Fuel prices are squeezing U.S. van fleets: here’s how to cut the cost

If filling up the company vans feels more expensive than it used to, there is a reason. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a national average of $6.199 per gallon for on-highway diesel and $4.354 per gallon for regular gasoline in the week of October 5, 2026.

Prices had eased from the previous week, but diesel was still $2.488 per gallon higher than a year earlier. That difference matters for electricians, landscapers, delivery teams and other businesses whose vehicles are out on the road every day. National averages are a guide: what you actually pay depends on your state, fuel type and local gas station.

A few cents per gallon add up fast

A price increase of just 50 cents per gallon can make a noticeable dent in a van fleet’s budget. Unlike a one-off repair, that extra fuel spend repeats every time drivers fill their tanks. And if you cannot immediately increase customer prices, it comes straight out of your margin.

You cannot control the price on the pump. You can control avoidable miles, inefficient stops and the time vehicles spend idling. The first step is to know how far each job takes your team and how much fuel those trips really use.

Two free tools to help you

To help you navigate rising fuel costs smartly, Quartix now offers a set of free tools that anyone can use without needing to sign-up – just use them online whenever you need them:

Route planner. Put a starting point, destination and up to 50 stops into the free route planner. Keep your planned stop order or let the tool reorder the stops for a shorter drive. You can paste an address list, print the result, save a PDF or send it to Google Maps.

Mileage calculator. Use the free mileage calculator to measure a journey using the road route, not a distance typed from memory. Enter your vehicle’s mpg and fuel price per gallon to estimate its fuel cost, or your mileage rate to estimate reimbursement..

The mileage calculator is available without a subscription. The route planner is also free, but asks you to complete a one-time form on the device to unlock route planning. Both tools use road-network estimates rather than live traffic, so journey times can change.

Used together, these give you a clear picture of what fuel is costing your business with today’s costs, and often that’s enough to spot a few easy wins.

● Plan a smarter route  →  Route Planner

● Work out a journey’s fuel cost  →  Mileage Calculator

Try it before tomorrow’s jobs: enter your actual stops, compare the original order with the suggested order and send the chosen route to the driver. The fewer unnecessary miles you drive, the less fuel you buy.

For business use of a personal vehicle, the IRS standard mileage rate is 76 cents per mile from July 1 through December 31, 2026 (up from 72.5 cents for the first half of the year). This is an optional federal tax benchmark, not an automatic requirement that every employer reimburse that amount. Set the calculator to your company’s actual policy.

Want to see the tools in action first? Read the U.S. guide to Quartix free fleet tools.

What rising diesel costs mean for a four-van fleet

Imagine four diesel vans, each driving 15,000 miles a year and averaging 20 miles per U.S. gallon. Together they cover 60,000 miles and use about 3,000 gallons annually. At $6.199 per gallon, that works out to approximately $18,600 in diesel alone.

For that same mileage, every additional 50 cents per gallon adds about $1,500 a year. Reduce fuel use by 10% and the illustrative saving is about $1,860 annually – before accounting for any reduction in vehicle wear or unproductive driving.

Example only: 4 vans x 15,000 miles / 20 mpg = 3,000 U.S. gallons; 3,000 x $6.199 = $18,597. Price: EIA national on-highway diesel average, October 5, 2026. Actual fleet results depend on mileage, fuel economy and local prices.

To calculate your own trip costs, start with the Quartix mileage calculator. To explore potential savings from fleet tracking, try our ROI calculator.

Seeing where fuel is really going

The free tools help before a journey. To understand what actually happened across all of your vans, you need reliable data from a GPS vehicle tracking system. Quartix helps fleet managers identify wasted mileage and patterns that are hard to spot in a fuel receipt.

Here are some of the ways our customers drive down their fuel spend:

Driving behavior. Harsh acceleration, aggressive braking and speeding can increase fuel use and vehicle wear. Quartix driver behavior reports make it easier to discuss specific habits with drivers and recognize improvement.

Trip and idle-time visibility. Journey histories show where vehicles traveled, how long jobs took and where extra miles may have crept in. They also help managers spot avoidable engine idling – fuel burned while the vehicle is stationary.

Better dispatch decisions. Knowing where your vehicles are helps you send the most practical van to a new job rather than relying on guesswork or asking every driver to call in.

An example from a U.S. Quartix customer

Russell Landscape operates more than 200 vehicles across several southeastern states. Its team uses Quartix live location and driving-style reports to manage routes, coach drivers and keep closer control of vehicle-related costs. Read the Russell Landscape case study to see how the business puts that data to work.

Why businesses choose Quartix

We’ve been supporting businesses with clear, straightforward van tracking for the last 25 years, and Quartix is rated 4.8 on Trustpilot. Our tracking comes on short contracts that roll to monthly after the first year, and it never auto-renews.

Let us help you see exactly where your fuel is going and start saving.

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Frequently asked questions

*Fuel figures: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update, week of October 5, 2026