Is Gig Economy Driving Still Worth It Amid Rising Fuel Costs?

Between 26 May and 12 June 2026, we surveyed 326 UK gig drivers across Amazon Flex, private hire, and food and parcels delivery about what's changed this year and how it has affected their working week. 79% said their running costs have gotten harder to manage, and after the year petrol and diesel have had, you’d expect nothing else.

Among drivers who buy fuel, 44% are now weighing up cutting their hours or leaving the work behind altogether. They point at fuel when you ask them why, but what they’re actually deciding is whether the job still pays.

The numbers at a glance

• 79% say gig-economy driving costs have gotten harder to manage in the last six months.
• 28% are considering reducing their hours and 16% are considering stopping altogether.
• The average driver reports spending £461 a month on fuel.
• Diesel drivers are feeling the cost of fuel increases the most, with 50% considering reducing hours or stopping work. 
• 80% of EV drivers say costs have got harder, despite spending nothing at the pump.

When a fuel problem turns into a bigger decision

We asked the 197 drivers whose hours had already changed what was behind it. 46% pointed at fuel. But 35% mentioned that the job wasn’t worth the money anymore, which could lead to a substantial number of gig workers leaving the sector entirely.

When asked about their future, 30% said they were considering stopping outright, against 22% who blamed fuel alone.

Expensive fuel makes you take shorter routes, cut personal miles, and shift the hours you work. But deciding the job no longer pays is a different thing altogether.

The majority of drivers aren't planning on changing anything just yet

The biggest answer in the survey wasn’t “reducing”, “stopping” or “carrying on”. It was “I’ve thought about it but no changes planned” (42% of respondents). If you’ve been turning this over without acting on it, you’re in the largest group we found. You haven’t left, and you haven’t committed to staying either.

You can see it in what drivers actually changed:

• 28% switched to shorter or more local routes
• 21% cut their hours or shifts
• 17% reduced their non-work driving
• 15% changed the times of day they drive
  
• Only 7% moved to a more fuel-efficient or electric vehicle

Almost all of those changes shape your working day rather than your vehicle or your career, because those moves cost nothing to make. Once you’ve made them, the only levers left are the expensive ones.

Who’s closest to walking away

1. Private hire drivers

If you drive private hire, you’re nearest to exiting. 29% of private hire drivers are considering stopping altogether, compared with 11% of Amazon Flex drivers. You cover dead miles nobody pays for, you work longer shifts, and you don’t choose where the next job sends you. You can plan for a parcel. You can’t plan a Friday night of taxi driving. 

2. Full-time drivers

At 36 hours a week or more, you’re more exposed. 50% of full-time drivers said they are considering reducing or stopping. Why? 88% say costs have gotten harder. A part-timer who feels the squeeze drops a shift. If driving is your whole income, dropping shifts cuts the thing paying your bills, so the pressure has nowhere to go. 

3. The drivers who’ve done it longest

Newer drivers lean towards cutting hours. If you’ve got three years or more behind you, you’re in the band with the highest stopping rate at 22%. The drivers who have experienced the potential of what this kind of work can pay are the most likely to decide when it doesn’t pay enough.

Every £50 a week at the pump pushes you closer to the exit

Of everything we measured, your weekly fuel spend tracks most closely against what you plan to do next:

Base: The 280 drivers who buy fuel. Fully electric drivers weren’t asked this question.

Diesel and hybrid drivers are carrying the most

If you run a diesel, this survey suggests you’re taking the heaviest hit. 50% of diesel drivers are considering reducing or stopping, the highest of any fuel-buying group, and 22% are considering stopping outright. 81% said fuel rises had made them drive less.

You’re also paying the most to fill up while driving the least valuable cars. 57% of diesel drivers spend over £100 a week, and the median vehicle value was £3,820, compared with £12,255 for EV drivers. Diesel peaked at 192.14p a litre in mid-April, and the drivers absorbing that have the least equity in their car to trade out of it.

A hybrid isn’t the shelter you’d hope for either. 46% of non-plug-in hybrid drivers said fuel had significantly reduced their driving, closer to diesel’s 50% than petrol’s 40%. Whatever you were told about running costs when you bought, they aren’t showing up as protection when prices spike.

Going electric isn’t the escape hatch it looks like

The most unexpected result in the survey came from drivers who’ve already switched to EV. 80% of our 46 EV drivers said their running costs had gotten harder, almost exactly the survey average, despite spending nothing at all on fuel. The pressure just moves somewhere else, onto insurance, electricity and monthly finance on cars worth over three times the diesel median.

And if you’re still on petrol or diesel, the barrier is money rather than attitude:

• 32% want an EV but can’t yet afford one
• 22% are open to it
• Only 10% are actively looking
  

35% siad they aren't looking to switch to EV and they aren’t the sceptics you might assume. Nearly half drive 20 hours a week or fewer, and roughly six in ten are Amazon Flex drivers. 15% ride a two-wheeler or drive a van, where the electric choice is narrower and the used market thinner. If you’re doing 15 hours a week on a moped, an EV is a purchase that never earns itself back.

Three costs, and the one you probably haven’t checked

Drivers named three costs in this survey. Fuel, insurance and maintenance. Here’s how much room you actually have on each of them.

1. Fuel

You’ve probably already done what you can. Shorter routes, off-peak shifts, and less personal mileage all save real money, but the savings are marginal and, once you’ve made them, they’re made. The change that properly moves your number is the vehicle, and only 7% of drivers had made it. (See our fuel cost calculator blog to compare your mileage, hours and charging setup to see if you could save by switching to an EV)

2. Maintenance

The one you can put off, right up until it costs you more. A skipped service on a car doing 800 miles a week is a bill you’ve moved, not a bill you’ve avoided.

3. Insurance

On an annual private hire policy, insurance is often your highest fixed cost after fuel, and unlike fuel, it doesn’t fall when you drive less. 27% of drivers in this survey had already cut their hours, so a fair few are paying for a full year of cover on a week that’s shrunk. Three things worth checking:

• If you only drive Amazon Flex blocks and hold a separate SD&P policy, INSHUR Pay as you Flex insurance only charges you for the minutes you’re actually driving, from around £0.80 an hour.
• If you work across several platforms doing different jobs like taxi and delivery, are you paying for more than one insurance plan when you could only be paying for one? With INSHUR Private Hire and Uber Private Hire policies, you can add fast food delivery to your quote so you can have cover for both jobs in one place. Saving you hassle, admin, and the fees associated with multiple policies. It also covers you for SD&P for your personal driving. 

Get a quote – it takes a few minutes online, and you’ll see what your cover would cost before you decide anything about your hours.

Is there any hope of fuel prices coming down? 

• Wholesale Market Stabilisation: Following mid-year spikes that pushed unleaded petrol up toward ~158p–161p per litre, wholesale crude markets have begun to stabilise. Analysts note a modest downward trend or period of price flattening is taking hold rather than continued surging.
• Intense Local Supermarket Competition: High price variance remains between forecourts. Standard national averages hover around 158.6p per litre, but the lowest supermarket and independent forecourts (particularly Asda, Morrisons, and Tesco) are regularly pricing petrol 8p–10p below average (near ~148.9p–150.7p per litre). Shopping around or using price-tracking tools yields clear savings.
  
  

Sources:

• Petrol prices: https://www.petrolprices.com/news/uk-fuel-prices-surge/ 

• RAC: https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/fuel-prices/fuel-prices-england/

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