With the rising gas prices around the nation, platforms have been scrambling to show drivers they care and are trying to help by offering a gas stipend to help ease the burden (see: Uber’s fuel surcharge announcement).
The major players such as Uber and Lyft have added a surcharge to their passengers’ payments to bounce a portion to the drivers, but DoorDash decided to go a step further by offering a gas stipend without charging their customers extra.
What’s the Catch?
DoorDash announced that all U.S. delivery drivers on their platform are eligible for 10% cash back on gas when using a prepaid business Visa debit card, even when they are using it for personal gas purchases when not using the platform.
What about drivers who do not have a prepaid business Visa debit card? Well, for every driver on the platform, DoorDash is offering an extra $5 per week to those who accept and complete orders totaling 100 miles in a motor vehicle.
These rewards will be available to drivers “at least through April” and the gas situation will be reevaluated at that time to determine if these benefits will stay in place longer.
Learn more about the rewards program with RSG contributor Pedro Santiago: DoorDash Driver Gas Rewards Program Explained And Comparing Surcharges
Driver Reactions
Once this was announced, drivers started sharing on social media how they felt about this announcement.
One Redditor stated, “They want you to sign up for the card, not to actually benefit from the 10%. They’ll likely make more money from “selling” their cards out than actually paying out that cash back.”
Many also expressed disapproval that the majority of the benefit is only going to be available to those willing to sign up for the debit card.
There was some positive feedback, however.
A commenter pointed out, “It’s been costing me $60-65 per fill up and I usually fill up around the 300-350 mile mark so this is actually huge for me. $15 off for every fill up? That’s f*cking awesome.”
Another said that 10% cash back for them would be about 45 cents per gallon, which brings the cost of gas down to what it was about a month ago before the crazy high gas prices started to hit.
It was also pointed out that there’s no cap on the earnings potential or cash back potential. If a driver does 600 miles in a week, they would give $5 for each 100 miles, and if they have the Visa card, they would get 10% cash back on their fill ups.
Have you started receiving cash back and/or a $5 stipend for every 100 miles?
-Paula @ RSG
