The data will be used by Scala Logistics Consulting and the UK transportation department to set a standard that can be used by industry to benchmark their logistical efficiency against their peers.

Government's aim is to eventually encourage the food and drink industry to reduce the environmental impact of their logistics operations and hence carbon output.

Scala's managing director, John Perry, said workshops will be held ith representatives of industry to discuss the relevant environmental measures, which can be derived from available operational and management data.

"There is a growing awareness and enthusiasm for measuring environmental impact in the supply chain which will allow companies to take direct action to reduce this impact and measure success," he said.

"Initially the pressure was coming from senior company management and public pressure, but now supply chain managers have taken up the cause personally and have an obvious wish to see improvements."

Scala said yesterday that the survey aims to collect key performance indicators of food and drinks distribution logistics in the UK, a follow up to three previous ones done on behalf of government.

The new survey will include the drinks industry for the first time.

Scala wants to collect data on vehicle fill, time use, empty running, fuel consumption, and deviation from schedule.

In return, participating companies will be offered free access to workshops to refine relevant and measurable key performance indicators (KPIs).

Managers will also receive a confidential individual report comparing their own fleet's performance with industry as a whole.

The reports will identify what Scala labels as "real opportunities" to maximise operational efficiency, reducing both running costs and environmental impact.

The survey is a follow up to one done in 1998 of UK food distribution. The data was provided by many of the major storage and distribution companies, major retailers and food manufacturers.

"The 1998 survey provided, for the first time, verifiable and supportable KPIs for the food distribution industry," Scala noted.

Another government-commissioned survey in 2002 extended the coverage to include an increased number of participating companies, and to ensure greater representation from each of the three main distribution sectors.

The new survey will extend those studies.

"This survey will further improve the balance and validity of previous surveys, and, for the first time, will cover the drinks sector in detail," Scala stated. "To provide continuity, and thus further enhance the value of the KPIs, there will be another survey in 2009."

Previous surveys have covered five main KPIs - vehicle fill, empty running, time utilisation, deviation from schedule and fuel consumption.

This time Scala intends to review and perhaps refine KPIs with participants before the survey.

Results from another department of transport survey, which included data on environmental impact, was so successful that Scala said it had decided to establish an on-going measurement system.

"This will be designed to measure the environmental impact of a wider range of supply chain activities and provide an ongoing evaluation of developments and a benchmark for companies operating in the food and drink supply chain sector," Scala stated.

The Scala-sponsored workshops, each lasting two hours, will be held on the 6 November in Crick and on the 7 November in Hemel Hempstead.

The full Department of Transport report covering the Scala survey is due to be published at the beginning of December.