High gas prices are stinging the pockets of delivery driver James Kitanga.

“The gas prices go up but I’m getting paid the same, so I end up losing money,” said Kitanga, who drives for Jimmy John’s, 1011 W. Hillcrest Drive, and Burritoville, 1026 W. Hillcrest Drive.

Kitanga has delivered for both companies for three years and has seen the seasonal increase before, he said.

“The recent jump in prices isn’t unexpected, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t bad,” he said.

Kitanga delivers 60 hours a week on average, between both of his jobs, in a Pontiac Sunbird.

“I like my car,” Kitanga said. “Even though it costs $32 [to fill] every other day,” he said.

But the negative effects of increasing gas prices reach beyond delivery drivers.

“Business owners not only have to pay more to deliver their products, they have to pay more for the products delivered to them as well,” said Pete Matarangas, owner of Lukulo’s Express, 1101 W. Lincoln Highway.

Matarangas said he is unsettled by the recent rise in gas prices.

When the markets are high, pricing eventually has to adjust in order for businesses to make a profit, Matarangas said.

“It’s not just the food delivery economy hurting by the increase,” Matarangas said. “It’s all business that hurts.”

Sven Oscar Hansen, owner of Glidden Campus Florist, 917 W. Lincoln Highway, agrees.

In recent years, Hansen has been dealing with a fuel surcharge from wholesalers for products delivered from different parts of the country and world, he said.

“Wholesalers in the Midwest need fuel to keep their greenhouses warm during the winter,” Hansen said. “They end up sharing that extra cost with us in the end.”

The Glidden Campus Florist has yet to increase their prices to adjust to the increasing expense for doing business, Hansen said. But he still thinks there are problems on the horizon.

“We’re running out of oil, so it is inevitable that its prices will go up sharply,” Hansen said.