Field notes

Reading Idle Time on Thai Long-Haul Routes

11 November 2025

Many Thai fleets record engine-on time at warehouses as a single idle figure. That hides the difference between a driver waiting for a dock assignment and a truck left running while paperwork is finished.

Start with a two-week sample of GPS stops longer than eight minutes. Match each stop to the depot or customer site, then ask dispatchers which stops are expected loading waits. The remainder is the idle you can influence with briefing and yard rules.

On corridors between Bangkok and the Eastern Seaboard, midday heat often pushes drivers to keep cab cooling running. Treat that as a policy choice with a known fuel cost, not an invisible loss. Once you price it per hour, depot managers can decide whether shaded waiting areas or staggered arrivals are cheaper.

Publish idle share next to fuel per kilometer on the same sheet. Separating the two keeps maintenance from being blamed for dispatch delays, and keeps dispatch from ignoring mechanical idle that belongs with workshop scheduling.