This study, conducted in the freight distribution market, aims to improve the management and understanding of service quality in an industrial context. A random sample of data collected from a large industrial service-providing organisation and its industrial customers is used to develop and test two major scales. The first, INDQUAL, measures industrial service quality, while the second, INDPROB, measures service quality in freight-specific problem areas. Using the scales, differences in service expectations, perceptions of performance and perceived service quality between and within organisational hierarchies are examined. A conceptual model illustrating potential discrepancies at the strategic, administrative and operational levels of the buyer-seller interface serves as a basis for the analysis. The possibility of profiling industrial customers based on their perceived service quality evaluations is also addressed. The results of the study are discussed, with particular emphasis being placed on their managerial implications. Finally, a number of suggestions for future research are outlined.