“Every day, love, every day. It makes you feel desperate, makes you want to cry, the account doesn’t close, car maintenance is expensive, because it drives a lot. It’s despair every day.”
This is how the app driver Ana Paula Aparecida de Oliveira, 38, answers when asked if she is thinking about giving up the profession, after another fuel adjustment.
On Thursday (3/10), Petrobras announced a 25% increase in diesel, 19% in gasoline and 16% in bottled gas, valid from Friday at refineries and distributors.
In gasoline, economists estimate that the fuel sold by the state-owned company represents about 33% of the price, so the 19% increase at refineries should result in a 6.2% increase at the pump.
The new high comes after a 47% increase in gasoline prices in 2021, according to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).
In many gas stations in some regions of the country, gasoline is already being sold above R$ 7 per liter this Friday (11).
“This readjustment was a big scare, because it’s already complicated, we don’t have many gains, this pandemic has affected a lot”, says Ana Paula, who has been a driver for six years and vice president of AMMA (Association of Women Drivers of Applications ).
“Now that things are starting to get back into place, just when you think you are stabilizing, this pump comes with the increase in fuel. You are left with no direction, really lost”, he says.
With a 1.0 car, Ana Paula spends about R$120 a day on fuel, to work 12 hours – a limit imposed by Uber on drivers since March 2020.
A month, there are BRL 3,200 spent on fuel alone, which is also added to the periodic change of oil and brake pads, in addition to BRL 1,100 for the car installment and BRL 400 for insurance, which is more expensive for app drivers due to the greatest risk involved in the profession.
Thus, the gasoline allowance approved on Thursday by the Senate, of R$ 300 for app drivers and taxi drivers, would not even be enough to fill a fuel tank, which for Ana Paula’s economy car costs about R$ 315 and lasts just over two days.
In addition, with the prospect of priority being given to beneficiaries of the AuxÃlio Brasil program (which is intended for families with an income of up to half a minimum wage per person or up to three minimum wages of total monthly income), Ana Paula has no hope to receive the benefit.
“This aid will not be compatible with our income, we earn more, so it won’t do any good in our case”, laments the driver.
Divorced and mother of two, aged 19 and 14, Ana Paula says she doesn’t give up because she depends on the income she earns by driving to help her oldest son with college materials and fully support the youngest.
“I would have to work longer hours to earn more, but with the increase in fuel, I don’t know if it pays off, if the account will close. I already work from 8 pm to 8 am, sometimes I go until 10 am. more than I’m going to work? How am I going to sleep? This will affect my health, it’s not just a matter of time to spend with the boys, I’m chubby, I may have circulation problems. It’s difficult, very difficult, despair beats .”
price ceiling
Ana Paula believes that, in addition to the benefit approved by the Senate, the government should act to prevent such a large increase in fuel prices.
“If they established a ceiling, didn’t let it go up, that would make all the difference”, believes the driver.
On Wednesday (9/3), the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, ruled out the possibility of a price freeze by Petrobras.
The possibility had been discussed since President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) criticized the state-owned company’s price policy, whose readjustments are linked to the variation in the price of a barrel of oil on the international market and to the dollar.
On Thursday, after the announcement of what has been called a “mega-increase” by Petrobras, Guedes admitted the possibility of the government subsidizing fuels if the war in Ukraine continues, keeping the price of a barrel under pressure for longer. .
“We’re going to move according to the situation,” Guedes said. “If that [a guerra] resolved in 30 or 60 days, the crisis would be more or less addressed. Now, is this going to rush and turn into an escalation? Then you start thinking about subsidy for diesel.”
On Thursday, in addition to the new gasoline allowance, the Senate approved a series of other measures to try to contain the rise in fuel prices.
Among them are the change in ICMS collection, which will now have a single rate and a fixed amount per liter of fuel; and the creation of a compensation account to stabilize fuel prices, using resources such as oil royalties — royalties are amounts paid by oil companies to the Union and local governments to explore the oil.
According to Guedes, this fund can be used if necessary, but he ruled out activating the instrument at this time. The measures approved in the Senate still need to go through Bolsonaro’s sanction.
