Winnipeg food delivery driver says he may ditch car for bicycle as gas prices soar

For Mykyta Hlushchenko, an international student by day and food delivery driver by night, every cent matters.

That's why soaring gas prices have himconsidering achangeto how he works going back to make deliveries by bicycle instead of in his car.

"I'm losing, for every 100kilometres,around five bucks," at current gas prices, he said.

Hlushchenko, who works for Uber Eats, is among those in the"gig economy," such as ride-hailingdrivers and food delivery workers, who now have to grapple with rapidly climbing prices that make doing their work more expensive.

The average gas price in Winnipeg was 196.1 cents per litre as of Thursday, according to the Canadian Automobile Association up nearly 10 cents since last week, and well above the average of 125.8 cents per litre last June.

That kind of spike is hard forHlushchenko, who works as a drivertonot onlysupporthimself, but also to helpfamily members who have been displaced by the war in Ukraine.

"Now, I am the only one who can make some money," hesaid.

Though his mother encouraged him to focus on his studies, he assured her he could both work and go to school.

"I said, 'I want to help you.I want to help myself as well,'" he said.

Hlushchenkostarted working withUber Eats because it gave him the flexibility to keep going to school and most important for him at the time, he didn't even need a car to do it.

He started out making deliveries bybicycle in early March, during one of the Manitoba's worst winters in recent memory.

"It was pretty tough because at that time it was 10, 15 degrees when I was doing these deliveries, but I had no choice," he said.

He later bought a car, after a man explained to him during one of hisdeliverieshow he couldget financing to buy one.

But now, he's paying for a loan andinsurance and makingless moneyevery time the price ofgas increases.

Hlushchenko says he fills upeverythree or four days, depending on how far he drives and how many deliveries he makes.

"If gas prices are going higher, I might make even less than the minimum wage," he said.

'Matter of time' before price passes $2/L

Statistics Canada'sdatabase of the monthly average retail prices for gasolineshowsregular unleaded gas dropped as low as 67.7 cents per litre in Winnipeg just over two years ago, in April 2020 near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was still under $1 per litre at 95.7 cents as late as December 2020.

But the price has climbed since then,withsharp increases this year.

Gas experts predict it will only get worse.

"I'm afraid it's just a matter of time before we see that $2a litre mark pop up in Winnipeg," said Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.com, which tracks fuel prices across Canada.

The global demand for fuel is "completely outstripping the amount of supplyavailable" due to a number of factors, including the Russian invasion of Ukraineand refineries shutting down in North America and globally because of COVID-19, De Haan said.

Prices in Winnipeg could spike to$2.25 a litre or beyondif any major weather events impact supply this summer, he toldhostMarcy Markusa in a Wednesdayinterview with CBC's Information Radio.

"If we see a hurricane or other outage this summer, there's very little breathing room in fact no breathing room," in refining capacity, he said.

Higher gas prices cut into profits for delivery drivers

2 years ago

Duration 2:37

The high price of gas has one Winnipeg delivery driver re-thinking how he does his job. Mykyta Hlushchenko delivers for Uber Eats to support himself and his family. But like a lot of people, he says the spike in gas prices has really cut into the money he earns.

Uber support for drivers ending

In March,Ubermade efforts to help drivers deal with the increased costs. It implemented a surcharge of 50 centsfor Uber ride-hailingcustomers and 35 centsfor Uber Eats deliveries, with those extra fees going todrivers.

Hlushchenko said the surcharge helped, but he'll only be able to get it for about two more weeks.

Ina statement on its website last month,Uber said the surcharge for Uber Eats deliveries will come to an end on June 15. It will continue for ride-hailing customers.

Hlushchenko says he's glad to see summer weather coming.

"I might save some cash on the fuel just in doing Uber again on the bicycle," he said.

"It'shealthy and it's money-saving."