Allied Express’s custom-built sortation system at its Bankstown Aerodrome headquarters is handling a 12 per cent surge in throughput without proportionate increases in operating costs, providing the courier company with the capacity headroom it needs heading into the 2025 peak season. The infrastructure investment is proving central to Allied Express’s ability to scale volumes while improving margins.
Sortation Technology
The Bankstown sortation system was purpose-built for Allied Express’s facility at 3 Murray Jones Drive, Bankstown Aerodrome — the company’s national headquarters and primary NSW distribution hub. The system, representing an investment of nearly $10 million, was designed specifically to handle the oversize and bulky parcels that form the core of Allied Express’s delivery mix.
Unlike conventional parcel sortation systems built for small, uniformly shaped packages, Allied Express’s technology accommodates the dimensional variability that comes with sorting furniture, sporting equipment, appliances, and other items that standard courier networks typically struggle to process efficiently. The system operates within the facility’s 18,000-square-metre warehouse space, with an additional 1,980 square metres of corporate office space spread across two floors.
Capacity and Cost Benefits
The 12 per cent throughput increase demonstrates the operating leverage that automation provides. By processing more parcels through the same fixed infrastructure, Allied Express reduces its per-unit handling cost — a critical metric in a business where margins depend on the efficiency of sort-and-dispatch operations.
Parent company Freightways Group has highlighted this dynamic in its financial reporting, noting that Allied Express’s bottom-line growth has outpaced its top-line growth, with infrastructure investment enabling volume gains without proportionate cost escalation.
Peak Season Readiness
Heading into the November-December peak period, the capacity gains from the Bankstown system — combined with the opening of a new 9,000-square-metre satellite depot in Melbourne — give Allied Express its strongest network capacity position to date. For a courier focused on oversize B2C deliveries, peak season represents the most critical test of infrastructure, as online purchases of furniture, fitness equipment, and other bulky items surge in the lead-up to Christmas.
The Bankstown facility also holds a 5 Star Green Star sustainability rating, featuring rainwater harvesting and solar power, aligning the company’s operational expansion with environmental performance standards.
Network Context
The sortation capacity at Bankstown complements Allied Express’s national network of facilities in Melbourne (Broadmeadows, plus the new satellite depot), Brisbane (Archerfield), Adelaide (Royal Park), and Perth (Forrestfield), supported by more than 50 regional agency partners providing last-mile delivery coverage across metropolitan and regional Australia.