Italy: a. hartrodt wants to grow with warehouse logistics

In order to further optimize the service offer in Italy, a. hartrodt is specifically expanding its own warehouse logistics: By May of this year, the 3.100-square-meter warehouse in Genoa, already equipped with three refrigerated cells, will also have a temperature controlled tunnel. "This will enable us to guarantee the correct maintenance of the cold-chain during unloading and reloading operations of chilled cargoes," explains Virgilio Gazzolo, National General Manager Sales and Business Development at a. hartrodt italiana. In the direct vicinity of the country's most important container port, the investment perfects the consolidation of temperature controlled goods that arrive by truck at a. hartrodt's warehouse and are loaded into containers for export.

Sales department grown to five people

Since the beginning of the year, Gazzolo has been responsible for the overall coordination of the sales department, which has grown to five people. After more than two decades in the forwarding company's sales department, he wants to expand further "with quality business" and hire at least two additional sales representatives in 2022. This is because Italy's economy is recovering from the pandemic: "2021 was a year of growth for a. hartrodt italiana – we have to manage that now."

Growing LCL exports to the Far East and Australia

The Italian company, with 40 employees, is growing in the sea freight sector with less than container loads (LCL), especially in exports to the Far East and Australia. "Since the acquisition of OTS Group, we have seen increasing LCL volumes to Australia," Gazzolo reports. Exports of full containers to the USA are growing as well, he adds. While LCL imports from China are also increasing, that is a "very aggressive market" in light of huge rate increases. Therefore, Gazzolo wants to increase "logistics activities, not just the shipment itself". He is also looking for a sales representative dedicated to the air freight business.

The Ukraine war is also having an impact on Italy. In transhipment ports such as Gioia Tauro, stranded containers for the Black Sea and Russia are delaying operations and causing additional costs. Rising fuel prices lead to price increases of 8 percent on average for trucking companies, which a. hartrodt italiana adds to its calculations.