FUEL MONITORING WITH CAN DATA READING TRACKERS: A SUCCESS STORY FROM BRAZIL

Basic GPS tracking provides valuable information about where vehicles are and how they move. However, location data alone may not be enough for fleets looking to improve driver performance, fuel management, and operational control. This is where CAN data adds value by providing deeper insights into vehicle performance and fuel usage. By accessing parameters directly from the vehicle, fleet managers can better understand how fuel is consumed and identify opportunities to improve efficiency.

Seeing the potential, INFLEET, a fleet management technology company in Brazil, decided to expand beyond basic telemetry and introduce a new advanced telematics product based on CAN data with fuel monitoring as part of its capabilities.

Using Teltonika’s FMC150 GPS tracker and its autoscan feature, INFLEET added parameters such as RPM, fuel data, and accelerator pedal position to its solution, with a particular focus on buses and trucks.

ADVANCED CAN DATA FOR FUEL AND DRIVER MONITORING

INFLEET provides vehicle tracking, video telematics, driver management, maintenance, fuel management, and fleet monitoring solutions in Brazil. Its platform brings fleet data together to help improve safety, operational efficiency, driver performance, and cost management.

One of the company’s customers had traditionally relied on basic telematics using tracking devices from several hardware suppliers. INFLEET saw an opportunity to offer more by introducing advanced telematics based on CAN data.

Parameters such as engine RPM, fuel data, and accelerator pedal position provide additional context about how a vehicle is being operated. This information can help fleet managers monitor driver behaviour more accurately and identify inefficient or potentially risky driving habits.

At the same time, fuel level and consumption data allow managers to track how fuel is being used across the fleet and identify activities that may contribute to unnecessary consumption, such as excessive idling or inefficient driving behaviour.

Introducing advanced telematics also meant addressing two practical challenges identified by the customer: high installation costs and insufficient technical support from hardware suppliers, both of which Teltonika was ready to address.

HOW DOES FMC150 SUPPORT FUEL MONITORING AND ADVANCED TELEMATICS?

INFLEET selected FMC150 for this project, a 4G LTE Cat 1 GPS tracker with an integrated CAN data processor, which combines vehicle tracking and CAN data reading in one device.

Depending on the vehicle, it can provide the following parameters:

• Fuel level

• Total fuel consumption

• Mileage

• Engine RPM

• CAN speed

• Accelerator pedal position

• Other vehicle data

Reading fuel information directly from the vehicle CAN bus allows fleet managers to monitor fuel usage together with location and operational data using a single tracker. This makes it possible to analyse not only how much fuel is being consumed but also what vehicle and driver behaviour may be influencing that consumption.

Our device supports a broad range of passenger cars, trucks, buses, electric vehicles, and specialised machinery, making it suitable for mixed fleets.

For INFLEET, this meant its customer could move beyond basic vehicle location and access more detailed information about vehicle and driver performance.

HOW DOES AUTOSCAN SIMPLIFY CAN CONFIGURATION?

According to INFLEET, the autoscan feature plays a key role in the solution. Let’s take a look at how it works.

CAN configuration may require installers to identify the exact vehicle model and apply the correct configuration. Autoscan simplifies this process by automatically detecting the vehicle’s CAN protocol and applying a suitable configuration.

Once FMC150 is installed, connected to the network, and the ignition is switched on, the process typically takes around 20 to 60 seconds.

This reduces the amount of manual configuration required and makes it easier to deploy CAN-based telematics across different vehicle models. For INFLEET, this helped address one of the main barriers to introducing the new product – installation complexity and cost.

For a fleet with hundreds or thousands of different vehicle models, configuring CAN data reading one by one can take significant time. Autoscan simplifies this by allowing the same configuration to be used across supported vehicles, while the device automatically detects the appropriate OEM file for a particular vehicle. This makes it much easier to scale fuel monitoring and other CAN-based services across mixed fleets.

WHAT CAN FLEET MANAGEMENT COMPANIES LEARN FROM THIS?

The INFLEET example shows how CAN data helps telematics service providers expand beyond standard GPS tracking and offer higher-value services, including more comprehensive fuel monitoring.

With advanced vehicle data, fleet management companies can:

• Monitor driver behaviour in greater detail

• Track fuel level and consumption

• Identify driving behaviour that may contribute to unnecessary fuel use

• Use RPM and accelerator pedal data to support more fuel-efficient driving

• Gain more context about vehicle performance

• Faster project deployment with the autoscan feature

• Introduce new advanced telematics services for existing customers

By combining fuel data with information about vehicle use and driver behaviour, fleet managers can better understand where fuel is being consumed and take action to improve efficiency.

For telematics service providers, this also creates an opportunity to expand their portfolio without replacing the core tracking services customers already use.

THE RESULT: A NEW PRODUCT AND NEW REVENUE

For INFLEET, the implementation was more than an upgrade to an existing tracking solution. It became a new product in the company’s portfolio, adding CAN-based fuel monitoring and deeper vehicle insights to its existing telematics services.

The advanced solution has already been implemented in 5% of the fleet, while accounting for 10% of the revenue.

For the customer, the solution provides greater visibility into fuel consumption and the driving factors that can influence it, alongside real-time driver behaviour monitoring. This enables fuel management decisions to be based on actual vehicle data rather than location information alone.

Moreover, INFLEET highlights its relationship with Teltonika’s technical and sales teams, competitive pricing, and the autoscan feature as key reasons for choosing Teltonika.

The case demonstrates how easier access to CAN data can help telematics providers introduce more advanced services, support more effective fuel management, improve fleet visibility, and create additional value from existing customer relationships.

Different fleets may require different fuel monitoring approaches. Learn how to choose the right fuel control solution and how OBD data reading trackers can support fuel and service optimisation.

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