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Young entrepreneur Jackson Meyer's freight forwarding business Verus Global has boomed in recent years with $74 million in revenue since it was founded in 2019, but the executive is wary about the potential effect of shipping "havoc" for the Australian economy.
Meyer explains the shipping and freight industry has not recovered since 2020 with mounting challenges including increased delays, higher direct costs, and higher demand with less supply.
He notes delivery time reliability averages have plunged to 57 per cent globally and there is no recovery in sight.
"The shipping and freight industry has not recovered from the troubles of 2020 and is plunging into even worse conditions," says Meyer.
"Sadly, we don't predict a recovery any time soon; strong demand, limited capacity and enormous equipment scarcity is causing on-going havoc for shipping."
He says a feeling of normal life is returning for many Australians but major international events and crises continue to affect our ability to import and export goods.
Specifically, this includes attempts to fulfil significant surges in US demands taking up already reduced resources and the current catch up after Chinese New Year closure, while more globally an increase in demand, minimised capacity and enormous equipment scarcity continue to create chaos for importers and exporters.
"Particularly in the US where heavy congestion is continuing to be impacted by COVID shutdowns and record high surges in import volumes," he says.
"This has a ripple effect on all other trades, the US is the highest yielding trade so shipping line suppliers are devoting the majority of their resources there to maximise financial benefits."
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