COVID Logistics Industry Update

COVID Logistics Update

The visible impact of the Omicron variant on the Supply Chain is clear for many of us, as we see the empty shelves in our local supermarkets and shopping destinations. For the carriers in Australia, the impact is being felt in many different ways.

The consistent theme across carriers are listed below, however, it is really important to note that some carriers and regions are only experiencing mild to moderate disruption to their operations – whilst other carriers are experiencing moderate to severe impacts.

• Driver shortages due to quarantine and isolation requirements, impacting both collections and deliveries
• Reduced processing capacity in Depots, due to operational staff impacted by quarantine and isolation requirements
• Resurgence in remote work for Customer Service teams, impacting the connectivity between the operational and Customer Service teams at some carriers

The impact of the above issues varies significantly for each carrier and state, and the disruptions are expected to continue whilst the cases remain at such a high level. It is challenging to forecast when the industry will be able to completely reset to a new COVID normal, however, we are hopeful that the changes announced by the Government in regards to isolation requirements for essential workers will support the stabilisation of service levels more broadly.

Given the complexity of this situation, we will continue to share industry updates (where applicable) to ensure you have all available information for planning purposes. We appreciate your support and partnership during this challenging period. For further information on how the current COVID outbreak is impacting your freight, please reach out to our Customer Service Representatives.