Staggering amount SF-based Doordash is paying out to delivery drivers as gas prices choke California

DoorDash is preparing to shell out more than $50 million this quarter to help drivers cope with soaring fuel costs as gas prices hammer consumers and businesses alike, with California emerging as a major pressure point in the nationwide crunch.The San Francisco-based delivery giant said Wednesday that the extra spending will fund temporary fuel-price relief for drivers in the US and Canada.The company first announced the program in March after gas prices surged amid the Iran war.The timing is especially critical in California, where officials are increasingly worried the state could be headed toward a full-blown gasoline “crisis.”The arrival of the last oil tanker carrying crude from the Middle East to California this week has lawmakers on edge as the war threatens global energy supplies.Democratic and Republican assemblymembers grilled the California Energy Commission on Tuesday as officials scrambled to determine how the state will replace the roughly 30% of its oil supply that typically comes from the Persian Gulf.America’s war with Iran has effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, and the tanker that arrived this week was the last known shipment to leave the region for California before the conflict erupted.The situation is especially precarious for California because the state lacks interstate gasoline pipelines and depends heavily on imported crude to keep refineries operating.According to AAA, the national average price for a gallon of gas hit $4.53 on Wednesday, a staggering 44% jump from the same time last year, in California the average sits at $6.16.California also has more DoorDash drivers than any other state in the country.As of 2024, hundreds of thousands of Dashers were operating statewide, giving California an outsized stake in the company’s fuel-relief effort.Unlike some companies that tack on extra customer fees, DoorDash said it plans to pay for the relief effort by redirecting money from other parts of its business.That distinction ca...