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Valley delivery drivers impacted by rising gas prices

Valley delivery drivers impacted by rising gas prices
1 hour 12 minutes 18 seconds ago Sunday, March 15 2026 Mar 15, 2026 March 15, 2026 2:19 PM March 15, 2026 in News - Local
Source: KRGV

The rise of gas prices is impacting everyone.

A Rio Grande Valley food delivery driver says she's struggling to make ends meet.

"At the end of the day, I'm putting miles on my car, I'm losing gas to this point, like I'm not making a profit at all," Karla Sosa said. "I'm registered with DoorDash, I'm registered with Lyft, I'm also with Amazon Flex, I'm currently on the waitlist for Walmart Spark."

Sosa started making deliveries two years ago. The mom of four says the flexibility was needed for her busy life.

"I can work an hour or two, come back, make lunch, make dinner, you know whatever I need to do and then continue to be back at it," Sosa said.

Sosa says the increase in gas prices is affecting her more than she imagined.

"I would probably spend about $40 to $50 a week. Now I'm double that. Yeah, it's pretty brutal," Sosa said.

According to AAA gas prices, the state average for a gallon of unleaded gas is $3.35.

The average gas price in Hidalgo County is $3.34; Willacy County is $3.35; Cameron County is $3.36 and for Starr County it's $3.41.

Like everyone working to make ends meet, Sosa says every dollar counts.

"Eventually when you don't pay those bills, they cut off your light, they cut off your water," Sosa said. "It's not something we can just roll off our shoulders, it matters to us."

Sosa's rating is based on the deliveries she accepts. So when she says no to orders that are too far away, it impacts her job performance.

"At the beginning of the week, I was at a 90 to 95 percent acceptance rate and I've already dropped to 80 percent because I've had to decline so many orders and it affects us for sure," Sosa said.

She believes other drivers are also deciding if the gas cost is worth the distance. She says when she picks up an order, she's noticed more waiting to get picked up.

"Because they're losing out, they're spending more in gas and aren't profiting and it's causing us to be short on drivers," Sosa said.

For now, Sosa says she will continue to fulfill orders and hope that gas prices drop soon.

Watch the video above for the full story.

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