Fuel is one of the biggest controllable costs in fleet operations, and the most frustrating part is this: the “leaks” rarely come from one big mistake. They come from small habits that repeat all day across every vehicle. Ten minutes of unnecessary idling here, a small detour there, a few overspeed events on the highway, and suddenly your monthly fuel bill is quietly inflated.
This checklist is built for fleet owners and operations managers in Lebanon and across the region (UAE, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria and beyond) who want a clear, practical way to find fuel waste, quantify it, and stop it using data, not guesswork.
The quick reality check: small habits add up fast
Start with idling. Heavy-duty trucks can consume roughly 0.8 gallons of diesel per hour at idle (with figures varying by engine, conditions, and load).
The U.S. EPA SmartWay program notes that a typical long-haul combination truck eliminating unnecessary idling could save over 900 gallons of fuel per year.
Now add speeding and aggressive driving. U.S. Department of Energy guidance notes aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration, hard braking) can reduce fuel economy by about 15% to 30% at highway speeds and 10% to 40% in stop-and-go traffic.
And detours? Even if the extra distance looks “small” on a map, recurring route drift is one of the most common reasons fleets miss fuel targets. Alternative Fuel Data Center (AFDC) explicitly includes “taking circuitous routes” among behaviors that reduce fuel economy.
Fuel Waste Checklist (the 80/20 that saves real money)
1) Idling waste: the silent daily tax
Where it hides
Outside customer sites during waiting and unloading
In depots during shift change
During long breaks with the engine on
In traffic hotspots (especially if drivers keep creeping instead of steady rolling)
What to measure
Total idle time per vehicle per day
“Idle hot spots” by location (top 10 locations by idle minutes)
Idle time per driver, not just per vehicle
Idle time with PTO or HVAC loads, if relevant to your operations
How to fix it
Set a clear policy: idle threshold (example: alert after 5–10 minutes) and exceptions (extreme weather, operational needs).
Coach with proof, not blame: show drivers their top idle events and what “good” looks like.
Attack the hotspots: if 30% of idle happens at 2 customer sites, fix the process there first (time slots, dock procedures, queue management).
How MaliaTrack helps
MaliaTrack makes this simple because you can track idle time, map the worst idle locations, and automate alerts and weekly reports so supervisors act while it still matters. It turns “idling feels high” into a measurable KPI that improves every week.
2) Detours and route drift: death by a thousand extra kilometers
Detours are not always “bad.” Real life happens: road closures, urgent pickups, traffic accidents. The problem is unmanaged detours that become routine.
Where it hides
Drivers choosing “their” preferred route even when it is longer
Unapproved stops (personal errands, side visits)
Poor dispatching that causes rework (missed deliveries, wrong sequencing)
Lack of route standards by zone, customer type, and time of day
What to measure
Planned vs. actual distance (by route, by vehicle, by driver)
Number of unscheduled stops
Time spent off-route (minutes outside the expected corridor)
Repeat offenders: same driver, same route, same drift pattern
How to fix it
Define route corridors for your most common lanes (even a “soft corridor” helps).
Create a short list of approved alternative routes for known traffic windows.
Use exceptions management: focus on top deviations by cost impact, not every deviation.
How MaliaTrack helps
MaliaTrack is ideal here because it lets you compare expected movement versus actual movement and catch route deviation patterns early. Instead of arguing about “why it happened,” you get the timeline, the path, and the stop points so you can correct dispatching, customer processes, or driver behavior based on facts.
3) Speeding and aggressive driving: the expensive habit that looks “fast”
Speeding feels like productivity, but it is often a fuel and safety penalty at the same time. DOE notes fuel economy drops rapidly above 50 mph, and even frames it as an “extra cost per gallon” beyond that point.
Aggressive driving can significantly lower mileage, especially at highway speed.
Where it hides
“Keeping up with traffic” on highways
Late dispatching that pushes drivers to compensate
Bonus structures that reward speed, not service quality
No coaching loop after repeated speeding events
What to measure
Speeding frequency and duration (minutes overspeed, not only number of events)
Speeding heatmap (where it happens most)
Harsh acceleration and harsh braking counts (if available)
Driver ranking: top 10 highest risk, top 10 best performers
How to fix it
Align KPIs: reward on-time delivery plus safety and fuel efficiency, not speed alone.
Coach the repeat patterns: 2–3 coaching sessions backed by data beats a generic warning.
Fix upstream causes: if speeding spikes on Mondays, your dispatch plan may be the real culprit.
How MaliaTrack helps
MaliaTrack can trigger speeding alerts, build driver scorecards, and produce trend reports that show whether coaching is working. This is why many fleets consider it the perfect fit and best software choice for fuel waste control: it connects behavior to cost, automatically, and gives managers something actionable every week.
The “Hidden Cost” section: what most fleets forget to price in
Fuel waste is not only fuel. These habits also create:
More wear and tear (brakes, tires, drivetrain) from aggressive driving
Higher incident risk (speeding and harsh braking correlate with collisions)
More overtime and missed service windows from poor route discipline
Customer experience damage when routes and ETAs are unpredictable
When you quantify fuel waste, include these operational side effects in your ROI story. Even if fuel is the headline, reliability is often the bigger long-term win.
A simple 14-day rollout plan (works even if you start small)
Days 1–3: Baseline
Pull last 30 days of fuel spend and mileage (even rough is fine).
Define your initial KPIs: idle minutes, overspeed minutes, distance variance.
Days 4–7: Rules
Set thresholds (idle alert, speed limits by road type, route corridors for top lanes).
Identify your top 10 vehicles by fuel consumption and start there.
Days 8–14: Action
Do a weekly review with supervisors: top idle hotspots, top speeding drivers, biggest route deviations.
Coach, then re-check trends the next week.
MaliaTrack supports this workflow cleanly because it is designed for continuous monitoring, alerts, and reporting, not just “dots on a map.”
Yes. DOE notes fuel economy drops rapidly at higher speeds and aggressive driving can substantially reduce mileage.
For heavy-duty trucks, published estimates commonly fall around 0.8 to 1.3 gallons per hour depending on conditions.
Typically, reducing unnecessary idling and controlling speeding are the fastest wins because they can be detected and corrected quickly with alerts and coaching.