Fleet Fuel Cost Tracking API

Category: Transportation & Logistics | Industry: Fleet Management

Fuel costs represent 25-35% of total fleet operating expenses. OilPriceAPI provides real-time diesel, gasoline, and biodiesel pricing data to help fleet managers optimize fuel purchasing, forecast budgets accurately, and reduce operational costs.

The Challenge

Fleet managers face significant challenges when managing fuel costs across distributed operations:

• Price volatility makes budget forecasting unpredictable
• Regional price disparities create inefficiencies in fuel purchasing decisions
• Manual price tracking is time-consuming and often outdated
• Lack of historical data prevents trend analysis and strategic planning
• Disconnected systems require manual data entry into fleet management software

Without real-time fuel price data, fleet operators leave money on the table and struggle to provide accurate cost projections to stakeholders.

The Solution

OilPriceAPI delivers enterprise-grade fuel price data that integrates directly into your fleet management systems, telematics platforms, and financial applications.

Key Benefits

Relevant API Endpoints

Get Current Fuel Prices

Retrieve the latest diesel and gasoline prices for fleet fuel cost calculations:

# Get current diesel price
curl "https://api.oilpriceapi.com/v1/prices/latest?by_code=DIESEL_USD" \
  -H "Authorization: Token YOUR_API_KEY"

# Get multiple fuel types at once
curl "https://api.oilpriceapi.com/v1/prices/latest?by_code=DIESEL_USD,GASOLINE_USD" \
  -H "Authorization: Token YOUR_API_KEY"

Response:

{
  "status": "success",
  "data": {
    "price": 3.42,
    "formatted": "$3.42",
    "currency": "USD",
    "code": "DIESEL_USD",
    "created_at": "2025-01-15T10:00:00.000Z",
    "type": "spot_price"
  }
}

Historical Price Analysis

Analyze fuel price trends to optimize purchasing schedules:

# Get past 30 days of diesel prices with daily averages
curl "https://api.oilpriceapi.com/v1/prices/past_month?by_code=DIESEL_USD&interval=1d" \
  -H "Authorization: Token YOUR_API_KEY"

Price Alerts (Coming Soon)

Set up automated alerts when fuel prices cross defined thresholds:

# Create price alert for diesel
curl -X POST "https://api.oilpriceapi.com/v1/alerts" \
  -H "Authorization: Token YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "commodity": "DIESEL_USD",
    "condition": "below",
    "threshold": 3.25,
    "webhook_url": "https://your-fleet-system.com/webhooks/fuel-alert"
  }'

Integration Examples

Fleet Management System Integration

Build fuel cost projections directly into your fleet management software:

import requests
from datetime import datetime, timedelta

class FleetFuelTracker:
    def __init__(self, api_key):
        self.api_key = api_key
        self.base_url = 'https://api.oilpriceapi.com/v1'
        self.headers = {'Authorization': f'Token {api_key}'}

    def get_current_diesel_price(self):
        """Get the current diesel price for fuel cost calculations."""
        response = requests.get(
            f'{self.base_url}/prices/latest',
            params={'by_code': 'DIESEL_USD'},
            headers=self.headers
        )
        data = response.json()
        return data['data']['price']

    def calculate_route_fuel_cost(self, distance_miles, mpg):
        """Calculate estimated fuel cost for a route."""
        current_price = self.get_current_diesel_price()
        gallons_needed = distance_miles / mpg
        total_cost = gallons_needed * current_price
        return {
            'distance_miles': distance_miles,
            'gallons_needed': round(gallons_needed, 2),
            'price_per_gallon': current_price,
            'total_fuel_cost': round(total_cost, 2)
        }

    def get_monthly_fuel_trend(self):
        """Analyze fuel price trends for the past month."""
        response = requests.get(
            f'{self.base_url}/prices/past_month',
            params={'by_code': 'DIESEL_USD', 'interval': '1d'},
            headers=self.headers
        )
        data = response.json()
        prices = [p['price'] for p in data['data']['prices']]

        return {
            'average_price': round(sum(prices) / len(prices), 2),
            'min_price': min(prices),
            'max_price': max(prices),
            'price_volatility': round(max(prices) - min(prices), 2)
        }

