay an extra $0.45 or $0.55 per car trip, and $0.35 or $0.45 for every Uber Eats order (depending on location). One hundred percent of those additional funds go directly into workers’ pockets.
“We know that prices have been going up across the economy, so we’re doing our best to help drivers and couriers without placing too much additional burden on consumers,” Liza Winship, head of driver operations for Uber US and Canada, explained. The firm promised to listen to employee feedback and continue tracking gas prices “to determine if we need to make additional changes.”
Rival Lyft this week announced plans to follow suit, though declined to provide further details like how much it will charge or when the fee goes into effect.
“We’ve been closely monitoring rising gas prices and their impact on our driver community,” the company told PCMag in an emailed statement. “Driver earnings overall remain elevated compared to last year, but given the rapid rise in gas prices we’ll be asking riders to pay a temporary fuel surcharge, all of which will go to drivers. We’ll share more details shortly.”
US gasoline costs reached a record high of $4.331 on Friday, according to the AAA (American Automobile Association), which blamed the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia (exporter of approximately 5 million barrels per day of crude oil—about 12% of its global trade) for higher pump prices.
“It bears reminding that the cost of oil accounts for about 50% of what drivers pay at the pump,” the AAA said. “This war is roiling an already tight global oil market and making it hard to determine if we are near a peak for pump prices, or if they keep grinding higher. It all depends on the direction of oil prices.”
Monday’s national average for a gallon of gas was $4.32—$0.26 more than a week ago, $0.84 more than a month ago, and $1.47 more than a year ago.
