Blake Burgau stops to play with dogs while taking a hike on the Greenbelt trails in Cape Elizabeth on Monday. His dog walking service, Maine Buddies, picks up dogs at their homes and takes them on hikes. He’s had to raise prices because of the cost of gas. (Staff photo by Derek Davis) Purchase this image

Just five months after launching his dog walking service, Maine Buddies, Blake Burgau has increased his prices by $5 because of the rising cost of gas.

“In the last seven weeks, I’ve paid roughly $4.64 a gallon, and when you have to put in a minimum of $120 a week, that unfortunately makes you kind of look back for a second and say, ‘OK, well, it doesn’t appear that this is going to change,'” Burgau said.

Burgau, 33, started Maine Buddies with his partner, Mariel Brooke, after years of working in corporate jobs. The business picks up dogs at their homes for hourlong, off-leash hikes for four to six dogs at a time. Maine Buddies also offers other pet services, such as solo hikes, overnight pet sitting and transportation to veterinary appointments across Greater Portland.

But all of that driving means using more gas, and in the past month alone, data from AAA Fuel Prices shows that the average cost of a gallon of regular gas in Maine has risen from $4.11 to $4.43, linked to the ongoing Iran war.

Burgau increased the rate for his hiking service from $45 a dog to $50, something that he was afraid would adversely affect his business but hasn’t so far.

For Mainers like Burgau who rely on cars for their jobs, rising gas prices have been frustrating and prompted them to be more strategic.

Three nights a week, Gary Jones works as a ride-share driver for Uber and Lyft around Portland to make a little extra money on top of a full-time job. However, in light of rising gas costs, Jones said that he’s had to be more careful about which rides he accepts. 

He is prioritizing rides that take him to areas with a greater chance of a return trip with a paying passenger. Jones said he likes to “stay in the city” and typically accepts offers that only take him as far as South Portland or Westbrook. 

“I really have to be careful to not take rides from Old Orchard to Portland … Standish, Gorham, stuff like that,” he said. “I won’t even bother because I’ve gotta drive back, and I’ll lose money.” 

Jones keeps roughly 60% of the total customer price of his trips for Uber, alongside any tips he receives on top of that. He estimated that, in September alone, he’s spent roughly $190 on gas while earning nearly $1,000 from driving for ride-share services. 

“It’s still worth it. It just stings a little bit more at the pump,” said Jones.

Uber has offered incentives and discounts to drivers during previous periods of high gas prices. According to an article from the Uber Newsroom, in 2022, Uber instituted fuel surcharges of 35-55 cents on all Uber and Uber Eats trips, which went directly to drivers in response to “record-high prices at the pump.” 

Jones said that Uber’s incentives aren’t always helpful, because they require drivers to buy at participating gas stations that may have higher prices than other nearby options.

Instead, Jones will usually go wherever gas is less expensive. For him, that usually means Walmart, where he can get 10 cents off every gallon.  

Katrina Buchholz places a customer’s bag on the floor of her car Monday afternoon at McDonalds on Center Street in Auburn. “These gas prices are awful. Sometimes I feel like I put half my profits back in my gas tank, so I’m not sure it’s even worth it,” she said. (Russ Dillingham/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image

Placing a customer’s bag from McDonald’s in Auburn on the floor of her car on Monday, DoorDash driver Katrina Buchholz said she’s not sure it’s worth doing anymore, with gas prices what they are.

“Sometimes I feel like I put half my profits back in my gas tank,” she said.

2DineIn, a local food delivery service based out of Portland, differs from other gig-based driving jobs — drivers have scheduled shifts, are paid an hourly wage of $15.10 and get gas mileage — but their drivers feel the effects of the high cost of gas as well. 

Mike Mellen, a driver for 2DineIn, drives a “fairly efficient” Honda CR-V hybrid that he says gets 35 miles to the gallon. He fills up his car two to three times a week, spending $50-$55 to fill the tank.

“The more you work, the more you drive, the more gas you need, the more expensive it is,” said Mellen. “So, it’s kind of an unfortunate tradeoff, just something you have to deal with, and there’s not really a way around it.” 

He said he feels for drivers with older, less fuel-efficient vehicles such as pickup trucks.

“I imagine a lot of the other drivers who don’t have a hybrid or who have an older car with less gas mileage are having to fill up three, four times a week, if not more,” Mellen said.

Dustin Veinott stands in front of the kitchen Monday at Cappza’s Pizza in Farmingdale. He said that most days he does deliveries he drives about 200 miles a day and about 50% of his tips now go to covering increased gas prices. (Joe Phelan/Staff Photographer)

Dustin Veinott, who drives about 200 miles a day when he’s making deliveries for Cappza’s Pizza in Farmingdale, said about half of his tips are now going to covering the gas-price increase.

“When I first started, gas was cheaper. So, my tips were actually increasing my hourly wage,” he said.

The cost of gas in the last year has led some restaurants that have their own delivery drivers to reconsider how much they reimburse their employees for that expense.  

Leonardo’s Pizza in Portland pays its drivers an average rate of $1.45 per delivery within a 3-mile radius as mileage reimbursement.

Andrew Way, vice president of operations for Leonardo’s Pizza, said the restaurant used to reevaluate the mileage reimbursement rate twice a year but, in July, started evaluating the rates quarterly because gas prices became so volatile.

“The drivers are definitely frustrated because (the price of gas) has gone up,” said Way. 

In the spring, Portland House of Pizza on Washington Avenue upped the percentage that their delivery drivers receive from the $4.99 delivery fee on every order. According to General Manager David Walton, their delivery drivers now receive $3 out of the fee, instead of $1.99.

“Gas kind of runs America,” Walton said. “The Dunkin’ Donuts commercial’s kind of a lie. America actually runs on gasoline.”

Staff Photographers Russ Dillingham and Joe Phelan contributed to this report.