Freight- local imports and exports

Freight is our biggest change factor at the moment.  We deal with freight all around Australia, imports from overseas and exports around the world.  I have broken it into the 3 categories to give you a bit of an idea what you must think of and how it evolves. 

LOCAL FREIGHT WITHIN AUSTRALIA   – You would think easy and normally it is.  Set costs based on weight of packages and only extra costs if they are going to more remote areas of Australia – usually FNQ or Northern WA.  A satchel or carton with a maximum weight of 25kgs - same price, and if large orders special rates and not expensive.  Easy right!  Through COVID19 it is the delays. Sometimes we get notifications if there are going to be delays but more often than not, we are notified of delays whilst in transit.

 Australia Post always advise but others not so forthcoming with information, so at the moment we account for extra days. 

Another point to note, deliveries need to go to a physical address, office or home and will be contactless deliveries, so they will leave on front porch or at reception.  If going to a PO box, they charge fees for this. 

IMPORTS TO AUSTRALIA – 2020 has been a whirlwind for imports.  COVID19 in China started the delays, followed by Chinese New Year delays, which are normal for us, and then of course into delays from all areas of the world due to COVID19.  We would have product on the docks and airports in different parts of the world and due to reduction of container ships and aircraft we had to (and still have to) wait our turn to get on a service to Australia.  Each port through Asia has their own restrictions and space.  So, when space is tight, prices increase!

About half of all air freight normally travels as belly cargo on passenger aircraft, and the sharp reduction in flights has seen forwarders scrambling to transport urgent consignments – not just of PPE and other medical items, but also goods crucial to just-in-time global supply chains. 

In many cases, prices and services are slowly returning to normal, sometimes however if there are COVID19 cases at any port, could even be the customs area, they close the port and the delays build up.  At the moment in Sydney we have a port closed so all ocean imports go to Melbourne and through customs there and then to Sydney. 

It is interesting to note, while lockdowns and travel restrictions have starved the skies of passengers, air cargo demand – particularly for personal protective equipment (PPE) manufactured in Asia and desperately needed around the world – has been racing ahead of capacity. That is not because more goods are moving around the world. In fact, the global economic slowdown prompted by the pandemic saw air freight volume plunge by almost 28% year on year in April.

EXPORTING FROM AUSTRALIA – all our exports through COVID19 have been airfreight.  We use TNT, DHL,FEDEX and UPS.  We haven’t noticed any difference in delivery times; however, it has been interesting to watch their flight path! Instead of normally going direct as possible point to point, they divert to areas that are definitely not on the way, all they are trying to do is avoid airports with problems or consolidate their cargo and pick up at points that normally would be on another run.  An example of deliveries to Germany might go from Sydney to Canada down to Texas across to UK then to Sweden and finish in Germany without many delays, we would often think freight was going to the wrong location.  We do however have delays in Customs – more than normal, but we know everyone has been trying their best.  Costs have increased on exports, along with duties and taxes which are different for each country, but they are slowly going back to normal, mainly due to the USD being better value for Australia.  

Freight is never simple, but always interesting!!