The article develops systems for the operational assessment of fuel quality indicators, schematic diagrams of sensors, evaluation criteria that allow: to provide the desired values of indicators for the operational assessment and implementation of operational properties of the types of fuel used that determine the quality of the power unit, such as fuel efficiency, emissions of harmful substances, noise level; to identify the main factors at all stages of the transportation process. The article presents the results of a study on the formation of a robust adaptive control method of a power unit based on the developed systems, schemes and evaluation criteria. In order to optimize the control system of the power unit, a three-level information and control model of the fuel quality assessment system on the vehicle has been developed. As a criterion of optimality in terms of the quality of the fuel used, the developed fuel utilization factor of the power unit was used.