Apparel and Footwear Logistics — GOH and Boxed Freight from Italy

Key cargo types: garment-on-hanger (GOH) using double-deck hanging bar systems, requiring clean, dry trailer space free from compression; and boxed footwear with mixed sizes and models, where cubic capacity rather than weight typically drives the load plan. Main origins: Italy (Veneto, Tuscany, Florence, Prato), France (Paris), Spain (Madrid, Barcelona). Imports to Latvia and the Baltics move as FTL or LTL; exports from Latvia to Poland, Germany, and Scandinavia scale by volume. Multi-drop routes to multiple store locations are standard for retail chain deliveries.

In this segment, a timing failure often costs more than the freight rate: a collection that arrives after campaign launch can lose commercial value even without physical damage. Seasonal peaks (spring/summer and autumn/winter collections, Black Friday, Christmas) push demand for transport capacity and reduce availability. The practical approach: plan the route backward from the required arrival date, with buffer for border crossings and traffic. Loading at multiple factories in Italy (for example three production sites in Veneto or Tuscany) is done sequentially, and the load sequence is planned in reverse order of the unload sequence at the consignee. Retail DCs typically accept deliveries only within fixed time slots, which must be confirmed before departure.