A driver shortage is reaching the local pizza place, says The Wall Street Journal. The pizza delivery drivers that were critical to big chains and small shops during the pandemic have become one of the $45 billion industry’s biggest problems. 

Store owners say a shortage of drivers is costing them sales and frustrating customers with long wait times. For workers, rising fuel and car-maintenance costs have made the job less appealing over the past year since most drivers need to use their personal vehicles for pizza runs.

But the deeper issue may be the expansion of food-delivery apps that have shifted the equilibrium in local delivery services and fractured links between restaurants, customers and drivers. Some operators say services such as Uber Eats and Grubhub offer more flexibility for drivers, a new sign of how e-commerce tools are changing longstanding conventions in retail sales.