Apparel and textiles are unusual freight in that the cargo is rarely fragile and almost always time-critical. A shipment of garments that arrives six weeks late has not been damaged — it has simply missed its selling season, which commercially is worse. Everything in an apparel supply chain is therefore organised around dates.
The first discipline is backward planning from the on-floor date. Work back from when the product must be sellable, subtract in-country distribution, subtract customs clearance, subtract the realistic port-to-port transit for the lane, subtract the terminal cut-off lead time, and you arrive at a cargo-ready date that is usually several weeks earlier than people expect. Agreeing that date with the factory at order stage, rather than discovering it later, is most of the battle.
The second is origin documentation. Textiles are one of the most heavily scrutinised categories for rules of origin, because preferential duty rates and trade-remedy measures both turn on where the goods were genuinely produced. A certificate of origin that does not match the manufacturing reality is a serious problem, and the substantial-transformation tests for textiles are stricter than for most categories — cutting and sewing in one country from fabric woven in another may or may not confer origin depending on the agreement in play.
Third, labelling. Most destination markets have mandatory content, care and country-of-origin labelling requirements, and they are checked. A shipment that clears customs and then cannot legally be sold because the labelling is wrong is a total loss of the season, and relabelling at destination is expensive where it is permitted at all. Confirm the destination requirements before production, not before shipping.
On packing: garments ship either flat-packed in cartons or on hanging rails in garment-on-hanger containers. GOH costs more per unit of volume but removes the pressing and preparation step at destination, which for fashion product with a short floor life is often the cheaper answer overall. For basics and replenishment, flat-packed cartons almost always win.
Moisture is the quiet risk. Natural fibres absorb humidity readily, and a container that loads in a humid Chinese summer and crosses the tropics will generate condensation. Mould on a consignment of garments typically writes off the whole load rather than part of it. Desiccant and moisture-barrier liners are inexpensive relative to that exposure.
On mode: ocean is the default and suits the bulk of committed seasonal volume. Air is used for two things — the initial tranche of a new line where the retailer wants product on the floor before the main shipment lands, and emergency replenishment on an unexpectedly strong seller. Rail into Europe sits usefully between them for mid-season top-ups where ocean is too slow and air is not justified by the margin.
