Fleet Insights | Stop Idle
Engine Idle Can be Tricky
If you are a fleet manager trying to improve fuel cost you probably have looked at reducing engine idle as one way to achieve your goal. This insight on engine idle could help you defend your current cost of engine idle while also figuring out what options exist to actually reduce engine idle.
First things first.
What I have learned over the years from reviewing engine and telematics data is this. Not everyone realizes there are at least 4 types of idle that can occur when operating a truck. To keep this insight simple I will assign them generic names as some OEMs have minor differences in what they are call each type or different vehicle trigger events for each type.
- Driving Idle: This is any idle that occurs when you are stuck in traffic and the truck is in drive.
- Stop Idle: This is any idle that occurs when the truck is in neutral or park and brakes are set.
- PTO Idle: This is any idle that occurs when the truck is in PTO mode.
- Regen Idle: This is any idle that occurs to support aftertreatment cleaning activities.
This all sounds simple enough. But in fleet operations, idle can sometimes be reported as one number even though different types of idle mean very different things. Depending on how your telematics provider reports idle percent this might be an area you want to investigate. The idle type that I am going to unpack in this article is called Stop Idle. It is usually the one that gets blamed for all the idle time and for good reason.
The trap: treating all Stop Idle the same
Stop Idle is not always wasted idle.
Some Stop Idle is required to operate each day. Some Stop Idle may be allowed by fleet management for drivers to use at their discretion.
But in all fleets, there is a third category that I refer to as Waste Stop Idle.
If your leadership says, "Our fleet idle is at 38%. What can we do to get it down?" how you answer next is really important.
One response could be: "First, we need to understand how much idle is required, how much is allowed, and how much is actually controllable."
A better way to look at Stop Idle
Your telematics provider or your OEM portal should have your Stop Idle data. If you are not sure where to find it, start there before doing anything else.
Here at Fleet Coach we say "The first step is to understand where you are now." Once you know what your Stop Idle is you can set out to determine what it should be. Fleet leadership can establish how much Stop Idle is required to operate and also how much they want to allow for driver discretionary use.
Required Stop Idle may include operational needs such as inspections, warm-up, cool-down, maintenance activity, or other fleet-approved functions.
Discretionary Stop Idle may include driver comfort time or other idle that fleet leadership chooses to allow within a defined limit.
How Fleet Coach applies our fleet insights
Fleet Coach helps fleets build this clarity using tools developed after years of conversations with operators like you.
The goal is not to shame drivers or chase a generic idle percentage. The goal is to help fleet leaders answer a better question:
How much Stop Idle do we actually need to operate our fleet, how much are we willing to allow, and how much should we be working to eliminate?
Example fleet walkthrough
In the above example we have a 2,000 unit long haul fleet. Management has determined the average per unit need is 207 hours of required or allowed Stop Idle per year. They have also determined their current annual Stop Idle average is 900 hours per unit. After subtracting needs from actual we have an improvement opportunity of 694 hours per unit, or $5.5 million per year.
Would you like to find out how much idle you need to operate vs what you use currently?
That is where better fleet coaching starts.
Let's keep the conversation going
Fleet Coach helps your fleet improve visibility and control, creating more predictable operations.