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The UK's biggest food and drink companies are clubbing together to share transport in a move forecast to take 800 lorries off the country’s roads by the end of 2008.

The initiative comes in response to rocketing UK fuel costs and growing consumer interest on the environmental impact of transporting food. It is backed by 37 of the UK's biggest high street names including Asda, Tesco, Waitrose, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Coors, Northern Foods, Nestlé and Unilever.

An estimated 23 million litres of diesel fuel and 48 million road miles will be saved through the scheme, cutting £30 million of costs at today's prices. The companies will also save on haulage, warehousing and vehicle maintenance costs.

In addition, the companies will save fuel miles by sharing lorries on specific routes. The scheme was piloted last year by Nestlé and United Biscuits (UB). Nestlé used to deliver 15 lorry loads of goods a day from its factories in the north of England to its distribution centre in the Midlands, of which up to three returned empty. UB, which was also running empty trucks, has teamed up with Nestlé, and the companies have now cut out many of those wasted journeys.

"We are determined as an industry to reduce our impact on the environment," said Alastair Sykes, Nestlé UK Chief Executive and president of food and grocery think tank IGD, which pioneered the initiative. "At a time when we are dealing with the highest fuel costs in Europe, it's particularly apposite." * Significant step* IGD believes the move will result in the equivalent of 800 fewer lorries on the roads, less than 1% of the country's 90,000 UK-registered heavy vehicles, yet a significant step for the food industry.

Trucks transporting goods for UK food and drinks companies travel about 3.6 billion miles a year, according to government estimates, with the companies involved in the project responsible for over a third of those miles. The scheme will cut 1.3% of total miles travelled by the food industry, and nearly 4% of the distance covered by the 37 participating companies.

Mr Sykes said companies had uncovered transport-sharing opportunities at a series of meetings set up by the IGD. "It's a bit like speed dating," he said. "Companies come to these workshops to see how they can buddy up with others."