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176 transport, postal and warehousing reports · Australia

How long do large Australian transport, postal and warehousing businesses take to pay small businesses?

Large Australian transport, postal and warehousing businesses take a median of 27 days to pay their small business suppliers, 2 days slower than the median of 25 days for all industries. The industry ranks 5 of 18, where 1 is the slowest payer.

Figures cover large Australian businesses paying their small business suppliers only.

27daysmedian to pay small business
5of 18slowest-paying rank
34%of invoices paid late
826insolvencies, last 12 months

Where does transport, postal and warehousing rank?

Rank 5 of 18 by median days to pay, where 1 is the slowest. The dark bar is transport, postal and warehousing.

How many invoices are paid late?

At the median entity, 34% of small business invoices are paid late, 8 points above the figure for all industries of 26%.

How long do most take?

The middle half of entities pay in 20.3 to 32.9 days. A quarter take longer than 32.9 days.

How many businesses became insolvent?

826 transport, postal and warehousing companies entered external administration over September 2025 to August 2026, rank 6 of 18 by number of cases. This is a count, not a rate.

Businesses that sell to transport, postal and warehousing businesses can compare these figures with their own debtor days, or check how fast a single customer pays. Paidnice is debtor management software in Australia: it sends reminders and adds late fees on overdue invoices in Xero or QuickBooks. For the wider picture, read the accounts receivable statistics for Australia.

Which transport, postal and warehousing subdivisions pay slowest?

Road transport is the slowest subdivision at 28.4 days. Transport support services is the fastest at 25.2 days.

SubdivisionMedian daysMiddle halfPaid late
Road transport44 entities28.421.2 to 33.435.3%
Air and space transport21 entities25.220 to 3030.9%
Transport support services49 entities25.220 to 31.625%

Cite: Paidnice (2026). Australian transport, postal and warehousing payment times. https://www.paidnice.com/payment-times/au/transport-postal-warehousing. Source: Payment Times Reporting Scheme register (reports ending March 2025 to June 2026), ASIC insolvency statistics. Figures cover large Australian businesses paying their small business suppliers only.

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Questions

How long do large Australian transport, postal and warehousing businesses take to pay small businesses?

Large Australian transport, postal and warehousing businesses take a median of 27 days to pay their small business suppliers, 2 days slower than the median of 25 days for all industries. The industry ranks 5 of 18, where 1 is the slowest payer.

What share of small business invoices do transport, postal and warehousing businesses pay late?

At the median transport, postal and warehousing entity, 34% of small business invoices are not paid within the payment term. Across all large Australian businesses the median is 26%.

How many transport, postal and warehousing companies became insolvent in the last 12 months?

826 transport, postal and warehousing companies entered external administration for the first time over September 2025 to August 2026, 6 of 18 industries by number of cases. This is a count, not a rate.

Can I charge interest when an Australian customer pays late?

Australia has no general statutory interest on late business invoices, so the right to charge a late fee or interest comes from your terms of trade. Put the fee or rate in your terms and on the invoice before the work starts.

Method and sources

We took each entity's latest Payment Times Reporting Scheme report with a period ending March 2025 to June 2026 and grouped entities by the ANZSIC division and subdivision they reported. Each entity reports its own average payment time to small business suppliers; we take the median of those averages. Industries and subdivisions publish only with 20 or more entities. Insolvencies are ASIC series 1 counts over September 2025 to August 2026. The scheme covers payments to small businesses only.

Sources: Payment Times Reports Register (© Commonwealth of Australia, Payment Times Reporting Regulator, CC BY 4.0), ASIC insolvency statistics. Download the industry data (CSV).