Fuel: Italian fleets are overpaying without knowing it

We analysed thousands of refuelling events from road transport companies. The result: most stops at the pump cost more than they should.

Last April we launched an initiative for Italian transport companies: a free refuelling cost analysis based on their actual fleet data. The response was immediate. Numerous companies signed up, and today we can share the first findings in aggregate form.

Methodology

For each company, we cross-referenced historical refuelling data with the MISE daily pump price database, identifying for every single event the alternative stations available within 5 km of the vehicle's position.

A transaction-by-transaction comparison between what was actually paid and what could have been paid — on the same route.

The numbers

Results are consistent across fleets of very different sizes and operations:

• Between 57% and 78% of refuelling events analysed had a cheaper alternative within 5 km. In most cases, drivers stop at the most convenient or familiar station — not the most strategic one.

• The average saving identified is 3.4 cents per litre. For a fleet with over 1,500 monthly refuelling events, this translates to more than €2,400 per month in avoidable cost — over 2% of total fuel spend.

• Up to 15 person-days per month are absorbed by refuelling controls alone. Fill verification, invoice reconciliation, anti-fraud checks: manual tasks that in fleets above 50 vehicles require dedicated resources.

The structural problem

The most significant finding is not the individual cent that could be saved. It's the pattern: regardless of fleet size, transport type, or level of digitalisation, companies that leave station choice entirely to the driver systematically pay more.

Not through negligence. Through the absence of tools that make visible an otherwise invisible piece of information: the real price of available alternatives at the exact moment of refuelling.

It's a silent cost — it doesn't appear on any budget line, it triggers no alerts, it's never negotiated. But it's there, and it's constant.

The Arxax solution

Arxax identifies the most cost-effective stations along a fleet's actual routes. By integrating vehicle telematics data, the system directs drivers in real time to where they should stop to reduce cost per litre — no detours, no time lost, no decisions left to chance.