Idling time

Idling time refers to any period during which a vehicle's engine is running while the vehicle is not in motion, consuming fuel and accumulating engine hours without performing productive work.

Idling time is calculated in the context of your trip history. While a trip is defined as when your asset moves from the moment it starts to the moment it stops, a vehicle may not always be in motion for the entire duration of a trip. Stops are logged when the ignition to the vehicle is turned off, or when an asset is stationary with a speed of less than 1 km/h for over 200 seconds. Quick stops under 200 seconds without turning off the ignition, such as when a vehicle stops at a red light, are not recorded as a stop in your trip history.

Idling time is logged when a vehicle meets certain criteria for a stop. The engine must be running, and the vehicle must be stationary for more than 200 seconds. At this point, the GO device begins recording idling time.

Due to differences in asset manufacturers, it is not always possible to determine if the asset ignition is turned on or off. For this reason, the GO device attempts to detect the engine running in the following three ways:

  • When the engine "ON" status is detected via the CAN bus;

  • When there are voltage fluctuations (where no CAN is available); and

  • When movement is detected (where neither RPM nor voltage fluctuation are detected.)

Idling time and trips

Understanding how MyGeotab calculates and records idling time can help you understand where and when your drivers are idling.

If idling happens before a trip begins, it is counted as idling time for the previously recorded trip. Any idling time recorded at the end of a trip is counted as idling time for that trip.

The following examples illustrate how idling time is calculated within trips.

Example A: Time spent idling before and after driving

Graph showing the duration of vehicle idling before and after the current trip.

In this example, let’s assume time A and D are times spent idling. Therefore:

  • Previous trip idle time = A

  • Current trip = B + C + D

  • Current trip idle time = D

Example B: Time spent idling in one trip

Graph showing a vehicle's idling time during a single trip.

In this example, let’s assume time B and D are times spent idling. Therefore:

  • Current trip = A + B + C + D

  • Current trip idle time = B + D

Example C: Time spent idling during two trips

Graph showing idling time after two separate trips.

In this example, A+B is the first trip, and C+D is the second trip.

The idle times are B and D, where B is idling time attributed to the first trip, and D is idling time attributed to the second trip.

Viewing the Idling Violations report

Learn how to run the Idling Violations report, which displays the relationship between idling duration and total engine hours.

  1. Navigate to Safety > Risk Management in the main menu.
  2. Under Filters:
    1. Select how you want to run the report.
    2. Select a date range for your data.
    3. Select whether you want to view your report by Asset or Driver.
    4. Select whether you want to hide zero distance rows.
    5. Select whether you want to include dismissed events.
  3. View the report in the format of your choice:
    1. Click Reports > Idling Violations to download the report as an Excel file.
    2. Click Reports > Idling Violations More Actions menu > Prepare PDF to download a PDF copy of the report.

Depending on the size of your report, it may take some time to generate. Navigate to Reports > My Reports to view its status.