Rising Gas Prices Hit Gig Workers and Drivers Across America

Alvaro Bolainez has driven passengers around Los Angeles for more than a decade. He had never seen anything like what happened at the pump after the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran began in late February. "It's changing so quick," Bolainez told CNBC. "It's insane."

The average price of unleaded gas jumped around 22% over the last month to its highest level since mid-2024, according to AAA, and nationwide, gasoline prices have risen by well over $1 since the Iran war began on February 28, reaching an average of $4.15 a gallon. The surge is being felt most acutely by the millions of Americans who drive for platforms like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and Instacart, workers who must absorb fuel costs directly out of their earnings.

Leslie Sherman-Shafer, an Uber driver in the San Francisco Bay Area, used to spend around $25 to fill up her Toyota Corolla. Since the Iran war began, she has spent closer to $40. At Baltimore-Washington International Airport, rideshare drivers reported that the cost to fill up their tanks has jumped from around $35 before the war to nearly $50, a significant increase eating into already thin profit margins.

The spike in gas prices compounds existing pressure on delivery drivers, whose pay has already been under strain from rising living expenses and increased competition, according to Ryan Green, CEO of the gig worker analytics firm Gridwise. DoorDash, for instance, dropped its minimum base pay to $2 per order in 2021. Ride-hailing and food delivery platforms don't reimburse drivers for gas, though some are offering temporary incentives in response to rising prices.

Ordinary commuters are adapting, too. Boston resident Pat Ouedraogo cut longer-distance trips, while aspiring law student Skyler Burke drives extra miles specifically to find cheaper gasoline pumps. In Houston, auto broker David Wright switched from a gas-guzzling race car to an all-electric vehicle. Energy market experts have described the six-week-old war as the worst oil-supply disruption ever, as major production facilities have been hit and a key shipping passage has effectively closed.

California is bearing a particularly sharp edge of the crisis. GasBuddy recorded the state average at $5.87 per gallon on April 6, driven by its special fuel blend requirements, limited pipeline infrastructure, and high state taxes. A March 25 analysis from the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research projected gas prices will peak at over $4.25 per gallon nationally in May.

The politics of relief have grown complicated. As fuel prices approached $4 a gallon nationally, some federal lawmakers pushed to suspend the federal gasoline tax, currently set at 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon on diesel. In Oregon, Governor Tina Kotek declined to suspend the state gas tax, drawing a sharp response from White House spokesman Kush Desai, who said "Oregonians have, for decades, paid some of the highest gas prices and tax burdens in the country." The Oregon Department of Transportation, which relies on the gas tax to fund road and bridge repairs, declined to comment on whether a suspension had even been discussed internally.

President Trump agreed to a tenuous cease-fire with Iran, sending Brent crude oil below $100 a barrel, but analysts cautioned against expecting quick relief at the pump. A meaningful decline in oil and gas prices would take around three to six months even under a cease-fire scenario, according to economists cited in the analysis, meaning gig workers and commuters alike will be calculating every mile for months to come.