A system for operating a vehicle including an engine operating on at least one type of fuel is provided. The system includes a locator element to determine a location of the vehicle, a characterization element to provide information about a terrain of the vehicle, a database to store characteristic information for each type of fuel, and a processor operable to receive information from the locator element, the characterization element, and the database. An algorithm is embodied within the processor with access to the information for creating a trip plan that optimizes performance of the vehicle in accordance with one or more operational criteria for the vehicle.