Running an operation · For people running an operation · 6 min

Why drivers refuse jobs

A refusal is not laziness: it is a sum that does not add up. Reading it properly is the cheapest way to improve cover.

When a job is refused the instinctive reaction is to blame whoever is driving. Almost always, though, the refusal is an economic decision taken in ten seconds, and it says something precise about that job.

The four real reasons

The pick-up is too far away for what the job pays
The job is short and leaves them in an area they will not get going again from
The run back is empty and it is not in the price
It is not clear whether they have to collect money, and they have been embarrassed in the car before

Three out of four are problems of price or of information, not of willingness. And all four show up in the figures: if one area or one window collects far more refusals than the others, it is not chance.

Telling a refusal from an absence

“I could not find a car” covers two opposite situations that end up in the same number. If nobody was on duty, it is a cover problem and you solve it with people. If they were on duty and close and said no, it is a price problem and people will not solve it: you can recruit ten drivers and watch the same jobs get refused.

Keep track of who refuses and how long they take. A driver who never answers is a driver who is not in fact on duty, and keeping them in the active list makes you look better covered than you are.

What can be done, in order of cost

01Make it explicit before acceptance whether the job is paid in the car or on account.
02Put the jobs that end up out of area into the price, instead of hoping somebody takes them anyway.
03Look at the windows with the most refusals and ask whether that fare really covers the driver’s costs.
04Only at the end, look for more drivers.