Get the Door (and More Cash, Too!), It's Domino's

Well, it's official. Rising gas prices, which have been brought about by the continued war in Iraq and most recently by after-effects of Hurricane Katrina, have started to take their toll on other consumer goods. Today, Domino's Pizza chains announced that if gas prices stay at their current rate for "the long haul" they will be forced to raise prices to help offset additional costs their delivery drivers incur for cost of gas.

Dominos explains that they may be forced to raise the costs of pizzas in order to maintain an adequate roster of delivery drivers - who must supply their own cars and gas for the job.

Beyond raising the price of pizzas, what are some other things that Dominos can do to incentivise their delivery drivers to keep delivering pizzas? Do you think that if Dominos instituted a "delivery surcharge" for all delivery orders, a portion of which they then gave back to the drivers for expenses, it would help them maintain their drivers? And if they would tack on a "delivery surcharge" will people be more likely to pick up their pizzas instead of having them delivered - or would the cost of the gas they'd have to use to drive to get the pizza act as a equalizer to the consumer?

This is just the first in a long line of price increases we'll see as the realities of these higher fuel prices begin to set in. The price of airline tickets has already increased due to higher fuel costs - what else can we expect to be paying more for because of this fuel "crisis" in the near future?