LINX Cargo Care Group customer updates – Australia

As the COVID-19 pandemic situation in Victoria increases in severity, the Victorian Government is tightening its restrictions in response – metropolitan Melbourne has been in Stage 4 Lockdown since 2 August and fines imposed for restriction breaches have been in place for two days.

We advise that LINX Cargo Care Group’s businesses with operational sites in Melbourne (LINX Port Services, LINX Logistics and Autocare Services) continue to operate. Our industry is ‘open for on-site work’ however for some parts of our operations we will be required to have a High Risk COVID Safe Plan, which has now been completed by our Group’s Pandemic Management Team.

We are ensuring that all our workers in Melbourne, or workers who are otherwise required to travel through Melbourne, are supported to complete the required permits to allow them to continue to operate in accordance with the advice provided by the Victorian Government.

What’s happening in Victoria is a fluid situation. One that we are monitoring hour by hour and responding to accordingly to adhere to the changing operational requirements imposed by the Government to keep your services moving.

We continue to support the health and wellbeing of all our employees, including an increased focus on our Victorian-based people, while also minimising service disruptions and maximising safe operations for our customers.

Our advanced planning and risk management from the start of the pandemic by our Group’s Pandemic Management Team, combined with the implementation and maintenance of required protective and social distancing measures, means we are well positioned to keep operating amidst Victoria’s tightening restrictions.

We are also closely monitoring developments and Government actions in Australia’s other states and territories to ensure we are ready to respond if conditions change. Until such a time, it’s business as usual in alignment with the relevant Government’s pandemic protocols and advice.

We thank you for your ongoing support. We will keep reviewing the situation in Victoria closely and inform you of our response to any future developments that could impact your service delivery.

If you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to contact your key customer account managers.

We hope you, your loved ones and colleagues are safe and well during this enduringly challenging time for Australia.

As Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic slowly turns towards a recovery for most states and territories, our thoughts continue with those in other countries still battling through some of its truly devastating social impacts.

We’d like to thank all our customers for your support, cooperation and understanding as our Group has operationally responded to the changes and challenges the pandemic has created for us all over the last four months. Whilst effective, these changes require patience, strength and resilience and we thank you for yours, as we continue to uphold our commitments to you during this unpredictable and uncertain time. We’re proud to continue to support you navigate market demand volatility with the ongoing flexibility of our frontline workforce and wider operational and customer service teams.

Given our country’s pleasing progress, LINX Cargo Care Group is now carefully implementing a safe and staged plan to allow people to return to the office (where needed) from July. This approach aligns with federal and state/territory government directions and unless this advice changes, we aim to allow people who need office access to return to the office from 6 July. A date for a full return however, is yet to be set. The recent increase in virus spread in Victoria means this won’t apply for our people there until the state government advises it is safe to do so.

To ensure our people’s health and safety upon returning to the office, they will be required to keep upholding health and hygiene protective measures. We’ve prepared our offices with directional signage, additional sanitisation items and guides to help our people safely return to working in a shared space.

We will see you (in person) soon

If national and state/territory advice stays current, we intend to re-commence limited direct customer engagement in July. We look forward to meeting you in person when the relevant state or territory health advice and your company policies permit. We will, however, continue to limit interstate travel until August, at which time it will be reviewed.

Looking ahead

While we continue to manage our response to COVID-19, we are also firmly focused on our Group’s future, and are planning our strategic response to the market changes and trends.

The majority of our Australian markets continue to be negatively impacted economically however, our Group’s New Zealand industries are settling into Alert Level 1 and building their recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, with markets experiencing various levels of demand.

We maintain our care for the health and wellbeing of all our people and on keeping our culture alive, as we resolve to take on what this pandemic could still bring over the months to come.

Our operational and service responsiveness is a priority as we sustain our relevance and value for our customers as we together shape our markets for the post-pandemic world.

Across Australia, we are seeing positive signs related to the spread of COVID-19. New infection rates are declining and this is mainly due to industry and community adherence to the Government’s enforced measures and restrictions. This is promising news and evidence the adjustments we’ve made as a society are working.

However, we’re not immune from the global impacts to trade and combined with the local adherence to those enforced measures and restrictions, we are observing an adverse impact on our markets, industry volumes and our customers. The current ‘suppression’ phase of our country’s pandemic response is not to be mistaken for a quick jog to the finish line…we will be here for some time yet and it’s therefore never been more important for a resilient, long-term mindset.

