‘It’s expensive for me’: Delivery drivers lament a return to rising gas prices

After a short reprieve gas shot up to $1.74/L and is expected to go up again on Saturday. Sean Irvine with how the increase is affecting gig economy workers.

Less than a week after a 10-cent-per-litre cut in gas taxes took effect, another price hike is hitting the pumps.

In London on Friday morning, prices at most south-end stations hovered between $1.73 and $1.74 per litre, continuing the recent trend.

Adding to concerns, most gas prediction apps and websites forecast a further increase of four cents per litre will take effect on Saturday morning.

The fluctuating price hasn’t gone unnoticed by London motorist Alphanso Goldburne.

“The up and down, well, it is not consistent, you know, so I just try to go with the flow,” he said.

But with a pickup truck to fill, his “flow” does not include gas pumps in London.

Instead, Goldburne fills up at gas stations located near first nations.

“I get a bit cheaper gas. You know, to buy in the city it’s really pricy, so I ignore the city,” he said.

But for drivers who need to keep filling their tanks to put food on their table, a journey out of town to find affordable gas isn’t always an option.

Hardikkumar Patel, an online food delivery driver, told CTV News he is paying $85 to fill his compact sedan.

That’s $25 more than he paid before the U.S./Iran war began.

As drivers struggle, some delivery companies, including DoorDash, are offering relief options to their drivers.

The program offers drivers the equivalent of about $0.36 per litre in fuel savings.

Announced last month, the program is set to end this weekend. However, on its website, DoorDash tells Canadian drivers it will continue to closely monitor the impact of gas prices.

Still, the hikes remain a worry for Patel.

“It’s a little bit hard for me, and it’s expensive for me,” he said.

And the Saturday price hike, oil relief is far off.

Dan McTeague, the president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, concurred with the assessment in a CTV News interview this week.

“It will take a lot longer, perhaps through summer, before we start to see in oil getting back to prices it was before the invasion, so about $60 to $65 a barrel,” he explained.

It leaves Alphanso Goldburne wondering if the 10-cent tax cut makes a difference.

“I thought when he [Prime Minister Mark Carney] reduced it, it was something going to stay where it is. And soon it just went back up,” he said. “So, I don’t see the point of it.”