Idle trucks: the fleet's silent cash-burner

In 2026, the cost per mile of a truck rose to $1.85 (ATA Cost of Operations Report 2025). That cost ignores whether the truck is moving — leasing, insurance, depot and depreciation run even when idle.

Industry case: a typical 100-truck fleet has 5-10 trucks idle most of the time. 10 idle trucks × $1.85/mile × 8,000 miles/month × 30 months = ~$440K/year opportunity cost (€405K).

The invisibility problem

Three reasons:

TMS is trip-centric. A truck appears in a trip assignment; when it sits idle, it disappears from reporting.
Maintenance calendar lives separately. Service days sit in the maintenance system, idle days in operations — never combined.
Fleet managers see aggregates. “We have 100 trucks” — true. “10 of them haven’t moved in 4 months” — invisible.

Monthly utilisation board

Lognari produces a monthly utilisation rate for each truck:

Active days
Trip count
Average fuel consumption
Revenue/cost ratio

Plate	Active days/30	Trips/mo	Revenue	Cost	Status
34 LG 812	28	18	€18,400	€13,200	🟢 Active
34 LG 815	22	14	€13,800	€11,900	🟢 Active
34 LG 823	8	3	€2,100	€4,200	🚩 Idle
34 LG 824	5	2	€1,400	€3,900	🚩 Idle

3 consecutive idle months = action recommendation: sell, sublease, internal pool, change lane.

Impact by fleet size

Fleet	Idle truck count	Annual opportunity cost	Action-driven annual savings
100 trucks	5-10	€200K-€405K	€80K-€160K (sell or pool)
300 trucks	15-30	€600K-€1.2M	€240K-€480K
1,000 trucks	50-100	€2M-€4M	€800K-€1.6M + capital release

Side effect: capital efficiency

10 idle trucks tie up an average of €280,000 of capital. Selling them releases capital — redeployable into higher-utilisation lanes or new vehicles. Two pilot fleets put this capital into new lanes with 18–22% ROI.

What’s next

If your fleet always has 5-10 trucks “waiting for the lane that didn’t come”, the real idle figure becomes concrete the moment the panel opens.

Reach out via the contact section — reply within one business day.

Statistics referenced from ATA Cost of Operations Report 2025 + Lognari pilot data.

Frequently asked

How is the idle-truck threshold defined?

A combination of monthly active days + trip count + average fuel consumption. Under 12 active days + under 5 trips in 30 = idle. Threshold tuned by fleet type (frigo, ADR, trailer type).

Sell or sublease an idle truck?

The pilot report combines static (utilisation) with dynamic (demand forecast, lane outlook). If recovery isn't expected within 6 months — sell. 6–12 month outlook — sublease or internal pool.

Which data sources are merged?

TMS trip records + telematics activity logs + fuel-card refuel dates + maintenance calendar. The four sources combined finally show 'how much did it actually work'.

Stop watching the operation. Run it.

From the command screen in the office to the driver's field flow, let's uncover the invisible losses together. In the first call we will analyze, side by side, which losses become visible across your vehicle, route, fuel, border, finance and driver data.