Industry Articles and Journals

By Steven Ballerini | CEO of Australasian Supply Chain & Logistics Association (ASCLA) Australia’s supply chains have been under sustained pressure for the better part of three years. Fuel price volatility, geopolitical shocks, freight bottlenecks, and the lingering structural weaknesses exposed by the pandemic have made resilience the defining challenge of this decade for logistics…

By Professor Ben Fahimnia Panic buying feels like self-protection. When people hear about war, rising fuel prices, or supply disruptions, the instinct is simple: buy more now before things run out or become more expensive. But panic buying rarely protects anyone. In fact, it often accelerates the very shortages people are trying to avoid. This…

By Steven Ballerini | CEO of Australasian Supply Chain & Logistics Association (ASCLA) Australia’s road transport sector has spent weeks absorbing one of the sharpest fuel price shocks in recent memory. Diesel exceeding $3 per litre in some regions, a wave of small trucking business collapses, and a worsening road safety toll have turned a…

By Steven Ballerini | CEO of Australasian Supply Chain & Logistics Association (ASCLA) Australia’s fuel supply chain was never designed to absorb three simultaneous shocks at once. The US-led military campaign against Iran, the partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and the domestic panic-buying wave that followed have combined to create conditions our logistics…

By Steven Ballerini | CEO of Australasian Supply Chain & Logistics Association (ASCLA) For years, Australia’s corporate response to modern slavery has been largely a paperwork exercise. Large businesses filed annual statements, ticked compliance boxes, and moved on. The Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s initial position paper, published in January 2026, signals that era is coming to…

By Steven Ballerini | CEO of Australasian Supply Chain & Logistics Association (ASCLA) Escalating military action in the Middle East has once again brought global trade routes into sharp focus. Following coordinated strikes on Iranian targets and Tehran’s subsequent response, the Strait of Hormuz has become the epicentre of concern for energy markets and maritime…

By Steven Ballerini | CEO of Australasian Supply Chain & Logistics Association (ASCLA) In a landmark decision delivered on 20 February 2026, the United States Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping global tariffs in 2025 was unlawful. The Court found that the…

By Steven Ballerini | CEO of Australasian Supply Chain & Logistics Association (ASCLA) Cargo theft is not new. For as long as goods have moved through ports, along highways, and across borders, there have been those looking to steal them. Traditionally, the risk was physical. Trailers were broken into. Loads were intercepted. Warehouses were targeted.…

By Steven Ballerini | CEO of Australasian Supply Chain & Logistics Association (ASCLA) Over the past twelve months, the performance of ASX-listed logistics companies has diverged sharply from the broader Australian share market. While the S&P/ASX 200 has delivered a modest gain of around four to five per cent over the period, logistics stocks have…

By Steven Ballerini | CEO of Australasian Supply Chain & Logistics Association (ASCLA) In early 2026, a controversial recommendation from the Productivity Commission pushed Australia’s trucking and logistics industry into the spotlight. The proposal centres on significant changes to the Fuel Tax Credit Scheme, including phasing out credits for heavy vehicles operating on public roads.…