Fuel Burn per Tonne Calculator
Fuel burn per tonne is a haulage and plant efficiency metric: it divides the fuel consumed by the payload moved over the same window, giving litres of diesel per tonne (L/t).
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How to use this calculator
- Enter the total fuel used (litres) and the total material moved (tonnes) over the same period.
- Optionally add operating hours to also get the fuel burn rate (L/h) and production rate (t/h).
- Optionally add a fuel price ($/L) to convert the burn into a fuel cost per tonne.
How it works
Fuel burn per tonne is a haulage and plant efficiency metric: it divides the fuel consumed by the payload moved over the same window, giving litres of diesel per tonne (L/t). Formula: Fuel burn per tonne = fuel used (L) ÷ material moved (t). Lower is better — it means more tonnes are moved for each litre burned. Because it is a simple ratio, the fuel and tonnes must cover exactly the same trucks, route and period for the figure to be meaningful.
When you supply a fuel price, the tool multiplies burn per tonne by price to give fuel cost per tonne ($/t), a common line item in unit cost of production. When you supply operating hours, it also reports the fuel burn rate (fuel ÷ hours, in L/h) and the production rate (tonnes ÷ hours, in t/h). All figures are indicative planning estimates; real burn varies with haul grade, payload, road condition, idling and machine health, so validate against site data and OEM burn curves.
Worked example
Haul fleet over a shift. A haul-truck fleet burns 4,200 L of diesel moving 38,000 t of ore over a 10 h shift, with diesel at $1.85/L. Fuel burn per tonne = 4,200 ÷ 38,000 = 0.111 L/t. At $1.85/L that is $0.20/t. Over the shift the fleet burns 420.0 L/h and moves 3,800.0 t/h.
Common mistakes
- Mixing periods — using a shift's fuel against a day's tonnes (or vice versa). Fuel and tonnes must cover the exact same window and equipment.
- Confusing L/t with L/h or L/100km. Fuel burn per tonne is per unit of material moved, not per hour of running or per distance travelled.
- Entering bank cubic metres (BCM) or loads instead of tonnes. Convert to tonnes first (use a BCM/LCM/tonnes converter) if your fuel figure is against tonnes moved.
Frequently asked questions
What is a typical fuel burn per tonne for haul trucks?
It varies widely with truck size, haul distance and grade, but open-pit haul fleets often sit somewhere around 0.1 to 0.5 L/t for moderate hauls; steep, long or heavily loaded hauls burn more. Use your own site history as the benchmark rather than a generic number — this tool is for comparing and tracking your fleet's own figures.
Should I include idling and delay fuel?
For a true operating efficiency, count all diesel actually consumed against the tonnes actually moved, including idle and queue time — that is what real fuel cost per tonne reflects. If you want a pure productive-burn figure instead, use only fuel burned while loaded and hauling, and state that assumption when you report it.
Can I use this for a loader, dozer or drill rig?
Yes, as long as you can attribute a fuel quantity and a tonnage to the same machine and period. For loaders and shovels use tonnes loaded; for drills the metric is usually per drilled metre rather than per tonne, so a drill cost/consumption tool is a better fit there.
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