Local small businesses are having to make tough decisions about raising delivery fees to help absorb the rising expense of gas.

Larry Betro from Gio's Pizza in East Islip says he pays his drivers well and does charge a small delivery surcharge to help them cover costs. He's not planning on raising it yet, but with increased costs from suppliers, he is debating whether to charge more.

"It is a slippery slope. You want to keep the customers happy, at the same time the people do see what's going on," says Betro.

Chazz Piazza owns his delivery trucks for his florist company and says his fuel costs, like everyone elses, has skyrocketed. But what's really a thorn in his side is the cost to get the flowers from Central America. He says prices have had to go up as the delivery charge has nearly tripled.

It used to cost $5 a box to get flowers where now its $13 - $50 a box to get them shipped to Long Island," says Chazz.

For the moment, Piazza isn't raising delivery prices. But he says he is watching fuel prices very carefully, especially as we get closer to Mother’s Day.

Some business owners tell News 12 that they were just starting to recover from pandemic slowdowns, only to have rising gas prices to deal with.

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