Maintenance of Safety within the Workplace

The report focused on evaluating the issues faced in logistics network management at NSW, particularly with regards to congested roads, changes in climatic conditions, and driver fatigue. A new site in Moorebank was created, which is one of the largest intermodal freight hubs in NSW. The IMEX terminal will handle over 1 million containers annually, requiring effective maintenance of rail terminals by Qube.

Running head: LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT
Logistics management
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

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Executive summary
The report was developed to focus on the concept of intermodal company considering the
case study of Qube located in Australia. The major issues faced while managing the logistics
network in NSW were illustrated here and the logistics management strategies to resolve the
issues had been demonstrated as well. The major issues were related to road traffic, long distance
that resulted in delay of transfer of freight, changes in climatic conditions, etc. The resolving
strategies had been possible with the setting up of a freight warehouse in Moorebank Logistics
Park through use of rail for transferring the freight. The IMEX terminal was
developed for managing the transportation facilities and ensures that huge quantity
of freight could be stored in containers and delivered with ease and effectiveness.
Content

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s
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Background of the company............................................................................................................4
Case studies related to intermodal company...................................................................................5
Features of intermodal company.....................................................................................................6
Main problems at with the current logistics network in NSW........................................................7
Methods of resolving the issues of logistics network in NSW........................................................9
Involvement of NSW Government................................................................................................10
Sustainability.................................................................................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
The report is prepared to discuss the management of logistics by considering an
intermodal organization located in Australia and thus the Qube has been chosen as the case study
in this report. The background of the company will be illustrated at first and then various case
studies will be included related to the logistics management at Australia, The major issues faced
while managing the logistics network in New South Wales and the methods to resolve those
issues has been the main focus of the report. The report also illustrates how the NSW
Government has been involved with the management of logistics for ensuring that all the
functions of the organization are managed properly and proper outcomes are derived within a
very less time efficiently (Dekker et al. 2013).
Background of the company
Qube Holdings is one of the most reputed and established organizations, which has been
specialized in the management of logistics and management of infrastructure with several
operational divisions providing the best logistics services for the clients in both import and
export cargo supply chains. Qube is one of the largest providers of import and export logistics
services that not only provides the best logistics services but also provides diversified operations
in New South Wales. There are huge quantities of iron ore that have been loaded for the export
markets and the logistics operations include motor vehicles, heavy machineries and equipments
along with project cargoes management and handling properly (Myerson 2012). The division of
Logistics within Qube has managed to locate the different facilities in the major capital city ports
and allowed for transportation by road and rail container along with good quality customs and
quarantine services, intermodal terminals and international freight forwarding. There is also

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Qube Ports and Bulk that provides wharf side logistics support and manages the port
management operations in New South Wales, Australia with ease and effectiveness. It is one of
the major shipping and intermodal companies that offers not only the logistics services but also
maintains expertise through extension of port and facility development and management of
vessels, warehouses, handling of cargoes and both import and export supply chain management
(Lai and Wong 2012).
Qube Logistics is one of the major third party container logistics providers in Australia
and this has made it one of the best organization and owner of Moorebank Logistics Park in. At
present, Qube Logistics is one of the fastest growing companies that has developed its
infrastructure and developed various strategic logistics solutions at port as well as inland
locations such as in New South Wales in Australia. All these places are applicable to gain access
to the rail network for managing transportation and furthermore provide the service users with
good quality supply chain solutions (Fawcett, Ellram and Ogden 2013).
Case studies related to intermodal company
The intermodal features include freight transportation by taking it within a container or
vehicle done through various modes of transportation including air, sea or land. The
transportation can be possible with the use of rail, ship and truck without creating any
manipulations to the freight while transferring it. Highly skilled and experienced workers who
have proper knowledge about the labor manage the Qube Holdings, workforce and can handle
the equipments and machineries through lifting gears and handling safe vessels for maintaining
the highest standards of the cargo care. The company has managed to attract the new customers
as well as existing customers by creating better scopes and opportunities in business through

