DoorDash Driver Says Gas Prices Leaves Them Making Only $6 an Hour in Viral TikTok

Gas prices in the US are going up and while a lot of that blame is being placed on the crisis in Ukraine, there's debate as to whether or not the conflict is really the cause behind soaring fuel costs. In a span of just a week or so, Americans were shocked to see astronomical surges at the pump, which has had massive implications for a variety of businesses, especially self-employed workers who rely on their vehicles to earn a living.

Ride share employees who put in hours for Lyft and Uber, for example, are taking massive hits, and so are DoorDash deliverers, like one individual who shared their less-than-minimum wage hourly take for delivering meals using the application.

TikToker @webkinzofficial shared the financial breakdown of a recent shift which factored in the number of deliveries she received, plus the tips and base amount she received for completing each order. After factoring in what she spent on gasoline for the ride, her calculations resulted in her only earning around $6 per hour.

"Door dashed for 3 1/2 hours and only made $38 bc only half of my orders tipped. Went through a quarter tank of gas which is like $17 rn. I made like $6 an hour."

The TikToker expressed that while she was understanding of the fact that gas prices are out of customers' control (and covering gas is the nature of the business when you're delivering food for these applications or working for a ride-share service) she couldn't fathom why some customers just couldn't be bothered to at least tip 10% of the entire order amount.

There were commenters who responded to the TikToker's video saying that they had stopped working for DoorDash specifically because of the huge increase in gas prices ever since the conflict in Ukraine began.

Although President Joe Biden largely blamed the rising cost of gasoline on the War in Ukraine, reports have indicated that there are other factors at play when it comes to the increase: a rise in social activity after the country has "opened up" in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

More and more people are traveling again, which means that there's an increased demand for gasoline so folks can get to where they need to go.

But what does that mean for DoorDashers? Commenters offered ways for folks to still make money while working for the application, like using available promotions the company provides its contract employees.

What do you think? Have you tipped DoorDashers and delivery drivers who use cars to complete their orders in consideration of the rising cost of gasoline? Have you stopped working for DoorDash until the cost of gas goes down? Or are you thinking of going the e-bike route?