NEW YORK, NY – Your UberEats deliveries are about to get more expensive as high prices at the gas pump are being passed on to customers of the rideshare service starting this week.
“Many people are feeling the sting of record-high prices at the pump—and that’s certainly true of drivers and couriers,” the company said in a statement. “While earnings on our platform remain elevated compared to historical trends, the recent spike in gas prices has affected rideshare and delivery drivers. To help reduce the burden, we are rolling out a temporary fuel surcharge.”
That means more charges on your order.
Beginning Wednesday, March 16, consumers will pay a surcharge of either $0.45 or $0.55 on each Uber trip and either $0.35 or $0.45 on each Uber Eats order, depending on their location—with 100% of that money going directly to workers’ pockets.
Uber says those surcharges are based on the average trip distance and the increase in gas prices in each state. This is temporary for at least the next 60 days when the company says it will reassess.
“We know that prices have been going up across the economy, so we’ve done our best to help drivers and couriers without placing too much additional burden on consumers. Over the coming weeks, we plan to listen closely to feedback from consumers, couriers, and drivers. We’ll also continue to track gas price movements to determine if we need to make additional changes,” the company said in a statement.
Trips that start in New York City and orders that are delivered to customers in New York City are excluded. On March 1, drivers in New York City received a 5.3% increase to the city’s mandated minimum earnings standard, which accounts for increased operating costs, and the vast majority of NYC delivery workers use bicycles, not cars. New Jersey, New York state and Pennsylvania rides will be assessed the surcharge.
*