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management of investments in infrastructure and creating good partnership with the suppliers
and other stakeholders in business (Viani et al. 2012). With the involvement of a good
management team and proper ownership, Qube in Australia has managed to create partnership
with other logistics operations company and even managed the bulk and general cargo projects
with much convenience.
Features of intermodal company
The main features of the intermodal company are that the costs are reduced largely and a
lot of money has been saved for the long haul domestic intermodal services when compared to
the trucking service through road. Qube Logistics has saved more than 30 percent, which is even
higher than the surcharge of fuel that is used for managing the rates of freights. The environment
friendly practices have been embraced and this has resulted in lesser emission of carbon and
other harmful gases. For example, a normal truck produces more than 4.4 metric tons of carbon
while transferring a 44,000 pounds freight. If the freight is transferred by intermodal rail, then it
is seen to have emitted nearly half of carbon, which has helped in maintaining an ecological
balance in nature (Schönsleben 2016). The costs of fuel are also reduced when transferred
through rail and it can also reach the destination within a significant lesser time. The
transportation of freight via rail is much safer than the road trucks and there have been records
that showed efficiency of transferring freight by rail with safety. The hazardous materials are
transported more safety by train rather than by over-the-road truck services (Grant 2012).
Intermodal Group Pty. Ltd. is another intermodal organization that delivers the best
industry practices of managing rail transportation and containers used for storage in the Western
region of Australia and in New South Wales too. The intermodal Link Services has been linked

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along with the Intermodal Container Services for enhancing the capacity, experience and
contribution to the customers through delivery of effective logistics services and makes the
organization more commercially viable. This is managed by ensuring that environment friendly
approaches are considered while managing the transportation and storage of various things in
containers. The Chain of responsibility legislation has been followed to follow the most suitable
steps by the intermodal company (Zhang et al. 2013). Therefore, these are the main features of
the intermodal companies located in Australia.
Main problems at with the current logistics network in NSW
There are several problems with the logistics network that have been faced in New South
Wales, Australia. There could be geographical, demographical, environmental, legislation and
technological challenges that might hinder the management of successful logistics operations by
Qube in Australia. The geographical challenges or problems include both urban and regional
issues for the intermodal companies in Australia. The urban problems and challenges included
traffic congestion, which reduced the efficiency of timely delivery of freight by the intermodal
companies and even resulted in delay of freight transfer due to congested road and high amounts
of traffic. The areas of New South Wales experience high traffic congestion and due to this many
freights are not transferred at the right time by the truck services (Allen, Browne and Cherrett
2012). Though a number of motorways are constructed, these remain highly congested. There are
regional challenges such as issues related to distance, animals and conditions of roads.
Most of the transportation networks include toll roads that are needed to paid while
passing with the sue of an electronic tag. The E-tag registers the vehicle automatically and the
toll cost is deducted. While transferring larger amounts of freights, heavy vehicle might need to

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use the return route and in such cases, tolls would be paid multiple times, thereby creating major
issues as well. One of the major problems with the logistics network in NSW is the distance
between places, which not only creates issues like longer time of delivery but also fatigue and
tiredness of drivers who drive the trucks for such long distance. Another major issue is the
presence of kangaroos in large numbers in the suburban areas of New South Wales (Johnson
2012). There were many of accidents caused by kangaroos and this had even resulted in serious
and fatal injuries to the drivers. The demographical challenges could be related to the ageing
population and lack of ability to meet the needs and requirements of the population in New South
Wales. There are environmental challenges related to the logistics network and operations
management such as changes in climatic conditions can create difficulties for transportation of
freight from one place to another place within the desired time. In the winter season, there could
be closed roads in many areas due to the snowfalls and this might even lead to other dangers
while transferring the freight from one place to another. The intermodal company uses heavy
vehicles like trucks, semi trailers and axle trucks that avoid these areas, because these are
accident prone areas near the New South Wales (Zhang and Zhao 2012). Other sources of
challenges could be the occurrence of natural disasters such as bushfires, floods and cyclones.
The legislative challenges include the challenges at operational and strategic levels. The
disagreements by Government could prevent proper funding and this might result in not building
proper roads on time. Thus, it could be harmful for the logistics operations in case the roads and
rail routes are not built properly (Forslund 2012).

