Fuel is the lifeblood of fleet operations, and when global oil prices spike as they are right now, it can quickly become the most significant threat to profitability. We’ve talked about the true cost of fueling before. All the operational and daily tasks that add nickels, dimes, and dollars to a fleet’s bottom line compound over time and can make or break a fleet’s margins. And what we’ve observed and heard already is that, across the country, fleet operators are under increasing pressure to do more with less.
When a fleet adds up the true cost of fueling the budgetary hit can be eye opening. Line items can include fuel wasted on gas station trips, time wasted on the same, fuel theft and fraud, and even the wear and tear for vehicles that spend more time on the road seeking out affordable fuel locally. It can also include back office overhead costs and poor planning. Mobile fuel delivery from Booster is a key strategy for offsetting higher fuel costs with smart business decisions that curb these financial pitfalls. With on-site fuel delivery, our customers lower their true cost of fueling and stay on the road.
With the current spikes in global fuel prices, fleets can no longer consider efficiency measures that lower their true cost as a “nice to have.” It is a strategy for survival. And it can mean the difference between maintaining margins and operating at a loss. When fuel prices go up, fleet managers must act strategically.
Fuel Is One of the Largest Fleet Expenses
Gasoline and diesel consistently rank as one of the top operating costs for fleets. Depending on the business and the size of their fleet, it can account for 24% to 40% of total expenses, making it one of the most controllable and impactful cost categories.
When fuel prices are low, inefficiencies in routing, driving behavior, or maintenance may go unnoticed. But when prices climb, those inefficiencies become costly liabilities.
Common inefficiencies include:
- Excessive idling
- Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration)
- Poor route planning
- Underutilized vehicles
- Inconsistent maintenance
In addition to these common fleet operational inefficiencies, fuel market instability can lead to fuel shortages, driving up the time fleets must spend searching for and acquiring what they need. That means more time on the road that drivers are billing for, and more wear and tear on vehicles. Alongside these losses, fuel theft and fuel card misuse also spikes when prices rise. Small inefficiencies are magnified across an entire fleet – turning minor issues into major financial drains.
Fleets that operate with efficiency as a central business practice can avoid slipping into unsustainable budget losses when costs outside their control – like the global fuel market – go up.
Lowering Your True Cost of Fueling with Mobile Fuel Delivery
For most fleet managers, fuel cost starts and ends with the price at the pump. But the true cost of fueling is far more complex and expensive than any one invoice will show. It spans driver downtime, administrative overhead, and fuel theft, all of which quietly erode margins with every fill. Breaking it down reveals where fleets are actually losing money, and where the biggest opportunities to recover it lie.
Driver Downtime Adds Up
Ninety hours. That’s how much time the average driver spends refueling over the course of a year — the result of roughly 15 fueling trips a month, each one pulling them off-route and out of productivity. At the industry average driver salary of $25.24 an hour, those 90 hours translate to more than $2,200 per driver in labor costs alone, paid entirely for time spent standing at a pump or driving to find an appropriate gas station. It’s not a line item that shows up on a fuel invoice, but it’s real money leaving the business all the same.
Administrative Overhead Can Be Expensive
Decentralized fueling creates an administrative burden that’s easy to underestimate — and an audit trail that’s easy to manipulate. Reconciling fuel card activity across dozens of drivers, flagging unauthorized purchases, and verifying that reported fill-ups match actual consumption can consume significant manager time each month. Office staff can spend 30 minutes per vehicle each month on billing and reconciliation processes alone. That time carries a real salary cost and compounds with every vehicle added to the fleet. Booster removes that friction by taking the transaction out of the driver’s hands entirely, and automating verifiable records that reduce both the oversight workload and the exposure to misuse.
Preventing Fuel Theft
Fuel theft and card misuse are persistent threats for any fleet — but when pump prices spike, they accelerate. When diesel surged past $6 a gallon following the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, fuel card fraud reached levels industry veterans described as unprecedented, and the circumstances that drove that theft level up have not gone away. A Motive survey of more than 100 trucking industry leaders found that roughly half reported fuel fraud accounting for around 5% of their total fuel spend, and that’s only what gets detected. The average fleet experiences approximately 5 gallons of fraudulent fuel purchases per vehicle each month, adding up quickly across a fleet of any size. Mobile fuel delivery from Booster eliminates the primary circumstances that can lead to fraud and theft by removing the fuel transaction from the equation entirely. When there’s no pump and no fuel card, there’s no opportunity.
In many cases, efficiency measures tighten these loose ends in the operational pipeline of a fleet and can help offset a significant portion of rising fuel costs. Studies show that adopting solutions like Booster mobile fuel delivery and optimizing operations can deliver 10–20% reductions in fuel expenses. While your drivers save time and effort by starting their shifts with full tanks when fuel is delivered, your fleet managers and c-suite can benefit from the operational intelligence of Booster’s data and customer dashboards to visualize these costs savings.
Data Helps Leaders Visualize Savings From Efficiency Measures
Booster believes data can be harnessed as an efficiency tool for every fleet. Our customer dashboard provides real-time visibility into fuel usage, driver behavior, and vehicle performance.
With our technology, fleet operators can:
- Track fuel consumption by vehicle or driver
- Identify wasteful behaviors like idling or speeding
- Optimize routes based on traffic and distance
- Monitor maintenance needs proactively
In a high fuel cost environment, data transforms efficiency from guesswork into a measurable, manageable strategy that demonstrates cost reduction and lean management decisions across the team.
We’ve built Booster with flexibility at our core so we can shift procurement strategies and supply sources to respond to the market’s movements. Our teams operate around the clock to ensure you receive the fuel you need to keep your business running at full strength. If your team is looking to tighten your fuel spend with proven efficiency solutions, talk to a member of the Booster team today. We’re ready to help your fleet curb excessive and unnecessary fuel spending.