As we evaluate the expert information of both the duration and impacts this pandemic will continue to have on our business and the wider economy in the coming months, LINX Cargo Care Group continues to be focused on our people’s safety, wellbeing and ongoing employment, and the Group’s sustainability and positioning once the current restrictions begin to relax and the economy starts to rebound.

One of the ways we are responding to achieve these objectives, is the implementation of temporary changes to employee working arrangements from May to July 2020 in order to manage our labour costs through the period. Our aim for our customers through this time is to ensure these measures have minimal impact on services and customers continue to experience strong operational delivery throughout.

We will regularly review this approach over the coming months to ensure its continued responsiveness to ongoing pandemic conditions and so that we are best positioned to return to full capacity when government advice permits and markets respond accordingly.

We trust you understand our proactive approach is to be prudent and prepared for business recovery post COVID-19. LINX Cargo Care Group remains committed to our customers every step of the way, we are stronger when we work together.

Please read below for further details specific to the LINX CCG business unit that serves you.

As the Australian and New Zealand Governments put further measures in place to stem the rising spread of COVID-19, our freight and logistics services continue to operate.

Supply chain services are now more important than ever, as we help make essential goods and cargo accessible to communities across Australia and New Zealand and keep our economies moving.

Freight and logistics remains an essential service

Throughout the recent announcements, freight and logistics has continued to be referred to by all governments as an essential industry and one that will help Australia and New Zealand get through the COVID-19 crisis.

To maintain business continuity and continue to deliver to our customers throughout the evolving pandemic, the LINX Cargo Care Group Senior Leadership Team and Pandemic Management Team are working with our management teams to implement business continuity plans and specific actions which will ensure we can quickly adapt to the changing situation for our customers.

We understand your business and industry circumstances are also evolving and changing weekly, if not daily, and we will continue to be flexible and responsive, while implementing measures and considered actions that meets your needs, and complies with Government and health authorities advice and protocols.

Employee health and wellbeing

The recent announcements of further restrictions across non-essential services, including strict new social distance measures and closures has definitely changed everyday life as we know it. No doubt, these measures have directly impacted your family, friends or many people you know who work in those industries. As addressed, these measures are for the benefit of all citizens and aimed at slowing the virus and saving lives.

In our workplaces, this means we are working with our front line staff to find ways to minimise exposure through increased hygiene and modified work practices.

You will soon hear directly from our senior management teams who will provide more detail on the implemented priority actions for each of our companies. These will ensure full compliance with government directions and employee management requirements for the safe continuation of your service, while ensuring minimal service disruptions and potential virus spread.

Keeping you informed

We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic globally and locally and keep you regularly updated on our response as we partner together through the difficult times ahead.

As an organisation, we are operating in unprecedented times and will be forced to make difficult decisions and appropriate adjustments while navigating the current climate. We look forward to trying new things together and doing things differently during this time to ensure we remain sustainable for the long-term, for our valued customers and people.

The Prime Minister of Australia last night referred to those working at the front lines as essential to our country defeating the spread of COVID-19. Freight and logistics has never been more important to Australia and New Zealand’s social and economic health. We are on the front line of this crisis, and I thank you in advance for your support.

Our world is facing an unprecedented time with the continued spread of COVID-19. LINX Cargo Care Group, and our five businesses Autocare Services, C3, LINX, Pedersen Group and GeelongPort, extend our thoughts to those who have been impacted so far.

The Australian supply chain and logistics industry continues to face evolving challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and our Group is taking proactive and responsive action to ensure we look after our people and maintain our critical service delivery across the country. Our priority, as always, remains the wellbeing of our people, our customers and the communities in which we operate.

We have implemented our Group Pandemic Management Plan, which aligns and complies with current Federal and State Government directions:

• We’ve increased our general preventative measures to ensure the health and wellbeing of our employees and minimise community spread, including international and domestic travel restrictions until further notice.
• Many of our office-based employees are now working from home and we continue to work through options to encourage and facilitate others to do so, while we ensure adequate support for our frontline workforce who are providing your essential services.
• During the global pandemic, we will facilitate meetings with you over the phone or by video conference so you can maintain contact with our teams, while at the same time limiting unnecessary person-to-person contact.

Our business continuity plans are in place to ensure we continue to provide services during the pandemic, and we are developing specific operations plans to ensure we uphold our service delivery to you through this difficult period. Importantly, we aim for flexibility and responsiveness in our interactions with you as we know your circumstances, and those of the wider industry and global impacts, require reactions and measures that can be adjusted on a weekly, if not daily, basis.

We are closely monitoring the external environment and following updates from government health agencies, to look after our people, customers and communities. As this situation evolves, we will continue to update you on our response to COVID-19.