Going unreachable and a no-show often share a file

When a previous carrier writes that they stopped answering, the useful next question is not only the phone. It is whether a no-show sits in the same file. Those two show up together far more often than chance. Treat that pairing as a start screen before you buy a ticket, not as two separate complaints.

Among the reviews carriers left on CDLScan, 8.0% mention going unreachable. That figure describes those reviews, not drivers in general: carriers write after a bad run, so the share tells you what shows up once someone bothers to report it.

Inside that slice, 8.7% also mention a no-show. Read the denominator before you use the number. It is 8.7% of unresponsive reviews, not 8.7% of all reviews, and not 8.7% of no-show reviews. Flip the pair and the share changes: 13.0% of no-show reviews also mention going unreachable. Same overlap, two bases.

That pairing is not random. A no-show is 5.3% of all reviews. If going unreachable and a no-show showed up together only by chance, you would expect about 5.3% of unresponsive reviews to also mention a no-show. The observed share is 8.7% — about 1.6 times the chance rate. Lift is that multiplier. It is not a probability that the next person you fly in will stop answering and never start.

The phone, then the empty seat

The write-ups talk about stopped answering, answering phone, answering calls, stopped responding, never answered, phone calls, calls messages, calls texts, a flight ticket, went home, left truck, a drug test, next day. That is the incident register.

Stay away and waste your time are a different register. Those are the author’s recommendation to the next recruiter, not a description of what the driver did. In 38.1% of unresponsive reviews the carrier also writes a verdict. In 39.6% of no-show reviews they do the same. That is a fact about how these reviews end, not a fact about the driver. Read the scene. Do not hire off the temperature of the last sentence.

From the unresponsive side, the louder companions dwarf this pair. An abandoned truck sits in 35.2%. Drugs or alcohol sit in 17.8%. Paid travel that never became a start sits in 11.6%. Late or missed deliveries sit in 10.8%. A crash or damage sits in 10.3%. Aggression or threats sit in 9.6%. A no-show is not the most common companion. It is the one that tells you the start never happened.

From the no-show side, drugs or alcohol sit in 31.7%. Paid travel sits in 30.8%. An abandoned truck sits in 7.8%. Theft sits in 5.7%. False statements sit in 5.0%. Late or missed deliveries sit in 4.3%. Always name which base you are standing on.

I keep the empty seat next to the dead phone because the packet you already buy is built for inspections and license events, not for a missed orientation. Stopped answering is not a filing. A no-show is not a filing either. The unresponsive trend is in going unreachable in carrier reviews. The no-show trend is in no-show write-ups as a start screen. Paid travel that never became a start is paid travel and going unreachable. How a no-show differs from leaving the truck is no-show versus an abandoned truck.

The share of reviews mentioning going unreachable ran 4.7% in 2018, 5.0% in 2019, 4.8% in 2020, 6.6% in 2021, 7.4% in 2022, 7.6% in 2023, 8.2% in 2024, and 9.6% in 2025. I stop that line at 2025. 2026 is still open. The mention got louder. That does not make the pairing cheaper. It makes each remaining write-up more specific.

No-show mentions ran 3.7% in 2018, 3.3% in 2019, 3.8% in 2020, 5.1% in 2021, 5.8% in 2022, 5.0% in 2023, 6.2% in 2024, and 4.9% in 2025. The unresponsive line rose. The no-show line bounced. How these shares are counted is on the methodology page. Compare percentages inside each year, not year totals.

What the pairing is not

It is not proof that every dead phone is a missed start. Most unresponsive reviews do not also mention a no-show. 8.7% is a heavy overlap relative to chance, not a majority.

It is also not a CSA score. Going unreachable in these write-ups is an employment complaint: stopped answering, never answered, stopped responding. A no-show sits next to that complaint. Neither one is a roadside inspection by itself.

An abandoned truck in the same review is a different ending. 35.2% of unresponsive reviews also mention it. That is the truck already sitting somewhere. A no-show is the seat that never filled. Do not flatten those into one “they left.”

Why the packet you already buy stays quiet

PSP, an MVR, and the Clearinghouse hold what someone filed: a roadside inspection, a recorded crash, a failed test, a license action. Stopped answering is not a filing. A no-show is not a filing either. Most of this pairing will not leak into the packet you already run.

Previous-employer forms are not much better. Eligible for rehire can come back blank while the same desk will later write that they stopped answering and never showed. The behavior lives in carrier-to-carrier memory. Most of that memory never becomes a query result.

A clean packet on Monday morning does not tell you whether Tuesday’s orientation fills. Those are different claims.

I am not going to pretend this is an independent study. CDLScan is the source, and I write from the data they share. Going unreachable got more common in what carriers bother to write down, a no-show rides along far above chance, and the packet you already run is designed for hours and crashes, not for the empty seat.

What was visible before you bought the ticket

The pattern I’d watch for is a previous carrier who already used stopped answering, never answered, flight ticket, or never showed, plus a hole between two recent jobs. Those words are not a violation code. They are a reason to look the name up before you spend on travel.

Typical sequence, built from how these reviews cluster, not from one person’s file: they accept. A flight ticket gets bought. Phone calls go out. Then they stop answering. Sometimes the next line is that they never showed. Sometimes they start and then go silent under load. People who left cleanly can usually tell you which day they last answered and whether they made orientation. People who are about to vanish often skip the freight and jump to the ticket.

None of that is a reason to treat every missed call as a no-show. It is a reason to run the name before the first ticket.

What to do before you spend

Look the name up in what previous carriers already wrote. If you see going unreachable and a no-show in the same history, treat the start as a supervised check-in, not as a bought seat.

Ask which day they last answered, whether they made orientation, and what that desk will say about the ticket. Then make the call. Five open questions beat a rehire box.

If you already bought travel, freeze the next loaded trailer until someone has looked. A clean packet on Monday morning does not tell you whether Tuesday’s seat fills. Those are different claims.

The 8.0% share is not a reason to treat every applicant as a no-show risk. It is a reason to stop reading a clean packet as “this person will answer.” Check the name on CDLScan before the spend. It takes less than a minute.

Frequently asked questions

Does 8.7% mean going unreachable usually comes with a no-show?

No. 8.7% is the share of unresponsive reviews that also mention a no-show, among reviews carriers left on CDLScan. Most unresponsive write-ups do not include that companion. The pairing is far above chance. It is not a majority.

Why is the other share 13.0%?

Because the base changed. 13.0% of no-show reviews also mention going unreachable. Same overlap, counted from the other side. Always name the denominator.

What does lift 1.6 mean here?

A no-show is 5.3% of all reviews. Seeing it in 8.7% of unresponsive reviews is about 1.6 times the chance rate. Lift is that multiplier, not the odds on your next ticket.

Will PSP or an MVR warn me?

No. Those reports hold inspections, recorded crashes, and license events. Stopped answering is not filed there. A no-show is not either.

Is this the same problem as an abandoned truck?

Often nearby, not the same. 35.2% of unresponsive reviews also mention an abandoned truck. That is the ending after a start. A no-show is the start that never happened.

What should I ask before I buy a ticket?

Which day they last answered, whether they made orientation, and why the last job ended. Then read the write-ups.

Where do I check the name?

On CDLScan, before the first ticket. Previous carriers already wrote this pairing down. You should read it while the cash is still yours.