As fleets across the nation shift toward cleaner, more sustainable fuel sources, their operators face a familiar challenge: how to keep vehicles on the road longer and in the shop less. One solution has emerged as a standout across transit, heavy-duty, and even municipal fleet operations: wet fueling, also known as wet hose fueling, direct fueling, or mobile on-site fueling.
In our in-depth guide, we’ll explore why wet fueling is becoming a critical tool for clean fuel fleet operators, its major benefits for a variety of sectors, and how companies like Pacific Clean Fuels are pioneering the infrastructure necessary to support this transition.
What Is Wet Fueling?
Wet fueling refers to the process of fueling vehicles directly where they’re parked (typically overnight in a yard or depot) by a mobile fueling trailer or truck. Rather than sending vehicles to a fueling station, the fuel comes to them. This simple switch in logistics has profound effects on time management, labor costs, fleet uptime, and total cost of ownership (TCO).
Wet fueling has traditionally been associated with diesel or gasoline fleets, but with the rise of clean fuels like hydrogen, new mobile delivery solutions are evolving to meet the needs of zero- and low-emission vehicles.
Key Benefits of Wet Fueling for Clean Fuel Fleets
Let’s take a look at some of the most impactful benefits of wet fueling for fleets transitioning to clean energy.
1. Operational Efficiency and Labor Optimization
One of the biggest cost drivers in fleet operations is labor, not just for driving routes, but also for vehicle prep, fueling, inspection, and maintenance. According to a 2022 Geotab report, the average fueling stop takes around 15 minutes per vehicle, depending on traffic, queue time, and station layout. When multiplied by dozens or hundreds of vehicles, this amounts to a major productivity drain.
Wet fueling eliminates that entirely. With mobile refueling, drivers begin their shifts with fully fueled vehicles, avoiding unnecessary detours and delays.
Six thousand hours per year is just the time savings. More efficient shifts also mean increased driver satisfaction and easier adherence to Department of Transportation (DOT) hours-of-service limits, especially for long-haul or freight operators.
2. Cost Savings: Direct and Indirect
While the per-gallon cost of mobile fuel delivery might appear higher than bulk station pricing, it’s important to consider the total cost of fueling, which includes:
- Labor for fueling trips
- Idle time and fuel wasted driving to and from stations
- Wear and tear from additional mileage
- Opportunity cost from reduced operational hours
For clean fuels like hydrogen, where retail infrastructure is still developing, the cost of downtime is even more significant.
3. Reduced Downtime, Increased Uptime
For clean fuel fleets, uptime is everything. Many operate under tight route schedules or government service contracts. Missing even a few hours of operations can impact revenue or breach service level agreements (SLAs).
Wet fueling ensures vehicles are always ready at the start of a shift. No lines, no transit time, no scheduling conflicts. And in the case of hydrogen, which can take 10–15 minutes per fill, avoiding public infrastructure saves valuable time.
Also, mobile fueling helps detect issues early. Many wet fueling providers include automated tracking, fuel logs, and diagnostic add-ons, which allow fleet managers to spot trends in fuel usage or tank issues proactively.
4. Flexibility for Emerging Clean Fuels
Clean fuel infrastructure, especially for hydrogen, is still developing. California leads the way with more than 70 hydrogen stations, but that still leaves many fleet depots without local access.
Wet fueling solves this challenge by bringing fuel directly to fleets that may otherwise lack accessible hydrogen fueling infrastructure. This is especially critical in rural areas, industrial parks, or transitional zones where access to hydrogen remains limited.
Pacific Clean Fuels is a pioneer in the wet fueling space, offering mobile hydrogen delivery to transit agencies, public fleets, and private enterprises across California.
5. Ideal for Transit and Heavy-Duty Fleets
Let’s take a closer look at how wet fueling applies to two core sectors of clean fleet adoption.
Transit Fleets
Transit agencies operate large fleets of buses with fixed routes and centralized yards. These vehicles often refuel late at night or early in the morning. Wet fueling aligns perfectly with these schedules, allowing buses to be refueled during low-activity hours without disrupting operations.
Hydrogen is already becoming common among public transit fleets. As of 2020, 56% of all transit buses were either hybrid electric or powered by alternative fuels like hydrogen.
Wet fueling supports these fleets by allowing them to scale adoption without requiring major investments in fixed on-site fueling infrastructure.
Heavy-Duty Freight Fleets
Freight and logistics fleets face tight delivery schedules, stringent environmental targets, and rising fuel costs. Hydrogen is an increasingly popular solution in this space.
Wet fueling enables heavy-duty hydrogen-fueled trucks to operate in locations far from central depots, or to use mixed-fuel strategies while infrastructure builds out. Indeed, for the still nascent hydrogen freight sector, mobile fueling is often the only current solution.
Conclusion: Wet Fueling as a Strategic Enabler
The clean fleet revolution is well underway, but fuel availability, uptime, and infrastructure access remain crucial barriers to adoption. Wet fueling helps overcome these hurdles by:
- Delivering clean fuels directly to fleet locations
- Reducing downtime and other inefficiencies
- Supporting expansion into hydrogen and other clean fuel sources
- Enabling proactive compliance with state and federal mandates
Whether you’re managing a fleet of hydrogen transit buses or long-haul trucks, wet fueling offers a smarter, cleaner, and more cost-effective path forward.
Pacific Clean Fuels stands ready to support this transition with the mobile fueling solutions, technical expertise, and regional network to keep your fleet moving.
Interested in learning how wet fueling could transform your fleet operations? Contact us today for a custom consultation.
