GasBuddy: Average U.S. gasoline prices rose more than 49 cents in a single week in 2022, the largest seven-day increase ever

As oil prices continue to soar, drivers for Uber and Lyft Inc are increasingly stressed about energy costs as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and other related events are pushing gasoline prices to historic highs in the United States. When Phillipe Jean, a 45-year-old Uber driver, filled up his tank on Sunday night, he was charged $4.19 per gallon, a figure he said was "incomprehensible."

Seven hours later, that price jumped to $4.45. "I'm a Prius and I can barely break even," said Jean, a driver from Easton, Pennsylvania, who started working for the platform four years ago and said fuel costs used to account for about 10% of his after-tax income on average. Now, that figure is nearly 60%.

Zhitong Finance learned that as the relationship between Russia and Ukraine continues to be tense and Western sanctions may be further escalated, the price of refined oil products in the United States has risen sharply. On Monday, the U.S. House of Representatives said it was preparing a bill to ban Russian oil imports, paving the way for a quick crackdown on crude oil imports from Russia. Anticipating that this move might become a reality, crude oil prices experienced the largest single-day fluctuation in history, with Brent crude oil prices soaring to nearly $140 per barrel.

Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at Gasbuddy, an app that helps users find gas stations and save money on gas, said the gas price surge has filtered through to gas stations across the country at a "pretty alarming" rate.

GasBuddy statistics show that the national average gas price rose more than 49 cents last week, the largest seven-day increase on record, including the surge after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. On Monday, prices exceeded an all-time high of $4.10 a gallon.

As gas prices surge to all-time highs, ride-hailing drivers are feeling the pinch

Energy costs are causing Uber and Lyft drivers to wonder whether the side hustle is worth it. In Phoenix, where a gallon of gas has soared to $4.16, Christina Brown, 46, spent $59 to fill up her Lincoln MKS sedan, nearly double what she paid last summer.

Pressure from drivers has also weighed on Lyft and Uber’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, as the two companies have struggled to find enough drivers to meet recovering customer demand. The imbalance has led to increased wait times and prices for passengers. The heads of the two companies said supply has improved significantly since they began offering incentives and bonuses last year to lure drivers back on the road. But average weekly per-mile costs were 18% higher than a year earlier in the week ending Feb. 27, after a brief drop in early January, suggesting supply hasn’t kept up with demand in the wake of the Omicron outbreak, said Peter Martin, an analyst at YipitData.

As many coronavirus restrictions are lifted and more workers are returning to the office, the unprecedented shock to oil prices could create more uncertainty. It's unclear whether the gas price increases have been passed on to consumers. But Uber said it would only need to increase fares by 1% for every 20% increase above the current average to keep drivers and Uber "consistent" with the fees they collect from each ride.

“Our platform only works if it works for drivers, so we’ll continue to monitor gas prices and listen to drivers in the coming weeks,” an Uber spokesperson said. Both Lyft and Uber pointed to their partnership with GetUpside as a way to provide immediate assistance to drivers, with the rewards platform offering 25 cents cash back on each gallon of gas purchased at participating gas stations, with higher rewards available for Lyft’s Platinum and Gold drivers.

Earlier on Monday, Uber raised its profit outlook for the current quarter, raising its first-quarter fiscal 2022 adjusted EBITDA guidance to $130 million to $150 million from its previous guidance of $100 million to $130 million, largely due to increased demand for rides.

Petition

But energy costs are clearly making ride-hailing drivers miserable. According to media reports, a campaign aimed at getting ride-hailing apps to help drivers solve the fuel cost problem has collected more than 5,500 driver signatures on the Coworker.org organizing platform. The petition calls on Uber and Lyft to charge a smaller commission from fares and pay drivers based on the mileage they carry from the point where the passenger request is accepted to the destination.

"I can't afford to drive full time, gas prices are driving us out of the ride hailing industry, we need to raise our rates!" the petition reads.

From Zhitong Finance APP