The purpose of this paper was to provide a critical review of the first ten years of the UK Government’s “transport key performance indicator (KPI)” programme which benchmarks the efficiency of road freight operations. Documentation on nine benchmarking surveys is reviewed and combined with direct experience of programme’s implementation to assess the general approach, the synchronised auditing procedure used, the choice of KPIs and resulting benefits to stakeholders. The programme illustrates how a benchmarking programme can become an instrument of government policy heightening awareness of best practice in freight transport and potential efficiency gains. It has been shown, across various industry supply chains, that similar distribution operations can have markedly different energy intensity. The programme has, nevertheless, been deficient in several respects. Too little attention has been given to the inter‐relationship with other logistical activities, the causes of observed differences in efficiency and subsequent changes in company behaviour. The UK Government pioneered this form of transport benchmarking. Other governments and organisations can learn from its experience, particularly in dealing with the practical problems of recruiting companies, balancing government and industry requirements and ensuring consistency.

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/14635770910987850

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