‘Apps need to readjust rates’
Eduardo Lima de Souza, president of Amasp (Association of Application Drivers of São Paulo), argues that application companies, such as Uber and 99, need to readjust rates as soon as possible to compensate for the high cost of fuel drivers.
“Fuel is the main input for the management of this system, the driver is highly committed to it. We had 11 increases [de combustÃveis] in 2021 and now, all at once, 18.8% increase in gasoline. This greatly harms, reduces the driver’s profits”, says Souza.
He notes that drivers are working to the limit, increasing their hours to make a profit and selecting rides to avoid less profitable ones, which creates discomfort among passengers, who often face cancellations in succession until they find a driver who accepts a shorter ride. .
“We don’t have anything else to squeeze, we don’t have anywhere else to run. Platforms must readjust the rates as soon as possible. category representative.
When contacted, 99 replied that it will provide its own aid to try to cushion the increase.
“99, keeping its commitment to taking care of its partners, will offer financial compensation for the new escalation in the value of fuels. The objective is to cancel the last increase announced for the liter of gasoline and therefore readjust the km run by 5%. in the gain of the driver from all over the country”, said the company, in a note.
In addition, “it is testing a subsidy solution to automatically track fuel fluctuations, both up and down.”
“In addition to this readjustment, the Mais Ganhos 99 package, with measures such as the Zero Rate, which offers drivers 100% of the value of rides in specific periods and cities, in addition to more gains from the congestion charge, and travel fee continue There are even cases in which the negative rate is used, that is, the amount transferred to the driver is greater than that paid by the passenger and this difference is paid for by the company to democratize people’s access”, added the 99.
Uber did not respond to the position request until the publication of this report.
The president of Amasp considers that the tariff readjustment implemented by the apps in 2021, in response to the high fuel prices that year, was insufficient.
“It was a 10% increase that, in practice, the driver didn’t even feel. We need an increase that follows at least these highs we had in fuel, I’m not even considering all the other costs that went up with inflation”, says Souza.
Companies argue that they cannot raise fares too much, as that would alienate users, but Souza notes that reducing the number of drivers also harms passengers and the companies themselves.
Amasp estimates that between the beginning of 2020 and August 2021, 25% of São Paulo app drivers stopped working for the platforms. According to the entity, the number was calculated from a database of the city hall, which shows that the number of registered drivers dropped from 120,000 to 90,000 in the period.
Since August, Souza assesses that this number has remained stable, with fewer drivers leaving the activity, due to the improvement in movement with the advancement of vaccination.
But, with this week’s fuel adjustment, he says that many drivers have returned to talk about giving up. “Many are considering abandoning the applications, because the situation is unsustainable”, says the president of the association.
According to Souza, with the costs of gasoline, oil changes, maintenance, insurance, payment of installments or car rental and food outside the home, a driver currently has expenses of R$ 5,500 to R$ 6,000.
“A driver today, to guarantee his permanence in the system, has to make an average of R$ 8,500 to R$ 9,000. So, an aid of R$ 300 does not solve, there is no way”, he evaluates.
The president of Amasp says that, until 2017, a driver could survive working eight to ten hours. Between 2017 and 2019, the load increased to 12 to 13 hours a day, to ensure a minimum livelihood.
In 2020, Uber implemented a tool to stop drivers from working more than 12 hours a day. But drivers often get around the blockade by working with other platforms to stretch the journey.
“Currently, drivers work almost 17 hours to try to make a profit. This is unreasonable for the worker”, he evaluates. “Drivers don’t have a life anymore, they just live to work. While companies make billions, they take their lives.”
executive transport
Even those who left the platforms and started working on their own are bewildered by the mega-adjustment of gasoline.
This is the case of Paulo Angeline, 63 years old and a driver for 15 years. He currently has an individual executive transfer micro-company.
“My taste with gasoline is daily. I drive in the range of 200 km a day, so my daily expense is around R$250”, says Angeline.
According to the driver, executive transport has not yet recovered the demand before the pandemic, which is already hurting income. With gasoline rising, your profit should decrease even further.
“I’ll have to review my prices and pass this on to the customer. But the customer doesn’t always accept it, he thinks that, after the pandemic, prices are still the same. So let’s see how it goes. that at some point I may have to stop and reinvent myself in another activity.”
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