Delivery Woes
According to Seattlegasprices.com, which contains records of gas prices from many cities around the country, the price of gasoline hit an average high of $3.06 in the state of Kansas on Aug. 8. From April 22 until Aug. 20, the average price never dropped below $2.63 a gallon, and prices regularly hovered near $2.80 a gallon. For delivery drivers, who often go through a tank of gas or more each week, the cost of making money was becoming worrisome.
“When you have a good night and you’re filling up half a tank, when gas prices were up, you’d make $30 or $40, and you’d end up putting $15 or $20 right back into your tank,” said Andrew Kasson, a delivery driver for Wheat State Pizza. “When gas prices go up, we lose some drivers because it’s not worth their time, if they’re not going to make enough money.”
Daniel Miller, a manager at Gumby’s Pizza, said that they raised their delivery fee from 75 cents to $1.00 to help the drivers afford to keep working. Similar increases were made at several other Lawrence delivery businesses. Pizza Hut and Pyramid Pizza raised their delivery fees by 25 cents, and Wheat State Pizza is considering a fee increase should the price of gas drastically rise again. Mr. Goodcents, a sub sandwich restaurant that operates a delivery service, raised their delivery fee from $1.50 to $2.00 per delivery, but recently lowered it back to $1.50 as the gas prices dropped.
The increased fees helped drivers ease the burden of the increased gas prices, but some saw a decrease in tips as a result of the increased fees.
“When the customer gets charged more, they know it’s going to us, and they don’t tip as much,” said Graham Caruthers, a delivery driver for Mr. Goodcents.
Other drivers blame the price of gas itself for lower tips.
“Yeah, (my tips) went down drastically. Not only does the gas price go up, tips go down because people are trying to save money,” said Ty Lower, a delivery driver for Pizza Shuttle.
Not all drivers felt that their tips had decreased as a result of the increased cost of fuel. Ryan Patton, a delivery driver for Jimmy John’s, said that the price of gas didn’t really affect his tips at all. Tim Cunningham, a driver for Pyramid Pizza, agreed.
“(Some) people don’t tip at all. It has nothing at all to do with how fast you got their pizza there, or anything. It depends on whether they’re jerks or not, that’s all,” said Cunningham.
Delivery drivers recently received a boon, however, as the average gas price in Kansas has dropped nearly a dollar from its August high. Through the month of September, the average price of gas in Kansas has been below $2.40 a gallon, with prices falling under $2.00 at times. But while it cost less for the drivers to fill up their tank, some drivers found that their tips weren’t seeing a proportional increase.
“The tips have stayed pretty much the same. I think people are thinking the gas price is going to go back up,” said Caruthers. “They haven’t tipped more generously.”
Cunningham agreed, noting that it depends more on the individual person rather than any universal influence like gas prices. Other drivers, however, have noticed a significant difference.
“Business has increased, tips have increased, and gas prices have gone down, so
good times again,” said Lower.
Kasson also reported higher tips, and said that it makes it a lot easier for a driver to make ends meet when the gas prices go down.
Damm agreed.
“It’s fair to say that I’m noticeably making more money. I’m spending a lot less at the pump. And that’s a good thing.”