alpha trans

What alpha trans does

alpha trans Luft- und Seefrachtspedition GmbH & Co. KG is a privately held German freight forwarding company founded in 1973 and headquartered at Munich Airport. The company provides international air, sea, rail, and hybrid sea-air freight forwarding services, complemented by warehousing, order picking, garment-on-hanger processing, customs clearance, and door-to-door multimodal coordination. Operations span seven owned offices across Germany (Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart) and Greater China (Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai), supported by an exclusive global partnership with U-Freight Ltd. since 1988. Approximately 90 specialists serve mid-market and enterprise customers across electronics, industrial manufacturing, fashion/apparel, healthcare (non-temperature-sensitive), and consumer goods verticals, with particular depth in Europe-Asia trade corridors including Silk Road rail routes.

The company operates a custom-quote, transaction-fee revenue model across six service lines (air, sea, rail, sea-air, logistics/warehousing, customs), pricing each shipment on route, weight, transit time, and service level. Regulatory assets include AEO-F certification from the European Commission (since 2012) and Regulated Agent status from the German Federal Aviation Office (since 2006), providing priority customs processing and access to ATLAS, AES, NCTS, TRACES, and CITES systems. The technology stack is built around the Riege Scope Track & Trace platform and standard web analytics integrations; no proprietary AI/ML capabilities are disclosed.

alpha trans is led by a dual Managing Director structure (Rainer Hörmansperger and Tim Teubert) since 2016, with no disclosed external institutional ownership, private equity backing, or parent company. The company has pursued steady geographic expansion, most recently with Shenzhen (2025) and Shanghai (2026) offices, while maintaining stable headcount of approximately 90 employees. Customer segments are diversified across multiple verticals with no publicly disclosed anchor accounts, and revenue is not publicly disclosed.

Name

alpha trans

Legal name

alpha trans Luft- und Seefrachtspedition GmbH & Co. KG

Website

https://alphatrans.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1973

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

alpha trans is a privately held German freight forwarder, founded in 1973 and headquartered at Munich Airport, providing air, sea, rail, sea-air, logistics, and customs services across seven offices in Germany and Greater China, serving mid-market and enterprise customers in electronics, fashion, healthcare, and industrial manufacturing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Freight Forwarding

NAICS

Freight Transportation Arrangement (488510), Other Support Activities for Transportation (4889)

SIC

Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731)

akta.pro primary industry

Cross-Border Intermodal (Customs-in-Transit/Transit Regimes) Forwarding (TLACAEAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cross-Border/International Rail Freight Forwarding (TLACADAB), Ocean Import Forwarding (Destination Handling/DO/ISF) (TLACABAE)

Keywords

• Freight forwarding services
• International logistics
• Customs clearance
• Air freight
• Sea freight

Headquarters

HQ city

München

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Air Freight Forwarding: International air freight services including consolidated transports, customs clearance, door-to-door delivery, and charter services for urgent or large shipments
2. Sea Freight Forwarding: Full container load (FCL) and less than container load (LCL) sea freight services with documentation, customs, and delivery coordination
3. Rail Freight Services: Eurasian rail transport along Silk Road routes between Europe and Asia, including LCL and FCL options
4. Sea-Air Combined Transport: Hybrid sea-air transport combining cost efficiency of sea freight with speed advantages of air freight
5. Logistics and Warehousing: Storage, order picking, packaging, garment on hangar processing, inventory management, and distribution services
6. Customs Clearance Services: Complete customs documentation and clearance services including TRACES and CITES registrations

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

alpha trans is an international freight forwarder that plans, books, and coordinates door-to-door shipments across air, sea, rail (Silk Road) and combined sea-air modes. It also provides full customs clearance (ATLAS/AES/NCTS/TRACES/CITES), contract logistics (warehousing, order picking, garment-on-hanger, distribution), and shipment visibility via a Riege Scope-based Track & Trace system. Services are sold to mid-market and enterprise shippers primarily on Europe–Asia corridors.

Product overview

Alpha trans operates as a freight forwarding company offering six core transport and logistics services: Air Freight, Sea Freight, Rail Freight, Sea-Air (hybrid), Logistics (warehousing/fulfillment), and Customs Services. These core products are complemented by value-added services including Track & Trace (via Riege Scope platform), own consolidated shipping, and special consignments handling. The company functions as a unified logistics service provider rather than a modular software platform, with all services integrated through their global network and in-house expertise.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Sea-air transport up to 75% faster than conventional sea freight
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• U-Freight Ltd.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 1988Exclusive partnership established in 1988 providing alpha trans with access to a strong global freight forwarding network. This long-standing collaboration continues to enhance alpha trans's international capabilities and coverage.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves18 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• GEODIS: French global freight forwarder and logistics provider with air/sea/road/rail services and a strong European base; competes for similar Mittelstand and enterprise customers across modes.
• DSV A/S: Global Danish freight forwarder with strong European and intercontinental presence following the Schenker acquisition; competes across air/sea/road forwarding with similar multimodal offerings.
• CEVA Logistics: CEVA Logistics is a global 3PL with strong contract logistics and freight forwarding services and provides broad multimodal competition across Europe and Asia; relevant incumbent peer for end-to-end logistics offerings including warehousing that alpha trans also delivers.
• DB Schenker: German-headquartered global freight forwarder with extensive European land transport and intercontinental air/sea; particularly relevant competitor on European road and rail forwarding including Silk Road.
• Kuehne + Nagel: One of the world's largest freight forwarders with global air, sea, road, and contract logistics; competes against alpha trans on enterprise contracts and increasingly on European SME accounts with broader capacity.
• DHL Global Forwarding: Deutsche Post DHL's freight forwarding division, the largest global forwarder; directly competes on air, sea, and rail forwarding including Germany-Asia lanes where alpha trans operates.

Emerging players

• Flexport: US-based digital-native freight forwarder offering air, ocean, and trucking with proprietary technology platform; represents the disruptive digital-forwarder model that could pressure traditional mid-market European forwarders.

Direct peers

• Röhlig Logistics: Privately held German freight forwarder with air, sea, and contract logistics across Europe, Asia, and the Americas; comparable in size, ownership structure (private), and customer mix of Mittelstand exporters.
• Hellmann Worldwide Logistics: Mid-sized German-headquartered freight forwarder offering air, sea, road, and rail services globally with strong European SME focus and a similar multimodal product portfolio; the most direct comparably-sized peer to alpha trans.
• Cargo-Partner: Austrian-headquartered mid-market freight forwarder with strong air/sea/road/rail capabilities across Europe and Asia, including Silk Road rail; directly competes for European SME Asia-trade customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/alpha-trans-luft-und-seefrachtspedition-gmbh-co-kg

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about alpha trans