> Trump’s America: Gig Workers Have Seconds to Take a Job. Gas Prices Complicate the Decision.

Gig drivers, food-delivery workers and independent drivers are being hit especially hard at the pump and making split-second calculations and adjustments to their lives and livelihoods.

“It changes the way I’ve been selecting rides,” said Jonathan Meyers, a 61-year-old writer who earns between $1,000 and $1,500 driving up to 60 hours a week for Uber and Lyft. He has stopped taking rides that require him to drive “superlong distances.” He has taken on extra hours driving to make up for what he estimates is a 25% drop in earnings from rides he now turns down, trading off longer drives for shorter ones to save gas.

“It’s about conserving gas and also trying to make sure I end up in a neighborhood where I can gas up for a sane price,” he said.

Joe Davis, an 81-year-old former Uber driver, now runs his own car service in Santa Fe, N.M. He charges $80 to take people to or from the Albuquerque airport, between 60 and 80 miles away, depending on where he is. Most of his rides are repeat customers—retirees, tourists, actors working on productions in northern New Mexico.

Until recently, Davis calculated that he made about $50 for each one-way trip to the airport, when figuring in gas. A retiree himself, Davis mostly lives off his Social Security, so the extra money is important, he said. With higher gas prices, he is clearing about $15 to 20 less a ride, Davis said, and he has needed to take on more customers to make the airport drive profitable.

The AI-driven algorithm that Uber uses to set fares has already been resulting in lower per-ride pay for drivers, according to drivers and ride-hailing associations. Rising gas prices have made profit margins tighter.

Meyers has been transitioning to mobile notary work because of the declining revenue from fares. Stress from the jump in gas prices has solidified his decision, he said.

https://www.wsj.com/economy/food-delive … =djemITP_h