Iran war: Fuel crisis hits rideshare drivers, but hopes grow Uber readying fuel subsidy scheme
Wednesday, 25 March 2026
Rideshare drivers are doing it tough in the fuel crisis.
They are not in control of the prices they charge for trips, and when Uber is such a big part of their existence, they are reliant on its willingness to reflect higher fuel prices in their trip pricing.
Unlike rideshare rival Didi, Uber is yet to implement a scheme to increase payments to drivers to partially compensate them for higher petrol prices, with most rideshare drivers having hybrid vehicles.
But driver Steve Fairley says there’s a glimmer of hope.
“I have learned just this minute that Uber have finally signalled that they are offering more money per trip,” the Uber and Didi driver told The Post.
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Uber said it recognised fuel price increases were having an effect on its “driver partners and delivery people” who use the Uber and Uber Eats apps, and it was “actively monitoring conditions as they evolve”.
“We are always looking for ways we can continue to support them, including our Uber Pro program which offers discounts on fuel and EV charging, as well as other savings to help reduce their expenses,” it said, and it was “supporting drivers to transition to electric vehicles”.
Fairley is pessimistic about the fuel crisis.
He isn’t buying US President Donald Trump’s rhetoric about Iran being keen to strike a deal to end its blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a large amount of the world’s oil is shipped.
“It doesn't look like it's going to end any time soon. I think we are in for a long run,” he says.
“It's only been two or three weeks, so we haven't really actually seen the full impact,” he says.
“I mean, you wait till gas reserves start to get down to 20 days. Everyone was talking last week about there being 50 days of fuel around, but you watch what happens when the panic starts to set in,” he says.
He says petrol prices are currently already the highest they have been in his lifetime.
“And I’m in my mid-50s,” he says.
Didi rideshare, which Fairley also uses, implemented a scheme that sees a few more dollars in drivers’ pockets, with the amounts linked to the distance driven.
It’s welcome, but it doesn’t cover the whole cost, Fairley says.
“It’s a drop in the bucket,” he says.
The rideshare drivers are in a very different position to cargo haulers.
Mark Grey, owner of Mark Grey Carriers, says in the cargo carrier trade prices charged include what are commonly referred to as a FAF. That’s a fuel adjustment factor, which is a flexible addition to the base price quoted to customers to account for fuel price fluctuations.
Without that, the industry would not be sustainable, and fuel crises would put people out of business, he says.
“If you didn’t do that, you’d be gone,” says Grey, who says the fuel crises has exposed New Zealand’s strategic failure to get itself to energy self-sufficiency.
He’s especially angry about the closure of the Marsden Point refinery and the decision by the Labour-led government to end fossil fuel prospecting.
The impact on rideshare drivers’ incomes has been large.
Fairley says after all costs are taken out, rideshare drivers are not even on minimum wage, and that was before the fuel price hikes.
“You're on a constant knife edge,” he says.
Anita Rosentreter from the union Workers First says analysis of Uber data, which was revealed during a lengthy court case, revealed that many drivers were working so many hours they were effectively earning below the minimum wage.
Having to buy fuel means drivers are making cuts in their private lives to cope, though some will be getting help from an extra $50-a-week for roughly 143,000 families through the Working for Families tax credit system.
“Before the fuel prices went skyrocketing up, it would have taken about $80 to fill my car,” he says.
Fairley drives a hybrid Toyota Corolla.
“I filled up on Monday, and it was $115. So there's a $35 a gap there, and you're filling your tank three times a week. So that's 100 bucks down the gas tank,” he says.
Uber is a US company, and in the US, tipping is a big part of how people working in the service industry survive.
As a result, people using Uber are invited to give drivers a tip of $1, $2 or $3.
Rosentreter says that tip is supposed to all go to drivers, though she has not seen proof that was so.
Now might be the time for people using Uber to be realistic about what the ride should cost, and start tipping to recognise that.
“It’s a bit of a sad request to make of people, but drivers would surely appreciate it,” she says.