Off-highway fuel use is one of the most overlooked rebate opportunities in the IFTA framework. While most IFTA conversations focus on interstate travel, off-highway movement is often where fleets can capture immediate savings—and several states allow refunds without requiring gated or fenced property.
This article stays laser-focused on off-highway fuel, not cross-state compliance.
So.. What Exactly Counts as Off-Highway Use?
Well it depends, and it vary by states, generally off-highway use includes:
- Job-site movement
- Travel on gravel, dirt, or unmaintained roads
- Forestry, mining, ag, or industrial site activity
- Terminal or yard movement
- Any area not maintained by a public agency
States With Easier Off-Highway Refund Rules
Below are some states that do not require gated or restricted property for off-highway eligibility. Each focuses on whether the road is publicly maintained, not whether the site is fenced.
Minnesota
Surface & maintenance, not access control
North Dakota
Any non-highway surface qualifies
South Dakota
Broad definition of non-public roads
Idaho
Private or non-maintained roads—gated or not
Oregon*
Weight-mile refunds for off-road operation
Many fleets still assume:
“Off-highway refunds only apply if we’re inside a gated yard.”
That’s not the rule in several states.… AND your fleet may qualify for refunds even on open-access job sites or industrial complexes. Far more locations qualify as off-highway than most fleets realize. Shopping centers, storage yards, customer facility complexes, distribution lots, equipment yards, freight terminals, and similar areas often sit on privately owned or non-maintained surfaces. Even though these sites may be open-access and look like everyday drive-through areas, they typically meet the threshold for off-highway use because they are not maintained by a public road authority. This creates consistent, legitimate refund opportunities that MANY traditional fleets overlook.
How Telematics Makes Off-Highway Capture Easy
If you're already running Motive, Samsara, or Geotab, you already have 90% of what you need to capture off-highway fuel accurately.
The key is having powerful geofences that can:
- Precisely outline job sites, gravel lots, pits, quarries, terminals, and non-public roads
- Track entry and exit events reliably
- Support exportable mile or engine-hour reports for your IFTA filings
- Handle irregular shapes (polygon-based geofences)
- Scale across hundreds or thousands of privately owned sites
Modern telematics provides:
- The ability to capture and report on off-highway mileage
- Time-on-site metrics
- Engine-load/idle detail (useful in some refund programs)
- Mileage on site, or fuel consumed on site
- Clean audit trails for state review
When combined with strong geofence logic, off-highway recovery becomes a repeatable, paperwork-light workflow instead of a manual headache
Practical Takeaways
- Don’t assume a gate is required—many states don’t care.
- Use telematics to automate the entire capture process.
- Off-highway refunds often pay for themselves in the first quarter of tracking.
If you are interested in learning more about off-highway fuel rebates and IFTA. Reach out today! www.kestrelinsights.com
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