Posted on the 30th December 2025 in PHTM News

NO SHOWS MORE COSTLY THAN YOU THINK SHOULD ALL FARES NOW BE PRE PAID

Rob Finlayson operations manager City Cars Glasgow shares his thoughts.

No shows is something we brush off far too easily in our industry and something we dont take enough of a stance on.

It’s just one missed job….. Drivers only lost 5 minutes …No big deal

Except it is a big deal and the true cost is far higher than people think.

Lets break it down a bit

A no show isnt just a missed job for the driver and the loss of a potential £8/10.

Its the dead mileage driving to the pickup resulting in fuel burned and lost time where they could have had a paying customer - resulting in lost income and will always put a dent in motivation - resulting in a psychological hit when it happens.

At busy times a driver could easily lose 15-20 minutes to a now show. Multiply that by a couple of times a shift and that drivers suddenly lost an hours earnings for nothing.

As an operator you take an efficiency hit and it creates ripples through your system.

That cars tied up on a no show, thats one fewer car thats available to assist with your priority customers, corporate accounts and vulnerable passengers. It has a knock on effect on your whole fleet and business.

The rideshare companies are more than happy to charge customers for a no fare / no show.

Given the plethora of communication we now have with customers and the options available at them to let us know when we are no longer needed, perhaps its time that we as an industry should be making sure we charge customers every time they let us down........


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