DoorDash is preparing to shell out more than $50 million this quarterto help drivers cope with soaring fuel costsas 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 fundtemporary fuel-price relieffor drivers in the US and Canada.
The company first announced the program in March after gas prices surgedamid 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 Tuesdayas officials scrambledto 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.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