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There are technical challenges like use of modern technologies by Qube and Moorebank
Logistics Park can incur huge amounts of additional costs. Lack of integrated
systems like ERP could be difficult for the company and this would even disturb the
exchange and flow of data and information with ease and effectiveness. The density
of population is low in Australia though its size is quite big, which makes it
difficult for the intermodal company to implement new machineries and equipments
for managing logistics operations successfully ( Christopher 2016).
Methods of resolving the issues of logistics network in NSW
The approaches followed to overcome the issue of congestion in road could be the
development of motorways. This would not only avoid the smaller arterial roads with traffic
lights and could enable the trucks transport the freights within quick time. The intermodal
company also uses the transfer of freight by railways, which is useful for preventing road traffic
as well as reach the destination within a lesser time when compared to transportation by road.
Transfer of freight by rail would also reduce the paying of toll tax on roads and this could create
a lot of savings as well. To prevent issues related to distance, the long distance transportation
should be planned at first for identifying the amount of money that might be incurred and
furthermore assume the additional expenses while transferring of freight within New South
Wales (Armstrong et al. 2015). The kangaroos are harmed and have often been the causes of
serious accidents on roads. To reduce such issues, bull bars are recommended for usage in
vehicles to prevent damages largely. The logistics management intermodal company must adapt
to the growth in demands and preferences of customers to overcome the demographic challenges
with utmost ease and effectiveness. Changes in Climatic conditions is unpreventable, still it is
important to reduce the waste production and follow environment friendly approaches to reduce

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the impact of pollution on the environment. Use of renewable energy sources is essential for
implementing the logistics operations in an effective way (Dima, Ţenescu and Bosun 2014).
During the winter, snowfall can interrupt the rail traffic and result in delay of services. In
such cases, freight can be transferred by managing air transport. The large airports are located
near the coast where snowfall is very rare. The Government funding and agreements can help in
overcoming the legislative issues and furthermore ensure that the organization aligns with the
transport regulations. The work safety is maintained by allowing the warehouse workers, drivers
and management employees to wear vests, safety glasses and steel capped boots. Moorebank
Logistics Park has developed an IMEX terminal to manage transportation of 1.05
million TEU of freight and some additional 0.5 million TEU of interstate freight as well. The
company has designed a highly configured warehouse to manage the auxiliary services properly
too (Kannan et al. 2012). A rail connection is established as well to the Southern Sydney Freight
Line for allowing the freight to be delivered to the park along with accessibility. There are also
roads near the place that can deliver better supply chain solution and save both time and costs
easily.
Involvement of NSW Government
The NSW Government has created a huge impact by facilitating the delivery of
intermodal project of Moorebank Intermodal and has created an integrated freight terminal along
with a port shuttle to port botany. NSW Government has contributed largely to this project by
reviewing the findings of the business and then managed investments for the development of
freight terminal facilities that are linked with the Port Botany by rail, which can not only reduce
issues like congestion on road but will also ensure timely delivery of freight. With the

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involvement of Government, more than $10 billion is generated, which has led to the growth in
economy, reduced traffic, accidents and higher productivity too (Das and Chowdhury 2012). As
the project is completed now, Government of NSW wants to optimize the private sector
investments, integrate the expertise level for delivering an advanced IMT, and manage the
logistics operations properly.
Sustainability
Qube's Moorebank intermodal hub logistics is committed to social responsibilities and
maintaining sustainability. The company has supported communities and charities including
Wilderness Society, Royal Children Hospital, Beyond Blue, etc. and even provided support and
monetary help to the disabled and unprivileged children within the society. To maintain a
sustainable environment, the intermodal company has worked across external operations and
provided a safe working environment for employees by following the Logistics policy. Safety
vests, glasses and boots are used to eliminate any occurrence of accidents and Qube has
maintained a strong and impressive safety record as well (Hatefi and Jolai 2014). It showed that
all the workers of the organization are skilled, knowledgeable and are informed about the
approaches regarding maintenance of safety within the workplace.
Conclusion
The focus of the report was to evaluate the various issues faced during the logistics
network management at NSW and how those could be overcome. The issues were mainly related
to the congested road, changes in climatic conditions and fatigue of drivers that they experience
while travelling to longer distances. A new 243 hectare site in Moorebank was created, which
had been one of the largest intermodal freight hub in NSW. The IMEX terminal would handle

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more than 1 million containers every year and all these logistics operations should be managed
by Qube through maintenance of rail terminals. The site would fill up most of the place to
accommodate two railway terminals and more than 850,000 square meters of warehousing that
would be quite effective for handling freight, thereby ensuring proper transportation and asset
management rights too.

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