There’s no denying the importance of general road freight in Brisbane. Numerous goods are delivered daily by local road freight and temperature-controlled storage service providers to their customers. But what about the rest of the country? How important is road freight transport to Australia as a whole?

If there were no professionals helping to physically transport goods all over the country, businesses in almost every industry would struggle. Unable to properly connect with one another and receive and send stock, businesses wouldn’t be able to run well or grow, which would have serious adverse effects on everyone.

The importance of road freight transport in Australia doesn’t end there. There are further reasons the industry is needed and affects every Australian.

It’s vital to the economy

Road freight transport in Australia can be considered a part of the backbone of the national economy. Not only because it provides much-needed support to most businesses across the country, but also because it’s one of the major economic contributors.

The road freight transport industry is huge. According to a paper released in 2018 by government-funded nonprofit organisation Australian Industry Standards (AIS), it’s made up of over 48,000 businesses which employ tens of thousands of people, whose average wage is more than $65,000.00. Having such a large workforce enables the industry to handle 30% of all domestic freight tasks.

The industry generates more than $95 billion in revenue every year. $40 billion of that total contributed to the Australian economy in 2017. It is responsible for transporting a third of all the goods around the country.

It prevents port congestion

A lot of goods move through the country’s ports every day. According to national-level ports community representative Ports Australia, over $1 billion worth of trade moved through our ports per day in 2018. That includes trillions of dollars worth of fuel and billions of dollars worth of cars and computers for the entire year.

Without the help of the road freight transport industry with hauling all the goods to their intended destinations according to schedule, the ports will end up congested. The only ones who can get the job done properly are local road freight transport service providers. These companies have the right knowledge and experience; for example, they understand the ins and outs of the pickups. They also know where all the drop-offs are at all the wharves, which they can use to save their customers time and money.

Needed to integrate all our logistics systems

The road freight transport industry is just one of the logistics systems that make up the country’s logistics industry. Aside from it and sea freight transport, there’s air freight transport.

Air freight transport is a small but important part of the logistics industry. It’s mostly used to transport valuable goods that need to get to their destinations as soon as possible, like seafood. According to the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities, the movement of cargo aboard domestic regular public transport (RPT) flights totaled only 38,000 tonnes in January, an increase of 7.4% compared to January of 2018.

The road freight transport industry may very well be the most important part of the logistics industry. Because it serves as the link between sea freight transport and air freight transport providers. Without it, there would be no way the goods at the ports or the airports could be transported. Making it to their destinations safely, properly and on time.

It ensures the logistics industry keeps with the times

Much has changed in the logistics industry in the last 20 years.

One of the most significant changes was the rise of e-commerce. It’s now an essential part of the global retail industry, with retail e-commerce sales worldwide expected to increase from $2.8 trillion in 2018 to $3.5 trillion in 2019.

According to German online portal for statistics Statista, the penetration of e-commerce use in Australia is 80.8% in 2019 and is expected to increase to 89.2% by 2023.  Australian sales make up a sizable chunk of e-commerce sales worldwide. That makes delivering goods more important than ever but much harder here.

Fortunately, the road freight transport industry managed to keep up. It learned how to handle cargo under the new conditions, enabling the logistics industry to keep working as it should.

Expected to keep growing, benefiting the country

The road freight transport industry is more important than ever in Australia. It’s no surprise that many expect it to grow in the next few years.

According to IBISWorld, the largest independent publisher of industry research reports in the world, the industry is expected to grow by 0.7% to over $46 billion in 2019.

The bigger the industry grows, the employment demand will raise. So, the more it will add to the national economy and the better the logistics industry will be.

Cannon Logistics is a specialist refrigerated transport company servicing many Abattoirs, Retail Supermarkets, Produce Growers, Foodservice Distributors, and Large and Small Manufacturers throughout Queensland. If you would like to know more about our services or book with us, get in touch with us here.