Big transport and logistics names endorse national data initiative
National Location Registry (NLR) will haul the freight industry into a new era, the federal government has promised.
The new digital tool provides a one-stop shop of pick-up and delivery location information to support the industry in getting goods to businesses and consumers.
This includes operating hours, weight and height restrictions for vehicles, entry points, driver amenities and safety requirements for each site.
The biggest industry player, Linfox, which, along with Toll and Ron Finemore Transport, backs the initiative, also gave the NLR a public thumbs up.
Linfox Logistics Australia and New Zealand CEO Mark Mazurek declared himself “excited by this opportunity to work smarter by sharing collective knowledge and data with their customers, the Australian Government and other transport providers.
“As a trusted national supply chain partner, our truck drivers visit thousands of sites, stores and locations around Australia to collect and deliver goods for our customers.
“The National Location Registry offers enormous potential to increase the efficiency of deliveries, and most importantly, increase safety for our drivers, our customers and our communities.”
Federal transport minister Barnaby Joyce said the registry will make it easier and quicker for freight operators to pick-up and deliver goods and take some of the stress out of their day-to-day work.
“The National Location Registry will benefit us all by backing a more efficient supply chain for our businesses and truckies,” Joyce said.
“For farmers, manufacturers and distributors, the registry will reduce some of the hassle and time it takes to get their products to where they need to go.
“Right across the country the collection and exchange of information about physical locations is all too often a manual process, which is costly to maintain and can lead to errors.
“The registry solves this problem by creating one digital platform which supplies logistics providers with all the information they need.
“This will make life easier for the more than 50,000 small businesses involved in Australia’s road freight sector.
“These businesses can now encourage location owners to list their pick-up spots and other important information on this one Registry, saving time and effort.”
Read about the Supply Chain Benchmarking Dashboard launch, here
Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport Scott Buchholz said the registry was kick-started by industry and for industry, with the support of the government, to deliver the data our freight industry needs to thrive and reach new heights.
“Industry participants are household names including Woolworths, Coles, Sanitarium, PepsiCo, Toll, Linfox and Australia Post,” Buchholz said.
“They have collectively brought centuries of experience in moving produce and goods to homes to make sure this registry delivers real benefits for our truckies, farmers and businesses.
“For example, a farmer that diversifies their plots to different crops and sets up a new processing shed can put this shed on the Registry so transport operators know exactly how to get in and pick up the produce to haul to markets.
“This will take some of the stress off our transport operators to find the new shed, ensure the produce is picked up quickly and smoothly, and means the farmer doesn’t have to give this information each and every trip.
“That’s just one example of how this Registry is a win-win for the sector, so I urge businesses to check it out and see how they can benefit – and make use of the two-year promotion where it is free to join.”
Canberra promises the NLR will grow and reach new heights as supply chain participants add their data.
Businesses are encouraged to register their location and encourage their suppliers and transport providers to use the Registry as well.
The NLR is a key element of the federal government’s broader National Freight Data Hub project, a $16.5 million investment to make a range of data available to support the freight industry.
This includes the recently launched Supply Chain Benchmarking Dashboard, which is providing detailed and interactive modelling of Australian transport and logistics supply chains across 130 commodities.
The NLR is managed by not-for-profit standards organisation GS1 Australia and is available at nlr.org.au.
More information on the National Freight Data Hub, and its initiatives, is available at https://datahub.freightaustralia.gov.au/projects/location-registry.