What is truck fleet management? Five jobs that set your cost per mile
The second truck changes the business. Someone now has to plan maintenance for more than one unit, keep more than one driver legal, buy fuel at today's prices, and know which truck is actually making money.
Written by Gabriel Gonzalez
Fleet costs in numbers
Truck fleet management is the work of running a group of trucks as one business: keeping every vehicle maintained, every driver qualified and within hours of service, fuel bought and reported, trucks loaded and seated, and cost per mile measured truck by truck, with the records to prove it.
Most carriers start managing a fleet without deciding to. A second truck, a first hire, and the owner is suddenly the dispatcher, the maintenance planner, and the records clerk as well as the salesperson.
I have spent more than 22 years at Simplex, nearly 16 of them as COO, and I now lead revenue strategy. The way I see it, fleet management is not a software purchase. It is five jobs, each with an owner and a number, and in 2026 the numbers leave very little room for a job nobody owns.
The full briefing, read aloud
7 chapters. Select one to jump to it.
Generated with AI text-to-speech from this article's key insights, in order, rather than reading it word for word. Chapter times come from a transcript of the audio. The article itself was written and reviewed by Gabriel Gonzalez.
Key takeaways
Fleet management is five jobs, not a product
Equipment, drivers, fuel, utilization, and cost. Software and services help with each one, but the decisions stay with you.
Margins leave no slack
ATRI put the average cost to run a truck at $2.336 per mile in 2025, the highest in its report's history, with truckload margins under 1%.
Fuel is the swing cost in 2026
U.S. on-highway diesel averaged $6.18 a gallon in the week of October 12, 2026, about $2.51 more than a year earlier.
The second truck brings new paperwork
The written driver vehicle inspection report rule in 49 CFR 396.11 does not apply to a carrier operating only one commercial motor vehicle.
Every record runs on its own clock
Six months for logs, 14 months for annual inspection reports, three years after a driver leaves for the qualification file, four years for IFTA records.
An ELD is a data source, not a tracking system
It records location at duty status changes and at least once an hour while the truck moves, not continuously.
In this articleContents
What is truck fleet management?
Truck fleet management is the set of jobs that keeps a group of trucks safe, legal, and profitable at the same time. In a small fleet the owner usually does all of them; as the fleet grows, each job needs a named person.
| Job | What it covers | Number to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment | Inspection, repair, maintenance, annual inspections | Repair cost per mile, breakdowns |
| Drivers | Qualification files, hours of service, safety record | Violations per inspection, empty seats |
| Fuel | Purchasing, fuel economy, IFTA reporting | Fuel cost per mile |
| Utilization | Loaded miles, deadhead, seated trucks | Revenue per truck per week |
| Cost | Every expense, assigned to a truck | Cost per mile, truck by truck |
Fleet management services and software cover parts of this table. They do not decide which truck to retire, which lane loses money, or which driver needs coaching. That stays with you.
Why does fleet management decide your margin?
Because the gap between cost and rate is now very small. The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) found that the average cost to operate a truck in 2025 was $2.336 per mile, up 3.4% and the highest in the report's history.
Every major line item rose. The biggest increases were tolls (13.2%), repair and maintenance (8.6%), driver benefits (6.6%), and tires (6.4%). Operating margins for truckload and refrigerated carriers stayed below 1%, and flatbed carriers averaged a loss.
ATRI also found carriers left 10% of their trucks unseated on average, with deadhead miles still elevated. An unseated truck still carries its payment and insurance, and an empty mile burns the same fuel as a loaded one. Those are fleet management problems, not freight market problems.
If you have not worked out your own number yet, our guide to becoming a carrier that lasts walks through cost per mile line by line.
How should a fleet manage fuel at 2026 prices?
Measure fuel cost per mile for each truck every month, because the price has moved too far to rely on old averages. The U.S. Energy Information Administration put on-highway diesel at $6.179 a gallon in the week of October 12, 2026, about $2.51 above a year earlier, and $8.09 in California.
ATRI's 2025 figures imply about 48 cents of fuel per mile: $2.336 in total, $1.854 without fuel. At $6.18 a gallon, a truck averaging 6 miles per gallon now burns about $1.03 of fuel per mile. A fleet still quoting rates on last year's fuel number is losing money on every load.
The levers are familiar: fuel economy by truck and by driver, idle time, route and fueling-stop choices, and purchase controls. Each one shows up only if fuel is tracked per truck rather than as one line on the profit and loss statement.
The same receipts and mileage feed your fuel tax return. IFTA licensees must keep fuel and distance records for four years after the return was due or filed, whichever is later. Our IFTA fuel tax reporting guide covers what those records must show.
Which fleet records must you keep, and for how long?
