The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has launched an online survey of van users.

The survey, at www.smmt.co.uk/industryissues, is aimed at van operators, particularly those with smaller fleets.

“There is less information on the way people use vans than we’d like, so we’re running the survey to see how much more data we can find,” said SMMT spokesman Robin Dickeson.

“We’ll use our findings to help us and our members understand the market and some of the pressures that shape it.”

UK van sales have more than doubled in the past 10 years to in excess of 380,000 a year.

“Nearly half the vans on the road seem to work delivering goods, with the other half delivering services, many run by quite small firms,” said Mr Dickeson.

“We’d like to know more about how and why people run their vans so that van makers can use the information to deliver even better products and services,” said Mr Dickeson.