Idle fuel is the loss category famous for being invisible. The engine runs, the truck stands still; for the driver it feels natural (cold weather, a queue, customer-site waiting); for the manager it stays hidden because the fuel card only shows refuels and the trip output only shows kilometres. The hours in between vanish.
Industry case: a 170-truck fleet can burn 96,000 litres/year on idle. At €0.63/L EU pump average that’s a ~€60,000/year raw loss — from this single vector. Aon Eurasia Risk Report 2024: preventable idling represents 25–35% of total fuel in 78% of European fleets.
Why manual reports miss it
Three reasons:
- Tachograph counts idling as rest. Important legally, misleading operationally.
- Fuel card only shows refuels. “I burned 220 L today” — sure. “10 of those hours were idle” — not tracked.
- No idle row in Excel. The fleet manager doesn’t ask every driver, and drivers don’t remember.
OBD2 + geofence + reason codes
Lognari logs every truck’s idle events via OBD2 + GPS. Each event carries 3 metadata fields:
| Location (geofence) | Duration | Reason code | Preventable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer site | 32 min | ”Loading wait” | ❌ No |
| Border crossing | 4 hr | ”Customs check” | ❌ No |
| Parking area | 28 min | (empty) | ✅ Yes |
| Depot | 12 min | ”Document check” | ⚠️ Partial |
Monthly report: preventable idle / total idle / unavoidable idle — by driver, lane, truck.
Impact by fleet size
| Fleet | Annual preventable litres | Fuel savings | Extra maintenance savings | CO₂ reduction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 trucks | ~51,000 L | €32,400 | €8,000 (DPF/turbo wear) | ~85 t |
| 300 trucks | ~153,000 L | €96,000 | €25,000 | ~250 t |
| 1,000 trucks | ~510,000 L | €320,000 | €120,000 (engine life) | ~850 t |
CO₂ figure is auditable for CSRD — the pilot report survives external review.
Pilot — 170-truck cold-chain fleet
At pilot start, the average truck idled 3.2 hours/day. A geofence layer was deployed, an 8-minute idle cap was applied after entering the depot, and a live idle counter was added to the driver mobile app. A weekly bonus mechanism was attached for the top 20 drivers.
Over 90 days:
- Daily idle dropped 3.2 hr → 0.9 hr (72% reduction)
- Annualised savings: €52,400 fuel + €11,000 maintenance
- CO₂ reduction: 132 t/year (eligible for ESG reporting)
ESG / CSRD side effect
From 2027, EU CSRD mandates Scope 1 emissions reporting (a fleet’s direct fuel burn) subject to audit. Idle fuel must appear as actually burned litres — assumption-based estimates won’t survive review.
OBD2 + geofence captures every refuel + every idle minute with timestamps → audit-grade evidence chain. Three pilot fleets used the report to negotiate a 0.3 pp discount on green financing with their banks.
What’s next
If your fleet is 100+ trucks and you can’t give a concrete idle-fuel figure for the last 12 months, real consumption is likely 18–30% higher than reported. A 30-day pilot makes that concrete.
Reach out via the contact section — reply within one business day.
Statistics referenced from Aon Eurasia Risk Report 2024 + KPMG European Fleet Survey 2025 + Lognari pilot data. CO₂ calculations use DEFRA 2024 + EU CSRD ESRS E1 standards.
