Gas prices ease, giving Pizza Hut delivery drivers some relief

A drop in pump prices gave Pizza Hut delivery drivers a little breathing room, but it did not change the harder math of getting paid for a run, buying gas and putting miles on a personal car. AAA said the national average for regular gasoline fell for a third straight week to $4.12 a gallon, down from $4.56 on May 21, while crude oil stayed below $100 per barrel.

The timing mattered because summer travel season is usually when gasoline prices peak. AAA said the latest decline followed an 18-cent drop the week before, which suggested the pullback was more than a one-day fluke. For drivers working Pizza Hut delivery shifts, though, lower gas prices were relief, not rescue. Even a few cents per gallon can matter when a route stretches across a wide delivery zone, the commute to the store is long, or delivery work is the main source of income.

That is where the rest of the job’s costs still bite. Pizza Hut says on its website, in all caps, that “THE DELIVERY CHARGE IS NOT A DRIVER TIP,” and that 100% of the delivery fee is retained by the restaurant. For drivers, that means the fee a customer sees on the receipt does not automatically translate into better take-home pay. For managers, it keeps pressure on staffing decisions, route planning and how often the store leans on high-mileage drivers during peak hours.

The reimbursement rules also matter. In Opinion Letter FLSA2020-12, issued Aug. 31, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor said employers may reimburse delivery drivers for actual expenses or a reasonable approximation of actual expenses when they use their own vehicles, as long as minimum-wage rules are met. The Internal Revenue Service set its optional standard mileage rate for business driving at 70 cents per mile for 2025, then raised it to 72.5 cents per mile effective Jan. 1, 2026, a useful benchmark for what business use of a car can cost.

The stakes have already shown up in court. A Georgia class action against MUY Pizza-Tejas, a Pizza Hut franchisee that operated more than 300 locations across eight states, ended in a $4.75 million settlement in 2024. The case centered on claims that drivers were not fully reimbursed for gas, vehicle upkeep, insurance and other driving-related costs. That background helps explain why a dip in gas prices can ease the pressure but does not erase the larger fight over whether delivery pay actually covers every mile.