The First Quarter

It has been almost four months since I started at Freight Victoria. I walked through the door at a time when Victoria and other states were dealing with the significant physical and psychological damage caused by bushfires. Four weeks later we were moving into the COVID world, and its global impacts. There is still a long way to go as we all navigate our respective courses out of this health and economic crisis.

During my first quarter, the ports, freight and logistics sectors have shown in the most visible way, their true value in supporting Victorian communities and continuing to keep our economy ticking over. Freight and the supply chain have become part of our common national language. There have been so many lightbulb moments in my short time, which prompted me to reflect on some of my key observations so far:

• The staff at Freight Victoria – their passion and advocacy for improving freight outcomes for the community and economy is inspiring
• The commercial ports sector – the sector is a complex interplay of functions, commercial arrangements and relationships to keep freight moving through our ports. Shipping lines, sea pilots, tug operators, channel managers, port managers, stevedores, container management, rail freight, truckies, customs brokers, freight forwarders, importers/exporters and regulators for borders and biosecurity all have their roles to play
• The local ports sector – has shown how important it is to a sense of place and community building, particularly in regional Victoria
• The trucking sector – who during COVID just got on with the job of delivering goods to supermarkets, distributed goods for food relief and made sure vital medical supplies and equipment got to places where they were needed most
• The rail freight sector – has been the quiet achiever moving valuable bulk and containerised goods without fuss around the state, to other states and to our ports.

The first quarter has been a whirlwind. After taking a few deep breaths (and hoping the frenetic activity slows down a little bit), I look forward to seeing what the coming months have in store as we cautiously work our way through recovery.

#ports #freight #supplychain #COVID #freightvictoria

https://transport.vic.gov.au/ports-and-freight/freight-victoria