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Uber adds fuel surcharge as gas prices soar

As the price of gas has soared, take-home pay for rideshare and food delivery drivers has plummeted.

WASHINGTON — Uber is adding a temporary fuel surcharge on trips and deliveries in the U.S. and Canada amid record-high gas prices, the company announced Friday

Uber said the fuel surcharge will be either $0.45 or $0.55 on each trip and either $0.35 or $0.45 on each Uber Eats order. The entire surcharge will go to drivers, who are responsible for paying out-of-pocket for the gas they use. 

The temporary surcharges will begin on March 16 and last "at least" two months. The cost of the surcharge will vary depending on the average trip distance and the increase in gas prices in each state. 

The national average for a gallon of regular gas hit a record-high of $4.33 on Friday, according to AAA. On Tuesday, the U.S. broke the previous July 2008 record of $4.10 per gallon, which would be around $5.25 today when adjusted for inflation.

As the price of gas has soared, take-home pay for rideshare and food delivery drivers has plummeted. According to Reuters, some drivers say current fuel costs are eating up about 60% of what they make. 

"We know that prices have been going up across the economy, so we’ve done our best to help drivers and couriers without placing too much additional burden on consumers," Liza Winship, Uber's head of driver operations for U.S. and Canada said in Friday's announcement. "We’ll also continue to track gas price movements to determine if we need to make additional changes." 

The surcharge will not apply to New York City, where drivers recently received a 5.3% wage increase on March 1.   

Governors from several states have urged Congress to suspend the federal government's 18-cent-a-gallon gas tax through the remainder of this year. But some transportation advocates say there's no guarantee a gas tax cut would get fully passed on to consumers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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