Gas prices leave pizza delivery people short on dough.
The person that delivers that late-night pizza to your door just may be running out of dough. The rise in gas prices nationwide has nibbled away the earnings of everyone with a car, but for some delivery drivers in Cache Valley, it’s become a part of the job.
“Yeah, it’s a problem,” Greg Bowden, a driver for the Domino’s Pizza on 1151 N. Main, said. “It’s a problem because it makes it so I don’t have enough money.”
Recent increases in gas prices – which have recently averaged about $2.89 per gallon in Logan – are being dealt with differently by different businesses. Bowden said Domino’s compensates drivers for gas by giving them a percentage out of the orders the driver takes, but the percentage has not yet been raised in conjunction with the increase in gas prices. Bowden also said he hasn’t heard of any plans to raise it in the future.
Some companies are taking steps to adjust the way they compensate drivers since gas prices have increased. Justin Brunner, a delivery driver for the Pizza Hut on 110 E. 400 North, said Pizza Hut has tried to reflect trends in gas prices.
“It depends on what the gas prices are,” Brunner said. “So it’s moved up.”
Seventy-five cents used to come out of the $1 delivery fee to reimburse drivers for their gas, Brunner said. Since gas prices have jumped, that share has been raised to $.90.
He said he was happy Pizza Hut had adjusted the compensation to reflect gas prices. “You still notice it, but it helps that [compensation] goes up a little bit.”
Brunner said he wasn’t sure if the reimbursement would continue to rise if gas prices do. “I think it might have to get fixed on a certain price, eventually, but I don’t know for now.”
Papa John’s Pizza, 910 N. Main, has fast-tracked its pre-set raises on the hourly wage scale to help drivers deal with the added burden. But the company has not raised the actual gas compensation, which is $.90 per trip.
Brea Christensen, a driver for Papa John’s, said the problem with a per-trip compensation is that it can be harder on some drivers than on others.
“If I have this big huge diesel truck and my friend has this little energy car, it doesn’t matter,” she said. “We still get the same amount.”
Bowden, Brunner and Christensen all said that tips play a big role in how much the increase in gas affects drivers.
“Tips aren’t so good [in Logan],” Christensen said. “They’re like $1 or $2, I guess. You just don’t get very generous tips anymore, and your tips do pay for your gas. You’re compensated every trip for your gas, but if you drive a whole bunch of miles one trip and then they don’t tip good, it can be hard.”
-jenbeasley@cc.usu.edu