Fuel Costs Are Squeezing Fleets

Diesel is having its worst year in a decade. Early 2026 brought a supply shock tied to conflict in the Middle East, and prices jumped more than 40% in under two months. By spring, national averages were running $3.78 to $3.81 a gallon, with fleets in California and other high-cost states paying well above $4.50. Fuel eats up 30 to 40% of total operating costs for many carriers, according to industry benchmarking data. Fuel surcharges help but lag reality by weeks. Small and mid-size fleets rarely have the leverage to renegotiate a stale table when diesel jumps a dollar overnight.

The instinct is to look for a single fix. There isn't one. Fuel cost control comes from combining several disciplines, and the fleets managing this spike best are working on all of them at once.

Fleets have three real levers right now:

• Tighten fuel purchasing. Fuel card programs and discount networks capture per-gallon savings at the pump that fleets paying rack rate never see. Combined with driver coaching on idling and speed, this is the fastest lever to pull, but the savings are incremental, not transformational.
• Renegotiate fuel surcharges on facts, not assumptions. A surcharge locked in at $3.50 diesel doesn't hold at $4.50. Carriers need current DOE index data in every conversation with shippers and brokers, updated weekly, not quarterly.
• Cut the fuel waste hiding in tolls and weigh stations. This is one of the largest hidden costs that fleets overlook.

Every unplanned stop at a weigh station burns fuel and time. Time spent idling at a scale house is fuel spent moving zero freight. Fleetworthy's data across Weigh Station Bypass customers puts the average bypass savings at $11.95 in fuel, time, and operating cost per stop avoided.

At scale, that adds up fast: Challenger Motor Freight (1,200+ trucks) cut roughly $60,000 a year in weigh station costs alone after rolling out Fleetworthy's bypass network – the nation’s largest – fleetwide. Cargo Transporters (500+ trucks) documented over $88,000 a month in combined fuel and time savings, a 10x return on program cost.

Here's why it works better than most cost-cutting measures: it doesn't ask drivers to change behavior or dispatch to accept slower service. Weigh Station Bypass keeps trucks on the mainline instead of idling into a scale. 

Toll Management reduces back office drain by consolidating fragmented regional accounts into one bill, catches billing errors, and applies discounts fleets are often eligible for but never claim.

Bundling toll management and weigh station bypass gives fleets one invoice, back-office efficiency, and fuel savings that show up automatically, without adding a new process for anyone to manage.

None of this replaces disciplined fuel purchasing or sharper surcharge negotiation. But when diesel is this volatile, the fleets protecting their margins best aren't relying on one tactic. They're stacking all three, and the toll and bypass piece is the one most fleets are still leaving on the table.

Fleetworthy offers the only complete technology suite for fleet readiness, uniting safety and compliance, toll management, and weigh station bypass solutions. We help fleets streamline operations, control costs, and operate with confidence. Trusted by 90% of the largest fleets in North America, Fleetworthy offers the most adopted toll management solution and the largest weigh station bypass network in the country. Going beyond regulatory requirements, our safety and compliance capabilities strengthen safety programs and enable proactive audit readiness. We support millions of vehicles and drivers and are recognized across the industry for innovation and leadership in connected fleet technology.

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