# Usage example
tracker = FleetFuelTracker('YOUR_API_KEY')
route_cost = tracker.calculate_route_fuel_cost(distance_miles=500, mpg=7.5)
print(f"Route fuel cost: ${route_cost['total_fuel_cost']}")

JavaScript/Node.js Integration

class FleetFuelAPI {
  constructor(apiKey) {
    this.apiKey = apiKey;
    this.baseUrl = 'https://api.oilpriceapi.com/v1';
  }

  async getCurrentPrices(fuelTypes = ['DIESEL_USD', 'GASOLINE_USD']) {
    const response = await fetch(
      `${this.baseUrl}/prices/latest?by_code=${fuelTypes.join(',')}`,
      {
        headers: { 'Authorization': `Token ${this.apiKey}` }
      }
    );
    return response.json();
  }

  async calculateFleetFuelBudget(vehicles) {
    const dieselPrice = await this.getDieselPrice();

    return vehicles.map(vehicle => ({
      vehicleId: vehicle.id,
      monthlyMiles: vehicle.avgMonthlyMiles,
      mpg: vehicle.mpg,
      estimatedGallons: vehicle.avgMonthlyMiles / vehicle.mpg,
      estimatedCost: (vehicle.avgMonthlyMiles / vehicle.mpg) * dieselPrice
    }));
  }

  async getDieselPrice() {
    const response = await fetch(
      `${this.baseUrl}/prices/latest?by_code=DIESEL_USD`,
      {
        headers: { 'Authorization': `Token ${this.apiKey}` }
      }
    );
    const data = await response.json();
    return data.data.price;
  }
}

// Fleet budget calculation
const fleetAPI = new FleetFuelAPI(process.env.OILPRICE_API_KEY);
const vehicles = [
  { id: 'TRUCK-001', avgMonthlyMiles: 8000, mpg: 6.5 },
  { id: 'TRUCK-002', avgMonthlyMiles: 7500, mpg: 7.0 },
  { id: 'VAN-001', avgMonthlyMiles: 3000, mpg: 12 }
];

const budget = await fleetAPI.calculateFleetFuelBudget(vehicles);
console.log('Monthly fleet fuel budget:', budget);

Use Cases

1. Dynamic Fuel Cost Allocation

Allocate fuel costs accurately across routes, customers, or business units using real-time pricing data instead of monthly averages.

2. Fuel Purchase Optimization

Integrate with telematics systems to recommend optimal fueling locations based on current prices and route planning.

3. Budget Forecasting

Use historical price data and trend analysis to create accurate quarterly and annual fuel budgets.

4. Customer Fuel Surcharge Calculations

Automatically calculate and justify fuel surcharges based on transparent, verifiable market data.

5. Contract Fuel Price Benchmarking

Compare contracted fuel prices against market rates to ensure competitive pricing from fuel suppliers.

ROI and Value Proposition

For a 50-vehicle fleet averaging $500,000 in annual fuel costs, even a 3% optimization translates to $15,000 in annual savings.

Customer Success Story

"Integrating OilPriceAPI into our fleet management system transformed how we approach fuel cost management. We reduced manual data entry by 90% and improved our quarterly budget accuracy from +/-15% to +/-5%. The ROI was realized within the first quarter."

-- [Customer Success Story Placeholder]

Getting Started

1. Sign up for an OilPriceAPI account at oilpriceapi.com/signup
2. Get your API key from the dashboard
3. Test the endpoints using the examples above
4. Integrate with your fleet management or telematics platform
5. Start optimizing fuel costs across your fleet

Related Resources

• API Authentication Guide - Secure API access setup
• Historical Prices API - Access past price data
• Diesel Price Data - Diesel-specific documentation
• Rate Limits and Pricing - Plan selection and usage limits