| Pizza drivers feel gas pinch, delivery charge HURTS not helps
Gas prices have surpassed $3 a gallon. Anyone who uses their car for a living is basically getting killed at the pump. Keep in mind that a pizza driver must refill the tank every two or three days. As a proposed remedy, most pizza chains have started a delivery charge, or increased an already existing one, in an effort to compensate for higher gas prices. However, instead of helping drivers, the delivery charge makes matters worse. Pizza drivers are not getting relief from the so-called delivery charges. These fuel surcharges are not meant to offset gas prices for the driver. Instead, they pay for food ingredient costs that have risen due to higher gas prices. The company's intent was to pay for itself and leave drivers to foot their own bill. With many customers tricked into believing the charge pays the driver, many pizza drivers are feeling pinched on two sides. Tips are down and mileage rate increases are practically nil. If any part of the delivery charge goes to the driver's per-run mileage payment, it is next to nothing. Domino's and Papa John's, charging a new $1 fee, give at most 20 cents to the driver in increased mileage. Most of their drivers received a mileage raise of 5 or 10 cents per delivery out of the dollar and others received no increase at all. Pizza Hut Inc., which used to pay drivers 50 cents per delivery, raised theirs to 65 cents and enacted a $1 delivery fee. Many franchises and smaller establishments are doing the same and charging even more than a dollar. Very little goes to the driver, if any. The Domino's delivery charge by no means goes entirely to the driver. According to Domino's spokesperson Dana Harville, “The delivery charge helps offset costs associated with increasing drivers' per-run payment," but primarily pays for "labor costs and insurance."1 Holly Ryan, another Domino's spokesperson, stated that part of the surcharge pays for increases in food costs.2 Papa John's also began a delivery charge but not all goes to the driver. "Our restaurants have felt the pressures on the food-cost side due to the higher ingredient costs related to fuel," said Chris Sternberg, a spokesman for Papa John's International Inc. in Louisville, Kentucky.1 Higher gas prices have influenced the cost of shipping the ingredients and other supplies to individual stores. Gas prices affect every level of business, trickling down to retail and eventually to the customer. Some pizza stores, chains, and franchises give all the delivery charge to the driver, but their numbers are too few and statistically insignificant. The delivery charge is considering going partially to the driver if there was a raise in per-delivery mileage at the start of the surcharge. Otherwise, the delivery charge could not have been used to help the drivers. Let's get something straight. The delivery charge is not part of the driver's tip and must not be confused as such. Yet, the misleading label has tricked a great many into lowering the tip, believing the driver received the extra dollar. Most customers pay at the door with the same $20 for an $18 order that used to be $17. It is a loss of a dollar for the driver each time. The tiny raise in mileage makes the loss closer to 95 cents on each delivery. Thus, the delivery charge hurts the driver while the public believes just the opposite. Today's slightly increased mileage rates compare to less than a third of the IRS rate of 50.5 cents per mile. Rather than simply raise menu prices to accommodate increased production costs, a delivery charge mania has set within the pizza industry. Every company seems to be afraid to raise menu prices due to intense competition. There is a price war in effect. With a slick delivery charge, companies can still advertise the appearance of low prices and deceitfully add a hidden surcharge in the hopes that customers won't notice or will take it out on the driver's tip. For many pizza companies, the driver has become a convenient scapegoat. The delivery charge is a price increase. Let's call it what it is. It is part of the bill amount before you consider the tip. You are paying for the price of the pizza. You are paying to keep the store in business. Please tip your driver.
1 The Seattle Times. (2005, August 11). "Pump isn't only spot high gas prices to hit." Retrieved August 14, 2005, from http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/
Last updated: April 18, 2008 |