As a long-time global freight forwarder, we're seeing first-hand the primary effects the COVID-19 pandemic is having on air and ocean freight shipping into Australia. These include:

In addition to the rather stringent Australian import requirements, the government-mandated COVID-19 safe practices such as temperature checks, hand sanitizing and social distancing; are without a doubt significantly slowing down our industry resulting in a number of never-before-seen circumstances for our customers.

All Transportation Sectors Affected
Once on the Australian mainland, the new social distancing laws and hygiene regulations are causing major delays with transit pickup and delivery of freight because truckers can’t make as many deliveries and pickups in one day as they could have done previously.

The eCommerce sector of carton and pallet freight has been experiencing massive delays as well due to the high volume of online orders from people staying at home during the lock down. Suppliers are struggling to revise their production and delivery systems to meet the higher demand. 

Transport and third-party logistics companies are also facing a variety of problems while trying to accommodate the abnormally high volume. A core issue is the reduced staff  allowed within the warehouses in order to meet new guidelines which is resulting in lower efficiency due to fewer workers to pick and pack the goods for delivery.

In the air freight sector, a majority of domestic commercial flights are being cancelled creating a major disruption in overnight delivery service and distribution to Australian capitals--such as Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne--and regional hubs. Of the remaining flights into Australia, the majority are now allocated to the capitals, leaving the regional hubs to be serviced by road freight. As a result, overnight transit is becoming multiple-day transit causing even more delays and increased costs for regional businesses.

Founded in 2004 as a subsidiary of DHX-Dependable Hawaiian Express, a transportation company founded originally in 1950, DGX has been helping commercial shippers navigate the global shipping and logistics waters and airways for many decades. And now, faced with the extremely challenging pandemic-caused issues, we find ourselves being called upon like never before to support our customers with their supply chain needs.

If you are experiencing problems or delays with your domestic transport to Australia (or anywhere else in the world for that matter), please visit our Australia locations page and contact us for options and pricing. You can also call us Toll Free in the U.S. at 1-800-488-8888, or email our Australian specialist here.