Fuel has always been a major operational cost for utilities, but recent volatility has placed renewed pressure on fleet managers to control spending. While many organisations focus on fluctuating fuel prices, fleet management software company Geotab believes the real opportunity for savings often lies in addressing inefficiencies within day-to-day fleet operations.
“More often than not, fleet operators underestimate the hidden costs of inefficient driving behaviour,” said Andrew Hintz, Geotab’s Associate Vice President – Heavy Transport APAC. “It really depends on their level of maturity and where they are in their telematics journey.”
Hintz noted that large enterprise fleets often have had several generations of telematics systems in place and a strong understanding of where efficiencies can be found. Smaller operators, however, may only be scratching the surface.
“You might have telematics installed but only be using 20 to 30 per cent of the functionality available. Without analysing the data properly, fleets are missing major opportunities to reduce costs,” he said.
Regardless of fleet size, Hintz said driver behaviour remains one of the most significant influences on fuel consumption and vehicle performance.
The hidden cost of inefficient driving
According to Hintz, driver behaviour can quietly influence everything from fuel consumption to maintenance costs. In fleet operations where margins are already tight, these inefficiencies can quickly accumulate.
“Harsh acceleration, braking and cornering all have a direct correlation with increased fuel consumption,” Hintz said.
These behaviours also place additional stress on vehicle components.
“Beyond fuel, they accelerate wear on things like brake pads and tyres, which increases maintenance costs across the fleet,” he said.
Excessive idling is another major contributor to fuel waste, particularly for vehicles operating in urban areas or hot climates.
“For heavy vehicles, it’s easy to burn around four litres of fuel per hour just sitting idle,” Hintz said. “Across a fleet, excessive idling alone can add around 10 per cent to total fuel spend.”
Idle time also contributes to unnecessary engine hours, bringing forward maintenance intervals and potentially shortening engine life.
The biggest fuel-wasting behaviours
Beyond driving style, inefficient routing is another major source of fuel waste, particularly for utilities operating across large service areas.
“The last thing you want is vehicles crossing back and forth across town all day. Routes should be logical, so drivers move from point A to B to C without unnecessary kilometres,” Hintz explained.
He added that poor route planning, traffic congestion and unnecessary backtracking can quickly inflate fuel consumption.
“Traffic congestion and inefficient routing can easily add another five to 10 per cent to fuel costs,” said Hintz.
Even small operational details can have measurable impacts. Tyre pressure, for example, is often overlooked but can directly affect fuel efficiency.
“If tyre pressure drops by just 10 psi, fuel consumption can increase by around 1.5 per cent. Across a large fleet, small increases like this can translate into thousands of dollars in additional fuel costs each year.”
Turning data into fuel savings
Hintz believes one of the biggest barriers preventing organisations from addressing these inefficiencies is a lack of visibility.
“The number one challenge is what I call ‘data blindness’,” he said. “Many operators focus on the price at the pump but don’t actually have visibility into what’s happening across their fleet.”
Without reliable operational data, fleet managers have little ability to identify inefficiencies or prioritise improvements.
Telematics platforms such as those provided by Geotab are helping to close that gap by providing real-time insights into vehicle performance, fuel usage and driver behaviour.
“Think of the telematics device as a digital assistant. It reads data directly from the vehicle and provides real-time insights into fuel usage, driver behaviour and vehicle performance,” he said.
“Instead of waiting for monthly fuel reports or maintenance issues to appear, operators can identify inefficiencies immediately and respond accordingly.”
Some platforms can even provide real-time coaching to drivers when inefficient behaviour occurs.
“The technology can alert drivers if they’re accelerating too harshly or operating the vehicle inefficiently,” Hintz added.
Small improvements, big operational savings
When applied across an entire fleet, even modest improvements in efficiency can deliver significant financial benefits.
Hintz recently worked with a fuel transport operator in Perth whose trucks typically travel around 200,000 kilometres per year.
“A typical heavy vehicle operating in that environment could burn more than 130,000 litres of fuel annually,” he said.
With current fuel prices, that represents a substantial operational cost.
“For a single truck, the annual fuel bill can reach around $250,000,” he said.
However, relatively small improvements in efficiency can quickly offset those costs.
“If you can improve fuel efficiency by just 10 per cent through better routing, reduced idling and improved driver behaviour, you could save around $35,000 per truck each year,” Hintz said.
For example, when Dubbo Regional Council implemented Geotab’s telematics across more than 800 vehicles and pieces of equipment, the organisation quickly uncovered significant savings.
“Almost immediately they identified around $180,000 in fuel savings,” Hintz said.
A major contributor was excessive idle time.
“At one point, around 28 per cent of the time those vehicles were in operation, they were actually idling,” he said.
By identifying and addressing that behaviour, the council was able to reduce fuel consumption while improving equipment utilisation and long-term asset value.
Hintz said improved fleet efficiency can also support broader organisational goals, such as emissions reduction and sustainability reporting.
“If you have carbon reduction targets or ESG reporting requirements, you need accurate data to measure fuel usage and emissions,” he said.
As fuel volatility continues and operational pressures increase, data-driven fleet management is becoming an essential tool for utilities seeking to improve efficiency.
“When there’s financial pressure in the market, organisations tend to adopt telematics faster,” Hintz said. “Once they see the insights available from the data, adoption usually happens very quickly.”
For more information, visit www.geotab.com/au
This article appears in the May/June 2026 edition of Utility. Subscribe HERE.
