How do you measure diesel consumption in trucks?
It sounds like one question, but the answer is two completely different routes. Conflating them means buying a solution that does not answer your question.
The first method: a sensor fitted in the tank that measures the fuel level inside it. The second: reading what the vehicle itself reports over its internal network (CAN), where its model exposes that.
The difference is not only accuracy but what is being measured: the first is an independent measurement of a liquid level; the second is an estimate the vehicle computes. That difference decides which route answers your question.
Direct comparison
| In-tank level sensor | CAN data from the vehicle | |
|---|---|---|
| What it measures | The fuel level inside the tank, as a measurement independent of the vehicle's systems. | What the vehicle reports about consumption or tank level, subject to what its model exposes. |
| Installation | Requires work on the tank plus calibration for its shape and capacity. Longer and more intrusive. | A connection to the vehicle network with no work on the tank. Faster and less intrusive. |
| Detecting sudden drops | Its core strength: shows a level drop inconsistent with distance, with time and location. | Usually weaker for this purpose, because what is reported may be computed consumption rather than an instantaneous level. |
| Reconciling fuel invoices | Well suited: it shows the level actually rising, which can be compared against the invoice. | Depends on the vehicle exposing tank level — and some do not expose it at all. |
| Compatibility | Depends on tank shape and access to it, not on the truck model. | Depends entirely on the truck model and year. Some trucks expose no useful fuel data. |
| Effect of incline and vibration | Affects the instantaneous reading, which is why readings are taken over intervals rather than as single instants. | Less affected, because the vehicle computes the value internally. |
| Warranty | Work on the tank may conflict with dealer warranty — check it first. | Usually less intrusive, but check the dealer's terms as well. |
Which route do you need?
- If your goal is detecting theft or unexplained loss and reconciling fuel invoices: a level sensor is usually the better fit.
- If your goal is tracking consumption efficiency on a modern fleet and you would rather not work on tanks: start by testing what your vehicles expose over CAN.
- If your fleet is mixed — older and newer trucks — the realistic answer is usually a combination: sensors on what exposes nothing useful, CAN on what does.
- If you have one or two trucks and the problem is not confirmed: start with location and distance tracking for a month. Sometimes actual distance reveals the problem without a fuel solution at all.
Any accuracy figure given before calibration on your tank is a catalogue number, not a measurement. Real accuracy depends on tank shape, calibration quality, installation method and duty cycle. Ask: measured on which tank, calibrated by whom, and when? — and ask for the expected accuracy to be stated after calibration rather than before.
A note on "refuelling events"
Some quotes list a "refuelling report" as a third feature. In reality it is a result of level reading rather than an independent measurement method: the system detects the level rising and logs it as a refuelling event with its time, location and approximate quantity.
Its real value is reconciling what you paid for against what actually reached the tank. And it depends entirely on the quality of the level reading — if the reading is poor, the refuelling events are poor with it.
Related pages
Not sure which route suits your fleet?
Tell us your truck models, the tank shapes, and what you want the measurement for.
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