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Cost Efficiency

Fleets waste €2.6m in fuel due to idling in Europe, finds Geotab

The research found that more than 1.58 million litres of fuel were burned while Geotab-connected vehicles sat stationary.

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Geotab, a connected vehicle and asset management solutions provider, revealed that across the vehicles analysed, fuel waste due to idling reached an estimated €2.6m over twelve months.

The research found that more than 1.58 million litres of fuel were burned while Geotab-connected vehicles sat stationary in traffic across Europe’s major capitals during 2025.

The findings form part of Geotab’s European Urban Freight Efficiency Index, which analysed a full year of connected vehicle data across seven capitals: London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Dublin, Rome, Paris and Madrid.

The €2.6m figure reflects 2025’s average European fuel prices.

Geotab explained that European diesel has risen above €2 per litre in the first half of 2026, a 30% increase triggered by geopolitical instability in the Middle East.

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These fuel prices would bring the cost of the same volume of idle waste to approximately €3.6m.

Across the seven cities in the study, the relationship between congestion and fuel efficiency diverges sharply depending on how traffic moves, not just how much of it there is.

London is ranked sixth out of seven in the Index; its stop-start traffic patterns prevent engines from reaching operating temperature, while its unpredictability compounds the problem.

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London recorded the highest passenger vehicle fuel consumption of any city analysed, at 15.60 litres per 100 kilometres, almost two-and-a-half times higher than Paris.

Of every litre of fuel burned in London by passenger vehicles, 13.6% is consumed while stationary.

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Commercial trucks idle at 11.1% of total fuel consumed.

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Lower than the passenger rate, but still among the higher truck figures across the study, reflecting the loading restrictions, bus lane exclusions and concentrated delivery windows that make London uniquely challenging for commercial vehicle operations, according to Geotab.

Berlin leads the overall index and records lower truck idle waste than London, at 8.5% compared with 11.1%, while Amsterdam ranks second and keeps passenger vehicle idle waste to 10.5%, below London’s 13.6%.

Dublin sits third overall but shows a similar passenger vehicle idling issue to London, with 12.9% of fuel consumed while stationary, although its trucks perform better at 5.8%.

Rome and Madrid both recorded 2.8% truck idle waste, the lowest in the study, because traffic may be slow but continues to move.

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Paris showed the reverse pattern, with predictable journey times but the highest truck idle waste rate in the study, as commercial vehicles lose almost one in every five litres of fuel while stationary.

Edward Kulperger, senior vice president of EMEA at Geotab, said: “Congestion has traditionally been measured through the lens of time.

“How long journeys take, how busy roads become and how delays affect operations.

“What this analysis shows is that there is another layer of cost sitting beneath that discussion.

“When vehicles are idling, fleets are effectively burning money.

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“Our data shows it costs them millions: fuel consumed with engines running and wheels going nowhere.

“Every litre of that is also an emissions cost.

“Beyond the time lost, the burden of congestion is financial and environmental.

“The fleets navigating it best are those with the clearest picture of where those costs are falling.”

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