Annually, much research is done to understand the trends and growths/declines of various industries, and the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (also known as BITRE) is responsible for carrying out research on the logistics industry in Australia. The latest research data (which can be found in the Australian Infrastructure Statistics Yearbook 2016) on the logistics industry in Australia foresees further grow in the New Year. With productivity and investments in the Australian freight and logistics industry at an all time high, the sector foresees to continue the upward trend in 2017!
By comparing statistics from the previous financial year (2014-2015) to the current (2015-2016), freight over road and rail with bulk and non-bulk domestic freight in tonne kilometres (tkm), i.e. total load carried x total distance covered. The statistics of the past years have shown the following figures;
| 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 | |
| Road | 205.7 bn tkm | 212 bn tkm |
| Rail | 367.7 bn tkm | 401.6 bn tkm |
*bn – billion | tkm – tonne kilometres
Movement of freight through the five principles ports of Australia (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Fremantle, and Adelaide) in Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), has seen increasing volumes over the years with 7.1mn TEU in these ports alone for 2014-2015 (up from 6.2mn TEU in the 2013-2014). Coastal shipping volumes have picked up following a slump in the years of 2009 to 2013 as follows too, showing an increasing trend.
| 2006-2007 | 2009-2010 | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 | |
| TEU | 127.6bn TEU | 116.2bn TEU | 104.5bn TEU | 105.4bn TEU |
*mn – million | TEA – twenty-foot equivalent units
The progressive increase over the years has given those with shipping clout, reason to believe the increasing trends and patterns in the logistics industry in Australia will continue to further grow in the financial years of 2016-2017.
With many improvements facilitated in the logistics industry of Australia, with much work being done to improve road and rail networks and interconnecting them with the ports and linkages means that efficacy has since increased too. The Port of Melbourne, the largest and general cargo port in Australia, and is also the natural transport hub for south-eastern Australia. It should be noted that not only does it connect to South Australia, but also with the east coast of the Australian mainland, New South Wales and the mainland port to transfer cargo to Tasmania. With road and rail connections being improved to and from the Port of Melbourne, great efficacy is expected. Improvements to the ports in terms of capacity and operations, such as channel deepening is also testament to improving facilities against growing the needs of the logistics industry in Australia. Employees in the industry too are optimistic of the growth in the coming year despite the economic and political insecurity.