Every year, we ask fleet and operations leaders what is keeping them up at night. This year we ran the vWork State of the Fleet survey for the third time. That means we can now see real trends across three years of answers. While the survey is not intended to be a statistically relevant sample, the results reflect the market sentiment we are hearing and show some interesting insight.
Some of it matches what we heard before. Some of it does not. Fuel costs are biting harder, customers want proof of delivery more than ever and the driver shortage shows no sign of easing. Electric and hydrogen vehicles? For most operators, the honest answer is "someday."
Let's dive into the four big takeaways
1. State of fuel: the squeeze is back
Last year, fewer managers told us fuel prices were hitting their bottom line hard. That has flipped.
In 2026, 59% of respondents said fuel price fluctuations have a "significant" impact on their bottom line. That is up from 23% in 2025 and well above the 38% we saw in 2024. It is the biggest single shift in this year's survey.
"Moderate impact," the most common answer last year, fell to 27%. Only about one in seven operators now say fuel prices have little or no impact on their margins.
The reason this view has hardened is obvious. The survey confirms how many operators feeling the pressure. When most of the industry says fuel is a significant cost, efficient routing, fewer wasted kilometers and tighter job scheduling stop being nice-to-haves and can make a sigificant improvement to profits.
2. State of proof: delivery evidence matters more every year
Since 2024, we have asked how important it is to prove a delivery happened at a specific time and place (DIFOT). Every year, the answer has grown stronger.
In 2026, 63% rate it "highly important." That is up from 61% in 2025 and 53% in 2024. Add those who rate it "somewhat important" and 88% now say it matters, compared with 76% in 2024.
The tools are following, but slowly. Proof of delivery software has risen each year, from 44% to 50% to 51%. So nearly nine in ten operators say proving delivery matters, yet only about half of those who answered our software question use software to manage it.
This is the gap we flagged last year. Customers and compliance are raising the bar, and many operators are still closing the distance between knowing where a vehicle is and proving what happened on the job.
3. State of drivers: the shortage is here to stay
If you were hoping the driver shortage would ease, our data says otherwise.
In 2026, 85% of respondents said finding competent drivers is either getting harder or "pretty impossible." The answer has barely moved in three years: 87% in 2024, 84% in 2025 and 85% this year. Only about one in seven operators say drivers are readily available.
The split inside that group has shifted a little. Fewer now say "getting harder" and more say "pretty impossible to find." The total has held.
A shortage that lasts three years is not a blip. It is the operating environment. That puts the focus on getting more from every driver and on getting new, or contract, drivers productive quickly.
4. State of electric and hydrogen: a long-term story
Last year, the number of fleets with an electric or hydrogen vehicle roughly doubled. This year's data cools that picture.
Each year, only about 8% of respondents have said they plan to buy an electric or hydrogen vehicle within the next year. Those who rule it out entirely is also relatively consistent with 24% in 2024, 30% in 2025 and 25% in 2026.
Everyone else sits in between. "Possibly in the future" is the biggest group every year, but it swings: 54% in 2024, 36% in 2025 and 49% in 2026. The share who already have an electric or hydrogen vehicle went from 14% to 27% and then settled back to 18% this year.
Most operators are still planning rather than buying, so mixed fleets are likely to be common for a while. That makes dispatch and scheduling tools that work the same way across every vehicle type worth having.
So, what's the big picture?
Three years of data show an industry under steady pressure, not sudden change. Fuel costs are weighing on margins, customers want proof of delivery, drivers are scarce and the move to new fuels is gradual.
The common thread is simple. Operators need to get more out of every vehicle, every driver and every delivery.
If you're navigating these challenges, you're not alone. At vWork, we provide a delivery management solution that covers route optimization, proof of delivery, dispatch and a whole lot more.
You can download a copy of the full survey results here.
Want to see how vWork could help optimize your operations? Let us show you.
About the survey
The survey was taken from a sample of 51 responses. This is not intended to be a statistically significant survey. It is, however, a useful view of industry sentiment across some topical themes, which we repeat annually. Percentages use the number of people who answered each question. Software results use respondents who selected at least one option. Download the full survey results here.
