CEDAR FALLS -- Higher gas prices have everyone looking for tips to cope. Area delivery drivers are counting on tips to survive.

When Davinci's Pizza delivery driver Jacob Steffen is done with a night of delivering pizzas, most of the money he takes home goes back into his gas tank.

Before gas prices peaked at nearly $4 per gallon, Steffen tried to put the tips he made each night into his savings account.

"I didn't start out in the job with much savings," he said. "Now I have even less."

On some nights, Steffen puts up to 100 miles on his car.

Pizza delivery drivers like Steffen use their own vehicles and pay out of their pockets for the fuel they use on the job. Davinci's drivers are paid the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, $1 per delivery and tips.

Some pizza delivery establishments pay $5.85 per hour since pizza delivery drivers can be considered tipped employees under Iowa law.

Stores are reporting that hiring and keeping drivers has become more difficult as more money goes toward gas than into the drivers' pockets.

"Not a lot of people are excited about the money they can make in this job," Steffen said.

"It's starting to even out where you don't even make money in tips," said Wes Nelson, a delivery driver for Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches in Cedar Falls.

Jimmy John's manager Anthony Petersen said he hasn't had trouble hiring drivers, but he adds that the job always has a high turnover.

Davinci's owner and manager Chris Grill said a good driver on a busy night can make up to around $18 per hour. However, the biggest number in his equation is an estimated $11 in tips for four stops at an average tip of $2.75. Drivers say that the size of their tips has shrunk as other expenses have gone up. Some customers don't tip at all.

"My dad didn't even know he was supposed to tip the pizza guy," Steffen said.

Getting stiffed hurts, especially when every dollar needs to be stretched, Grill said. He knows how not getting a tip can affect the drivers' morale. In 22 years in the pizza business, he has delivered plenty of pizzas and had a streak of 14 straight deliveries without a tip.

"It can be disheartening," he said.

And as the food cost goes up, their tips go down, drivers say.

"Once those prices go up, people are going to be upset that they have to pay more for their food and are less likely to tip," said Nelson.

Like at Davinci's, Jimmy John's drivers make $7.25 per hour but get 5 percent of the sales they deliver. Nelson said he wouldn't consider doing the job for $5.85 per hour.

Drivers at Tony's Trattoria also make $7.25, but the business supplies its own delivery cars and pays for gas and maintenance of those vehicles. Paying drivers more and absorbing gas costs may give Tony's Trattoria a competitive edge in recruiting and keeping drivers, but finding drivers with clean records puts the company in the same boat as their competitors.

"I need to be able to trust the people we hire to keep our cars clean and safe," said Tim Trenkamp, general manager.

Trenkamp is also considering raising the delivery charge to offset the higher fuel costs.

Most floral delivery stores also provide their own fleet of vehicles, insulating their drivers from soaring fuel prices.

Dan Rubendall, co-president of Florama, said the part-time delivery drivers have been with the company for years and he hasn't seen any turnover as a result of fuel costs. The company also pays drivers more than the minimum wage. However, the higher gas prices have cut into the company's bottom line, Rubendall said.

Rainbow Florists & Greenhouses Manager Rich Fink said the company has adapted to be more efficient with deliveries to ease the higher costs. The company still delivers to area hospitals for free, but will make those trips later in the day to eliminate return trips to hospitals.

Unlike in food delivery, flower delivery drivers don't require tips to get by. They also aren't counting on tips to keep their cars running.

Grill said that if people like having pizza delivered to their homes, it up to them to tip.

"They're not coming to work for fun," he said. "If you're going to order pizza for delivery, you should tip your driver."

Contact John Molseed at newsroom@wcfcourier.com.