Freight Rates

Freight rates continue to stay at very low records despite efforts from the shipping lines to constrict space through the use of blank sailings.
There has been efforts to implement General Rate Increases (GRI’s) however the market has not accepted these increases and therefore rates are staying low.

Airfreight terminal handling Rates:

Qantas has advised the industry of an increase in their local terminal handling rates for airfreight around the country. There is no doubt that Menzies and Dnata will also implement these changes.

All charges have increased by a small amount in relative terms and we will need to pass these increases through for all airfreight shipments.

Terminal Handling and timeslot charges – FCL:

All terminal operators in Australia have increased their infrastructure fees and/or created new fees to continue to increase the local charges.

DP World have implemented an “Energy Fee” of around $10.00. Patricks have implemented a container surcharge fee and all operators have increase their actual infrastructure fees.

As an extension to this the timeslot operators have also increased their fees.

Overall this means there will be additional charges on the invoices from VoxGroup so we can be transparent with where the charges are coming from.

LCL Deliveries and timeslots:

The industry has seen an explosion of LCL timeslot requirements and with it the timeslot fees.

What started as a $10.00 fee at one depot has now expanded to fees from $25 to $40 per timeslot. What we haven’t seen is the increase in efficiency at the depots as the timeslots are not leading to quicker turnaround times at the depots.

The implementation of timeslots has lead to difficulties with transport operators and we are also receiving increases in the costs of LCL deliveries. We continue to negotiate to negate these increases as much as possible however there will be small increases in delivery costs.

The industry associations continue to advocate for Government intervention in the escalation of costs at both the terminals and the depots however there does not appear to be any potential change in the process in the near future.

Should you require further information please speak to one of our staff members and we can provide a more detailed explanation.