I saw a station at $3.99 per unleaded gallon today—considered ludicrous just a couple months ago—and I started pondering this question.
I drove DoorDash for a solid couple of years, starting late 2018. This was out in Columbia SC, which actually had some decent spots to “Dash” out on the eastern side of town (I tested Lexington twice and quickly realized that crap wasn’t worth it); but anyway. Gas for most of my 2019 driving was in the mid $2s-low $2.80s. Margins were reasonable, not amazing. Mind you, I drive a 2004 Honda Accord coupe, and for that kind of drive there literally is no better car. I still have that car.
2019 Valentine’s Day was my one-day record; $220 from nonstop delivering. That was a solid day’s worth, 10am to midnight. New Year’s 2019 was also one hell of a time. The pandemic hit and I decided to stop driving for a few months; even though gas prices briefly hit an incredible price of $1.20 per gallon in a few stations, I didn’t feel like the added health liability was worth it and my best paying customers no longer had the volume to keep me interested. Dashers can relate. You don’t know hell until you’ve delivered a whole day’s worth of McDonald’s and Wendy’s food etc.
Then I move to Roanoke. Take another job as a realtor. Still tons and tons of driving. So, when I see gas prices go nuts like this, I start to wonder… how does life change?
It was $25 to fill my car’s tank at the lowest point in the pandemic. Maybe even a bit less. On a per-mile cost that was probably the best time ever to be a professional driver. At that price point there even wasn’t an excuse not to take a day off, make a day’s vacation and just… do a small road trip. For the hell of it. I deeply love my car and we have had a lot of quality time together. I was probably going through at least 2-3 tanks a week driving.
It’s $45 to fill that same tank now. I still drive, but DoorDash I haven’t touched for months. If I went delivering at these prices I would be losing money. The rest of life is still relatively unchanged, but I do notice that hole in my budget.
But what if that were $90? $180? For that same tank? Would it even be feasible to travel anymore? There really does come a point where all of a sudden, the gas expenses start to cripple a person’s driving habits. I’m curious to see what others think. How does your personal life & habits shift the deeper gas prices change?