With diesel prices rising 46% over the last nine weeks, fleets of all types are facing an urgent need to stop the bleed. While geopolitical factors remain outside of local control, new data analysis — and two new MyGeotab updates — are here to help make sense of it all and find ways to address "invisible" fuel drains within daily operations.
The High Cost of Idling
While fuel is often viewed as a fixed expense, data from millions of North American commercial vehicles highlights that a significant percentage of consumption is tied to avoidable operational habits.
Geotab's analysis shows that the total time spent idling for school buses is 0.9 hrs/operating day, compared to 1.8 hours for heavy trucks. The median bus burns 11% of its fuel while idling.
- Annual Impact: At current price levels, this idle time costs approximately $1,169 USD per bus annually.
- Fleet Scale: For a fleet of 100 buses, the cost of idling can reach an estimated $116,866 USD per year.
Geotab Launches Fuel Transactions and Enhanced Idling Controls
With fuel burning up many fleets' budgets, and on-highway diesel now averaging more than $5.35 per gallon (up from $3.66 in 2025), demand for tools that help fleets manage exposure is rising. Geotab reports a 41% increase in demand for fuel-related insights.
Now, the company has launched two new MyGeotab solutions: Fuel Transactions and a new Preventable Idling Rule with automatic power take-off (PTO) identification. Together, they help address two of the biggest drivers of unnecessary fuel spend: unauthorized purchases and avoidable idling.
Geotab Fuel Transactions
After a successful open beta, Geotab Fuel Transactions is generally available in MyGeotab for all customers. The solution connects fuel card transaction data with vehicle diagnostics in a single, automated view, replacing manual spreadsheet reconciliation with continuous oversight.
Fuel purchase related data anomalies often go undetected because siloed data prevents fleets from cross-referencing what was purchased against what the vehicle actually needed. Fuel Transactions addresses this by automatically flagging three categories of anomalies:
- Purchases where fuel volume exceeds the vehicle's tank capacity
- Transactions where the fuel type doesn't match the vehicle's powertrain
- Purchases where purchase location does not match the vehicle location
Fleet managers can filter flagged transactions by issue type and click into individual records for full context, asset details, mapped location history, and trip data, giving them a head start for further investigation or driver coaching.
Preventable Idling Rule
Geotab is also introducing a new Preventable Idling Rule that allows you to automatically filter out Power Take-Off (PTO) activity, a meaningful improvement for fleets where some idling is operationally necessary, allowing fleets to focus exclusively on avoidable fuel waste.
Geotab data from three million gas and diesel fleet vehicles operating in the U.S. and Canada between March 2025 and February 2026 shows that engine idling is substantial across all fleet types. The difficulty for some fleets has been separating unavoidable idle time from waste.
The new rule uses hardware sensor configurations or engine diagnostics to detect when PTO equipment is active. That time is excluded from idle calculations, giving fleet managers a more accurate baseline for identifying where fuel is genuinely being wasted. Rather than assuming all idling is wasteful, the system now recognizes when a vehicle is stationary but performing essential work. The result is an accurate measure of truly avoidable idling.
Three Tips for Immediate Fuel Recovery
To build resilience against price volatility, Geotab identifies three primary areas where data-driven shifts can yield fuel savings:
- Eliminate Unnecessary Idling: By setting idling thresholds and triggering near real-time in-cabin alerts, fleet managers can prompt drivers to shut off the engine in the moment, building awareness that helps change behavior. Even reducing idling by 20 minutes a day, fleets can potentially reclaim thousands of dollars in annual fuel costs.
- Precise Routing: Fuel is often wasted through inefficient stop sequencing. Optimizing routes to ensure every drop of fuel is tied to a productive, revenue-generating mile is the most direct way to lower the total fuel bill.
- Manage "Aggressive" Consumption: High-speed driving and rapid acceleration significantly degrade a vehicle's MPG. Implementing driver feedback to encourage smoother operation can improve fuel efficiency.
"External market disruptions are challenging, so it is increasingly important to understand where fleets can tighten their internal operations," said Sabina Martin, VP of product management at Geotab. “We have seen a 41% increase in demand for fuel-related insights as managers look to turn small, incremental efficiencies into a meaningful hedge against the prices at the pump. When diesel is this volatile, data insights can be a financial shield.”
