Fleets have more data than ever, which means the bigger challenge has become figuring out what to do with it.
“Data over the last 10 years has always been there,” said Kevin Mattimore, senior vice president of sales for Penske Truck Leasing. “Now, it’s how do you get the data, and more importantly, what do you do with it, and then whose hands do you get it in front of?”
The challenge has gotten even greater as technology has become a standard part of fleet operations. Every respondent in the 2026 National Private Truck Council (NPTC) Benchmarking Survey reported using onboard technology, and 91% said they also use back-office technology. Eleven years ago, only 56% of fleets reported using back-office systems.
NPTC said the continuing challenge is turning massive amounts of fleet data into actionable intelligence. Respondents identified multiple systems and system integration as their biggest technology challenges, well ahead of every other issue.
Key KPIs Fleets Should Measure
The NPTC report listed several key performance indicators fleets can measure to see how well their equipment and operations are performing. They include:
Preventive maintenance (PM) currency:
This measures the percentage of scheduled PMs that are completed on time. In this year’s survey, 77% of fleets reported PM currency rates of 95% or higher, an all-time high and up from 60% last year.
Breakdown frequency:
Just over half (52%) of fleets track roadside breakdowns per 100,000 miles. Those that do, reported 4.7 breakdowns per 100,000 miles, up from 4.2 last year. The average breakdown cost $1,083 and caused 12.1 hours of delay.
Equipment utilization:
Among the 63% of fleets that track how many hours a power unit operates each day, the average reached an all-time high of 13.1 hours, up from 11.9 hours last year.
Trailer dormancy:
Among the 55% of fleets that measure how much of the week the average trailer sits idle, the dormancy rate improved to 32% from 39%. Trailers averaged 7.6 trips per week, up from 5.7.
Payload:
The average payload rose to 36,683 pounds from 31,732 pounds last year. Fleets also track whether loads weigh out, cube out or “stop out” when delivery patterns and hours of service limit what a trailer can carry.
Empty miles:
The share of fleets tracking empty miles jumped to 71% from 48%. Those fleets reported that 31% of their miles are empty and that 38% of those empty miles could be available for backhauls.
Fleets don’t always track every metric, but viewing multiple KPIs together, can help fleets not only uncover useful insights but also find opportunities for improvement. For example, the report found that fleets that slip seat most of their operations report roughly half as many breakdowns per 100,000 miles, lower trailer dormancy and more trailer trips per week than fleets that don’t.
Benchmarks Give Data Context
Industry benchmarking can give fleet data a frame of reference, and 63% of NPTC respondents said they benchmark their private fleet against for-hire carriers, up from 55% last year.
NPTC noted specific benchmarks don’t apply equally to every fleet. Cost per mile, for example, varies widely based on length of haul, number of stops and how fixed costs are assigned. A fleet with a higher cost per mile than the survey average is not necessarily inefficient. The report recommends using the numbers like a barometer, as one tool among many.
Trends become more useful when fleets compare their current results with their own prior performance and with peers that run similar equipment, routes and duty cycles. While speaking at a press conference presenting the benchmarking survey, Mattimore said that artificial intelligence (AI) can help fleets get even more detailed benchmarks.
Penske’s Comparative Insights powered by Catalyst AI™ compares a fleet’s performance against similar fleets in Penske’s database, matching operations with comparable duty cycles, routes and equipment. It analyzes more than 100 billion data points each year, and users can compare performance at the fleet, location and individual vehicle levels, and focus on the metrics that matter most to their operations, including fuel efficiency, maintenance costs and utilization.
Mattimore said customers can ask, “How do I compare from a utilization perspective to other similar fleets? What does my MPG look like, and how do I compare to other fleets?”
Getting a Payoff From Technology
While speaking during the press conference, Tim Eckhardt, CTP, senior director of safety for Dot Transportation, said predictive maintenance is one of the clearest payoffs from digging into its data. “That’s where all of us are seeing the most efficiencies out there that we got the ability to fix that truck when it’s in a shop and not have it sitting on the side of the road waiting for a tow and repair and downtime,” he said.
Penske also uses its connected fleet data to guide maintenance. Mattimore said the company takes a device-agnostic approach, with 18 integrations with different telematics service providers, and uses fault code history and AI to predict the likelihood of a failure before it leads to a road call. He noted that customers often tell him they receive fault codes. “My follow-up question is, ‘Well, what do you do with them?’” he said.
Getting value from technology also means using it well. Marley Bebout, director of outbound transportation and customer satisfaction for AutoZone, said the company has recently added a vehicle routing solution that integrates with its warehouse management system. “So I will say that the footprint of technology continues to grow, and it has to. We got to grow in order to continue to be efficient,” she said.
AutoZone is also using AI to help its team get more out of the tools it already has. “All of our routing systems are a tool. They’re not a push button,” Bebout said. “We’ve also used it in ways to help us use our current technologies better.”
For fleets facing rising costs, small improvements add up. “Every little nugget that you can go get from a data perspective, leveraging some of this technology, is going to help our customers be more efficient to ultimately drive more productivity,” Mattimore said.
Eckhardt said that data now extends to the people behind the wheel as well as the equipment. “It’s a complete circle of data that you have that you can know the driver better. You can know your systems,” he said.