Federal rules require a separate set of records for vehicles, drivers, and hours, and IFTA adds its own. Each runs on a different retention clock, which is why a single calendar matters more than a single filing cabinet.
| Record | Rule | Keep it for |
|---|---|---|
| Inspection, repair, and maintenance records | 49 CFR 396.3 | 1 year where the vehicle is kept, plus 6 months after it leaves your control |
| Driver vehicle inspection reports | 49 CFR 396.11 | 3 months from the report date |
| Annual inspection report | 49 CFR 396.21 | 14 months from the inspection |
| Driver qualification file | 49 CFR 391.51 | Employment plus 3 years |
| Records of duty status and supporting documents | 49 CFR 395.8(k) | 6 months |
| IFTA fuel and distance records | IFTA Procedures Manual P510 | 4 years after the return was due or filed |
What changes when you add a second truck?
The written post-trip report is the clearest example. Under 49 CFR 396.11, drivers must report defects in writing at the end of each day's work, and the carrier must certify repairs before the truck runs again, but the rule does not apply to a carrier operating only one commercial motor vehicle.
Maintenance records also multiply. Section 396.3 requires a record for each vehicle you control for 30 consecutive days, including leased units, which must name the person who furnished the vehicle. Our preventive maintenance guide covers the schedule, and the DQF checklist covers every driver file.
What can an ELD or fleet management system do for you?
It can collect the data the five jobs run on, but it cannot act on it. Under 49 CFR 395.26, an ELD records the date, time, location, engine hours, vehicle miles, and driver, vehicle, and carrier identification at each duty status change, and at least once an hour while the truck is moving.
That makes the ELD a useful source for maintenance intervals, IFTA mileage, and hours of service. It is not a live tracking system: during authorized personal use, location is recorded only to about a 10-mile radius. Real-time GPS, fuel integration, and maintenance alerts are features a vendor adds on top.
If you are choosing a system, our guide to DOT compliance software for trucking fleets shows how to test one in a demo. Our ELD services pair the Simplex ELD with training and support.
How to set up truck fleet management for a small fleet
Start with structure, then add tools. Each step below assigns one job to a person and a number.
Step 1: Open a file for every unit
List each truck and trailer by company number, make, serial number, and year, as 396.3 requires, plus the owner for any leased unit.
Step 2: Put every due date on one calendar
Annual inspections every 12 months, preventive maintenance intervals, medical certificates, and quarterly IFTA returns. One calendar, one owner.
Step 3: Assign every cost to a truck
Fuel, repairs, tires, tolls, insurance, and payments, by unit, every month. A fleet average hides the truck that is losing money.
Step 4: Measure loaded and empty miles
Deadhead and unseated days are the costs that never appear on an invoice. Track them by truck so you can see which lanes and which units drag down the rest.
Step 5: Review the numbers monthly
Compare each truck's cost per mile with the rates you are hauling for. That review is where you decide to reprice a lane, repair or replace a unit, or coach a driver.
How Simplex helps you manage a growing fleet
We take on the compliance side of fleet management, so your time goes to rates, customers, and trucks.
Your fleet's compliance in one portal
SimplexHub shows your BASIC scores, inspections, driver and vehicle file monitoring, and the date each annual inspection is due.
ELDs with support behind them
Our ELD services pair the Simplex ELD app and web portal with bilingual training and 24/7 support.
Hand off the records work
Our compliance programs add file management, maintenance records, mock audits, and, at the managed level, monthly safety reviews and HOS management.
Frequently asked questions
What does fleet management do?+
What is an example of fleet management?+
What is the role of a fleet manager?+
What are fleet management services?+
Does a one-truck owner-operator need fleet management?+
Where this information comes from
The cost and fuel figures below come from industry research and federal data, and the record rules from federal regulation and the IFTA manuals, checked on October 16, 2026.
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1
ATRI — Operational Costs of Trucking 2026 release
2025 cost per mile, line-item increases, margins, unseated trucks, and deadhead.
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2
EIA — Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update
U.S. and California on-highway diesel prices for the week of October 12, 2026.
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3
eCFR — 49 CFR 396.3
Systematic maintenance, required vehicle records, and their retention.
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4
eCFR — 49 CFR 396.11
Driver vehicle inspection reports, 3-month retention, and the one-vehicle exception.
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5
eCFR — 49 CFR 396.21
Annual inspection reports kept for 14 months.
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6
eCFR — 49 CFR 391.51
Driver qualification files kept for employment plus three years.
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7
eCFR — 49 CFR 395.26
What an ELD records automatically, and when.
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8
IFTA, Inc. — Procedures Manual
Section P510: four-year retention of fuel and distance records.
Written by
Gabriel Gonzalez
Chief Revenue Officer, Simplex Group
Chief Revenue Officer at Simplex Group, with more than 22 years at the company, including nearly 16 years as Chief Operating Officer. His background combines revenue strategy with deep operational experience, giving him a strong perspective on how compliance, risk, permits, cash flow, and operational readiness affect a carrier's ability to grow profitably.
Published · Updated
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A fleet that knows its numbers can price its freight
Fleet management is what turns a group of trucks into a business you can steer. When every job has an owner and every truck has a cost per mile, the hard decisions get easier to make.
If you want help keeping the compliance side of your fleet current while you focus on the numbers, talk to our team.