Fuelling Up

Australian fleet operators have little control over global diesel markets, but they do have control over how efficiently every truck on the road burns fuel — and right now, that control has never mattered more.

With wholesale diesel terminal gate prices across Australian cities jumping by around 50 per cent in less than two weeks earlier this year, and pump prices pushing beyond $3.00 per litre in some regions, transport businesses are facing one of the toughest cost environments in recent memory.

Temporary federal relief through reduced fuel excise and the pause on the heavy vehicle Road User Charge has softened the immediate sting, but neither measure changes the long-term reality that Australia remains heavily exposed to overseas fuel supply volatility.

For operators already managing wafer-thin margins, the spotlight is shifting sharply toward the hidden inefficiencies inside fleets. According to global telematics specialist Geotab, those inefficiencies can account for as much as 30 per cent of total fuel spend.

That means fuel savings are no longer being found solely at the bowser, but in the cab, the workshop and the dispatch office.

“Rising fuel prices continue to place pressure on Australia’s transport sector, making fuel efficiency a growing priority for heavy vehicle fleets,” says Geotab’s Heavy Transport Australia Associate Vice President, Andrew Hintz.

“The operators who are getting ahead right now are the ones using real-time data to coach their drivers and address inefficiencies before they compound.”

Among the biggest controllable drains on diesel consumption is driver behaviour.

International research has consistently shown that speeding, harsh acceleration and aggressive braking can reduce fuel economy by 15 to 30 per cent at highway speeds, and even more in urban stop-start conditions. For long-haul operators, where every kilometre matters, small behavioural changes quickly become major line items.

Simply dropping cruising speed from 100km/h to 90km/h can shave almost 10 per cent off fuel use in many heavy vehicle applications. For a 50-truck fleet, where each truck travels 200,000 kilometres annually that translates into annual savings worth hundreds of thousands of dollars at current diesel prices.

This is where telematics has become far more than a compliance or tracking tool.

Modern platforms provide live monitoring of speeding events, harsh braking, rapid acceleration, excessive idling and engine RPM management, allowing fleet managers to build driver scorecards and identify exactly where fuel is being wasted. Rather than relying on assumptions operators can now coach from hard data. Idling presents another major – and often underestimated – source of loss.

A heavy-duty diesel truck can consume between two and four litres of fuel per hour while stationary with the engine running. Multiplied across dozens of vehicles and daily waiting times at depots, customer sites or rest stops, the cost quickly becomes staggering.

For a fleet of 30 trucks idling an average of 45 minutes a day, the annual diesel wastage can total between 16,000 and 33,000 litres. At more than $3.00 per litre, that is between $48,000 and $98,000 spent achieving precisely nothing, while also accelerating engine wear and increasing emissions.

Telematics platforms now allow operators to monitor idle time vehicle by vehicle in real time, trigger threshold alerts and benchmark drivers against one another. Fleets implementing active idle-reduction programs commonly report unnecessary idle cuts of around 30 per cent, delivering almost immediate fuel cost reductions.

In addition, mechanical inefficiencies are increasingly being recognised as silent fuel killers, particularly as modern trucks become more electronically sophisticated and less forgiving of minor faults.

Under-inflated tyres increase rolling resistance, misaligned axles create drag, clogged air and fuel filters choke engine efficiency, and faulty electrical sensors can prompt engine management systems to overfuel without any obvious warning to the driver.

Historically, many of these issues have remained hidden until a scheduled service or a roadside breakdown. Predictive maintenance changes that model entirely.

By integrating telematics with Controller Area Network (CAN) Bus systems and Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems, fleet managers can access real-time diagnostic information on engine health, tyre condition, fault codes and component performance. Instead of waiting for a driver to mention a dashboard warning — which can often take days or even weeks — workshops can intervene before a small issue quietly drains fuel or escalates into a costly downtime event.

“Predictive maintenance is an important strategy that helps operators boost fuel efficiency,” Hintz says.

“With increasingly complex trucks, faulty electrical sensors or small mechanical issues can quickly increase fuel consumption. Telematics gives fleet managers the visibility to catch these problems early and keep heavy trucks running efficiently.”

Route planning is the third major savings frontier. The shortest path between two points is not always the cheapest one when fuel is involved. Traffic congestion, topography, load weight, stop frequency and route deviations all influence how much diesel is consumed on any given trip.

Advanced telematics platforms compare planned routes with actual vehicle movements and fuel burn, giving dispatchers the ability to refine scheduling based on real operational outcomes rather than map estimates. Industry figures suggest effective route optimisation can reduce fuel costs by 10 to 15 per cent, particularly for fleets operating repetitive freight corridors over long distances.

The value of this intelligence lies in its consolidation. Rather than treating driver behaviour, maintenance, fuel purchases and route efficiency as separate operational silos, telematics pulls them into one live dashboard. Managers can track litres consumed per vehicle, identify anomalies, reconcile fuel card transactions, flag possible theft or purchasing discrepancies, and measure performance improvements over time.

It transforms fuel management from reactive guesswork into a measurable business discipline.

There is also a growing environmental dividend. Every litre of diesel saved prevents roughly 2.7 kilograms of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, meaning fuel efficiency programs now carry both financial and ESG significance. With more transport businesses facing emissions reporting expectations from customers, investors and government frameworks, telematics data is increasingly doubling as an auditable emissions record.

For Australian fleets, the message is becoming unmistakably clear. Global oil prices may remain beyond reach, but the way trucks are driven, maintained and routed is not. In an era of sustained fuel volatility, the operators protecting their margins are those treating telematics not as an optional extra, but as a frontline fuel-saving tool.