Following Uber and Lyft, which announced surcharges to help drivers pay for sky-high gas prices, Doordash says it too wants to make life easier for its delivery people.
Kind of.
Beginning March 17, the San Francisco company will offer drivers 10% refunds on gas purchases — but only if they have Doordash’s DasherDirect Visa card.
If not, drivers can still qualify for $5 in weekly gas bonuses — but only if they complete at least 100 miles of trips in a week.
Or they can receive a weekly gas bonus of $10 — but only if they complete 175 miles worth of trips.
Or they can receive a weekly gas bonus of $15 — but only if they put in 225 miles.
“These relief programs will be in place at least through April, and we’ll continue to monitor gas prices, listen to the Dasher community, and seek feedback as we evolve these programs and explore additional resources in the coming weeks and months,” the company said in a statement.
Such strings-attached payments are helpful, to be sure. But Doordash clearly wants to ensure that the company gets plenty of driver bang for its bucks.
It’s an illustration of the conflicted nature of the relationship between these businesses and the people they depend on.
Yes, the companies need their drivers. But in reality, drivers and their costs cut into revenue, which displeases shareholders.
Uber and Lyft are offering their own drivers more straightforward payments by sticking customers with the added expense.
Uber, for example, is making passengers pay about 50 cents more per trip to help drivers with higher pump prices. However, those surcharges will go only so far.
Uber estimated a few years ago that the average driver makes about 30 trips a week. A 50-cent surcharge, in other words, might produce about $15 in extra cash.
But with gas in California nearing $6 a gallon on average, that’ll go only so far.
