Most people have to get oil changes every three months.
Sarah Griffin has to get them almost every month.
Griffin, 20, has been a delivery driver for Pizza Hut on Archer Road since November 2007.
"I needed a job where I could make cash every day," the SFCC nursing student said.
Until this summer, Griffin said she was satisfied with her job. During Gator football season, pizza orders were high, and the tips were more generous when the Gators won games.
Plus, when Griffin started in November, the average gallon of gas cost a little more than $3.
Now, with many college students out of town and gas prices at a national average of more than $4 per gallon, she has had to take a second job to make enough money.
Like Griffin, many local student delivery drivers and the delivery companies they work for have had to adjust to the effects of the increase in gas prices on their profits.
Tip money makes up a major part of a delivery driver's income �" some of which goes to paying for gas to make deliveries.
Griffin's average tip per delivery now ranges from loose change to $2.
"Sometimes you go out to somewhere, and you lose money because you're paying for the gas to get there, and they don't tip you," she said.
Griffin, who usually spends $25 on gas every day she works, said she sometimes delivers all the way to Haile Plantation, which is at least six miles away.
In her opinion, the minimum tip should be the price of a gallon of gas to help delivery drivers cover their expenses.
Jimmy Green, general manager at Papa John's on Archer Road, said despite gas prices, he has more applications than ever for delivery driver positions.
College students make up eighty percent of his staff.
"I would actually say it's easier now to staff my store than in the past," said Green, a 22-year-old UF economics junior.
He said there are 17 delivery drivers working at his location, most between the ages of 18 and 23. Drivers are paid $5.15 an hour, plus $1.10 per delivery and whatever tips they collect.
Green said a good driver can easily make at least $10 to $15 per hour.
The average number of deliveries per day for the Papa John's last week was 125, he said. So far this summer, sales for the store have been an average of 8 to 15 percent higher than last year.
Still, the rise in the price of fuel has caused the cost of food supplies and other goods to increase.
To help cover additional expenses, Green said most delivery companies have added a delivery charge, which does not go directly to the drivers.
Stores also deal with the new operating costs by sending drivers out with more than one delivery order at a time, Green said.
Jim Dewey, program director of the economic analysis program at UF's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, said strong international demand for fuel has sent prices soaring, which forces businesses like Papa John's to find ways to adjust.
"Fuel is a major component of production costs, and when fuel prices increase, eventually it has to be reflected in price increases one way or another," Dewey said.
Businesses have to figure out how to adapt to increased expenses while not charging the customers too much extra money, he said.
Griffin said she has not expressed her own financial concerns to her managers because there's little they can do at the local level to help.
She feels lucky she has a fuel-efficient car, a 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier, she said.
Edward Coker, a SFCC sophomore and part-time Papa John's delivery driver, said he spends more money on gas when he works on the busier weekend days �" sometimes up to $50 a day.
Coker, 29, said paying for gas and maintaining his truck, a 2003 GMC Sonoma, are two of the most difficult parts of being a delivery driver.
Coker didn't have many complaints, though.
"The money is pretty good for a part-time job," he said.
He earns an average of about $3 in tips per delivery and is content with the money in his pocket when he leaves work.
Like Griffin, he also has a second income, only his comes from his years spent in the Army.
Griffin said she never understood the importance of tips before she became a delivery driver.
"It's hard because when you deliver pizzas to somebody, and they don't tip you, you have to be able to hold your tongue," she said. "You just want to say to them, 'Do you realize gas is four dollars?' Some people just don't care though."
