Cash flow pressure on small transport businesses is mounting as rising diesel prices, slow-paying customers, and new superannuation rules converge, according to small business lender OnDeck Australia.
Gaurav Soni (pictured left), founder and CEO of Adelaide-based Yes Financials & Property Management, said close to 30% of his clients now need finance at short notice, up from about 20% a year ago. Much of that growth has come from transport and logistics firms.
One recent transport client needed $130,000 to cover a short-term shortfall. Soni lodged the application with OnDeck at 5:09pm on a Friday, and the funds landed in the client's account at 6:37pm, 88 minutes later.
"Small businesses can't always afford to wait days for a lending decision," Soni said.
Average retail diesel prices across Australia's five largest cities hit 283.3 cents per litre on 30 September 2026, according to Australian Competition and Consumer Commission fuel monitoring data. That is up from 250.2 cents in late August and 176.6 cents in February, a rise of 106.7 cents in about seven months.
Slow payments add to the squeeze. CreditorWatch's April Business Risk Index found 7.09% of invoices in the transport, postal, and warehousing sector were more than 60 days overdue, against a backdrop of national late business payments that had reached a six-year high.
Credit data tells a similar story. CreditorWatch's August 2026 economic and credit outlook found transport, postal, and warehousing had the highest default rate in its asset-finance data pool, at 6.4%.
On top of that, Payday Super has tightened the timing of outgoings since it took effect on 1 July 2026. Employers must now pay superannuation with every pay run, and contributions generally have to reach employees' funds within seven business days of payday.
For operators who pay drivers and fuel bills upfront while waiting weeks for customers to settle invoices, these pressures can open sizeable working-capital gaps.
Cameron Poolman (pictured right), CEO of OnDeck Australia, said the challenge for many small businesses was not necessarily their underlying performance.
"It can simply be that money is going out before money comes in," Poolman said.
Poolman said real-time business data is allowing lenders to assess applications more quickly while maintaining credit and risk standards. OnDeck's proprietary Lightning Score model weighs revenue, cash flow, and trading history rather than property ownership.
The lender offers unsecured business loans from $10,000 to $300,000, although a personal guarantee is required.
For brokers, the trend points to growing demand for unsecured working-capital loans among clients with little or no property to offer as security.
Get the hottest and freshest property and mortgage news delivered right into your inbox. Subscribe now to our FREE daily newsletter.
