{"id":48336,"date":"2026-03-27T15:01:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/uber-lyft-doordash-and-instacart-are-dangling-new-incentives-as-gas-prices-squeeze-drivers-we-break-them-down\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T15:01:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:01:19","slug":"uber-lyft-doordash-and-instacart-are-dangling-new-incentives-as-gas-prices-squeeze-drivers-we-break-them-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/uber-lyft-doordash-and-instacart-are-dangling-new-incentives-as-gas-prices-squeeze-drivers-we-break-them-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and Instacart are dangling new incentives as gas prices squeeze drivers. We break them down."},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/69c53c7148461c18d7be6490?format=jpeg\" alt=\"DoorDash\"\/><figcaption>DoorDash launched an &quot;emergency relief program&quot; to combat rising gas prices on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Bloomberg\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>Gas prices are soaring amid the war in the Middle East and hitting the gig economy hard.<\/li>\n<li>Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and Instacart announced a series of measures this week to support drivers.<\/li>\n<li>Uber and Lyft drivers have said that spiking oil prices were changing which trips they accept.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and Instacart are rolling out new incentives as surging gas prices hit the gig economy where it hurts.<\/p>\n<p>The companies have introduced expanded discounts and cashback schemes over the past few days, as drivers and delivery workers have said they&#039;re getting more selective about the routes they take.<\/p>\n<p>The war in the Middle East has sparked a global oil shock, with prices regularly blowing past $100 a barrel.<\/p>\n<p>The impact is being felt at the pumps, with the average price of a gallon of gas in the US having climbed by nearly a dollar in the past month, according to AAA data.<\/p>\n<p>Several Uber and Lyft drivers told Business Insider earlier this month that they&#039;re prioritizing the most profitable trips to protect their earnings, and calls have been growing among drivers online for the companies to step in to support them.<\/p>\n<p>Sergio Avedian, an Uber driver and senior contributor to the gig-driver advocacy blog and YouTube channel The Rideshare Guy, said the incentives are &quot;a step in the right direction, but they are largely symbolic and fall short of offsetting the real impact of rising gas prices on drivers.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Some of the benefits require drivers to use the companies&#039; own debit cards, for example, Avedian said.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;In many cases, these programs simply extend existing benefits rather than meaningfully improving driver earnings,&quot; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the measures aimed at high gas prices that each company has announced so far:<\/p>\n<h2>DoorDash<\/h2>\n<p>DoorDash delivery workers who drive at least 125 miles a week can get &quot;relief payments&quot; to put toward gas, the company said on Monday. The payments start at $5 a week and go up to $15 for drivers who travel at least 250 miles a week.<\/p>\n<p>Workers who use DoorDash&#039;s Crimson debit card also get 10% cash back on gas purchases.<\/p>\n<p>Together, the two benefits could save drivers up to $1.90 a gallon, DoorDash estimated.<\/p>\n<p>The benefits are set to end on April 26, DoorDash said.<\/p>\n<h2>Uber<\/h2>\n<p>Uber announcedbenefits on Thursday aimed at offsetting rising gas prices.<\/p>\n<p>Both Uber&#039;s ride-hailing drivers and delivery workers are eligible for up to $1 in cash back per gallon of gas through the cash-back app Upside, as well as additional discounts from the gas station chain Shell. Those offers start on Friday andend on May 26.<\/p>\n<p>Both drivers and couriers can get an additional 15% off gas when they use the Uber Pro debit card, though the exact discountvaries depending on a driver&#039;s Uber status.<\/p>\n<p>Those incentives can save Uber gig workers up to $1.44 a gallon, Uber said.<\/p>\n<p>For delivery workers, Uber is also offering mileage-based payments similar to DoorDash&#039;s, starting at $5 for drivers who travel at least 125 miles a week and rising to $15 for those who drive 250 miles. The payments are set to start on Monday and last through May 3, Uber said.<\/p>\n<h2>Lyft<\/h2>\n<p>Lyft&#039;s measures, which start on Friday and last through May 26, include 2% cash back for drivers with Elite status in the app&#039;s rewards program and 1% cash back for drivers at the Gold and Platinum tiers when they use a Lyft Direct debit card.<\/p>\n<p>Drivers can also get $0.14 in cash back and $5 off a fill-up through Upside, the company said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Together, those incentives are worth up to $0.98 a gallon, Lyft said.<\/p>\n<h2>Instacart<\/h2>\n<p>Starting on Friday, Instacart is offering a weekly $5 &quot;mileage support&quot; payment to gig workers who drive at least 125 miles a week while delivering orders, the company said. The payment could save those workers up to $1 per gallon, depending on how far they drive, Instacart said.<\/p>\n<p>The delivery service also said it would increase cash back payments through Upside on Monday. Instacart plans to raise the lowest discount to $0.30 a gallon, up from $0.25, with discounts of up to $0.50 a gallon for shoppers at platinum and diamond cart, its highest status tiers.<\/p>\n<p>Instacart said it plans to offer both the higher Upside cash-back rates and the mileage support payments through April 30, &quot;with the potential to extend.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Those two offers can also be combined with other cash-back payments through Instacart&#039;s Shopper Rewards debit card, the company said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Have a tip? Contact this reporter at <\/em><em>abitter@businessinsider.com<\/em><em> or via encrypted messaging app Signal at 808-854-4501. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; <\/em>here&#039;s our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/insider-guide-to-securely-sharing-whistleblower-information-about-powerful-institutions-2021-10\" rel=\"noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><em>guide to sharing information securely<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Update: March 27, 2026 \u2014 This story has been updated to include new details on Instacart&#039;s incentives.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read the original article on Business Insider<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DoorDash launched an &quot;emergency relief program&quot; to combat rising gas prices on Monday. Bloomberg\/Getty Images Gas prices are soaring amid the war in the Middle East and hitting the gig economy hard. Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and Instacart announced a series of measures this week to support drivers. Uber and Lyft drivers have said that spiking [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48337,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-48336","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}