Industry Insights
The future of transport and logistics
Our Managing Director Jeff Smith talked with the team at ANZ about the future sustainability of the Transport and Logistics industry – discussing challenges and our key focuses.ANZ Bank have just published the 2019 business insight paper on Transport and Logistics, titled ‘At the crossroads’. The paper outlined the need for change within our industry – specifically, shifting gears to create a sustainable future led by long-term relationships and imposing environmental initiatives. Our Managing Director Jeff Smith shed some light on the challenges the industry faces, including the transition to sustainability and what the future might look like for our industry.
What we need to create a successful future
Transport and Logistics is inherently important to New Zealand’s economy, generating 94,000 jobs a year. The biggest challenge for the transport sector is a shortage of drivers – the average age of a driver in New Zealand is 54, and at Swanson Transport the average age is 46. There’s been a greater demand for more drivers to join our workforce in order to keep up with our industry’s growth, but we need to attract younger drivers, too.
““We will grow from where we are today. There is every opportunity to move forward and achieve a lot.””
While catering for growth is demanding, we also need to work towards sustainability for our industry and its’ daily operations.
At Swanson Transport and Lupton Carriers, we’re at the forefront of these challenges. We’re working to:
Continue to upgrade our fleet and extend our range of specialist services
Provide a progression path for new drivers and warehouse staff into the Transport and Logistics sector
Integrate modern technology into our business as part of our sustainability initiatives
Maintain close relationships with our customers and identify where we can add value