Poltrans

What Poltrans does

Poltrans (legally POLTRANS Internationale Speditionsgesellschaft GmbH) is a German-Polish freight forwarding and logistics company headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, operating since 1969. The firm offers a fully bundled TSL (Transport, Spedition, Logistics) service portfolio across seven modules: sea freight forwarding (via Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Cuxhaven, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Gdańsk, Gdynia), air freight forwarding (via Hamburg, Frankfurt, Zurich, Warsaw, Gdańsk, Munich, Brussels), inland/road freight forwarding across Europe with its own fleet plus subcontractors, warehousing including cold storage and veterinary-approved handling, customs clearance (with AEO certification), oversize/heavy cargo transport including weekly US truck imports, and intermodal rail-road transport across five European terminals. Customers are business importers/exporters moving goods between Poland, Germany, and worldwide markets (primarily Asia and North America), with specialized capacity for perishable food importers and commodity traders requiring refrigerated logistics. The company is privately held under sole owner and managing director Bartłomiej Witkowski, who acquired full ownership from Polish parent C. Hartwig Gdynia in 2023 after registering as manager in 2020. Headcount stands at 11-50, materially below the historical level of approximately 100 employees when operating Hamburg and Berlin branches.

Name

Poltrans

Legal name

POLTRANS Internationale Speditionsgesellschaft GmbH

Website

https://poltrans.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1969

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Poltrans is a Hamburg-based, privately held freight forwarding company founded in 1969 that provides multi-modal sea, air, road, intermodal, warehousing, and customs services to B2B importers and exporters across Europe, Asia, and North America.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Freight Forwarding & Logistics Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Transportation (488)

SIC

Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731), Trucking & Courier Services (No Air) (4210), Trucking (No Local) (4213)

akta.pro primary industry

Cross-Border Trucking & Border Transfer (Linehaul, Transloading) (TLACACAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cross-Border Intermodal (Customs-in-Transit/Transit Regimes) Forwarding (TLACAEAJ), Drayage & Intermodal Truck Transfer (Port/Rail Ramp) (TLACACAE), Intermodal Rail Forwarding (Rail-Truck / Rail-Port Drayage) (TLACADAC)

Keywords

• Freight forwarding services
• Sea freight logistics
• Air cargo forwarding
• Customs clearance services
• Warehousing logistics

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Freight Forwarding Services: B2B logistics services including sea freight forwarding, air freight forwarding, land freight forwarding (road), intermodal transport, and oversize cargo transport. Revenue is generated through service fees for arranging and managing freight shipments for business customers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Poltrans is an international freight forwarding company that arranges and manages the physical movement of commercial goods across sea, air, road, rail, and intermodal transport modes for business customers. The offering combines door-to-door transport, warehousing in Hamburg (including cold storage for perishable goods), and full customs clearance services backed by AEO certification. Services are sold as a complete integrated TSL (Transport, Spedition, Logistics) solution rather than as discrete standalone products.

Product overview

Poltrans is an international freight forwarding and logistics company offering a comprehensive, integrated portfolio of transport services. The core offering consists of seven interconnected service modules: sea freight forwarding, air freight forwarding, land/road freight forwarding, warehousing and storage, customs clearance services, oversize heavy cargo transport, and intermodal transport. These services are designed to work together as a complete TSL (Transport, Spedition, Logistics) solution, enabling door-to-door delivery across global routes while providing ancillary services such as refrigerated cargo handling with veterinary approvals, customs procedures with AEO certification, and CO2-reducing intermodal options. The company operates as a single unified service offering rather than discrete product tiers, allowing customers to engage one or more modules based on their logistics needs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sea Freight Forwarding (Spedycja morska) Sea freight forwarding covering shipments from ports around the world with door-to-door delivery, primarily from Asia and the United States into Europe. Operates through cooperating ports including Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Cuxhaven, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Gdańsk, and Gdynia.
• Air Freight Forwarding (Spedycja lotnicza) Air freight forwarding prioritizing punctuality, CO2 neutralization, cost optimization, and time optimization. Operates through airports in Hamburg, Frankfurt, Zurich, Warsaw, Gdańsk, Munich, and Brussels.
• Road / Land Freight Forwarding (Spedycja lądowa) Road transportation across almost all of Europe with daily departures from and to Hamburg, using an own fleet and subcontractors. Handles general cargo, full truckload, and oversize cargo.
• Warehousing and Storage (Magazynowanie) Warehouse services in Hamburg including container reloads, unpacking and palletizing of goods, and handling of neutral, dangerous, and refrigerated cargo. Specializes in refrigerated goods and products requiring Veterinary Office approval.
• Customs Clearance Services (Obsługa celna) Comprehensive customs services including transit documents, fiscal clearance with deferred VAT in Germany, and customs release procedures. Backed by AEO (Authorised Economic Operator) certification DE AEOF 100779.
• Oversize / Heavy Cargo Transport (Transport ponadgabarytowy) Specialized transport for oversized and heavy cargo including tri-axle truck transportation, road permits acquisition, and large-scale logistics solutions. Includes truck imports from the United States and weekly US connections.
• Intermodal Transport (Transport intermodalny) Combined rail and road transport services enabling reduced CO2 emissions. Containers are transported by rail to terminals in Hamburg, Budapest, Gdańsk, Prague, and Busto Arsizio, with last-mile road delivery within a 100 km radius.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Cuxhaven PortscoreOthersPoltrans cooperates with major German seaports for sea freight operations. These ports serve as key hubs for import/export operations between Asia, USA, and Europe.
• Rotterdam, Antwerp PortscoreOthersStrategic cooperation with Benelux seaports for European freight operations and transshipment services.
• Gdańsk, Gdynia PortscoreOthersPartnership with Polish Baltic Sea ports for Poland-related freight operations, leveraging historical company roots in Polish-German logistics.
• Hamburg, Frankfurt, Zurich, Warsaw, Gdansk, Munich, Brussels AirportssupportingOthersAir freight operations through key European airports serving cargo flights, particularly from Asia and the United States.
• Hamburg Cold Storage FacilitycoreOthersPartnership with cold storage warehouse in Hamburg for handling refrigerated cargo requiring veterinary office approvals, including meat and fish imports.
• Hamburg WarehousessupportingOthersNetwork of Hamburg warehouses for general cargo handling, container reloads, palletization, and distribution across Europe.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• DSV: Global Top-3 freight forwarder with comprehensive air, sea, and road services across Europe. Competes with Poltrans across all modes and is active acquirer of mid-sized forwarders, posing both competition and consolidation risk.
• Kuehne+Nagel: Global Top-3 freight forwarder with strong sea, air, road, and contract logistics offerings. Competes with Poltrans on ocean and air freight forwarding lanes out of Hamburg and Polish ports but as part of a much broader portfolio.
• DB Schenker: Major European freight forwarder with land, air, ocean, and contract logistics. Overlaps directly with Poltrans's service portfolio; relevant as a former employer of the owner and as a large-scale competitor on the PL-DE corridor.
• DACHSER: Major European road and contract logistics provider headquartered in Germany. Overlaps with Poltrans on European road freight, warehousing, and air/ocean forwarding, though at significantly larger scale and broader network.
• DHL Global Forwarding: World's largest air and ocean freight forwarder. Direct overlap with Poltrans on sea/air forwarding and customs; relevant as a previous employer of Poltrans's owner and as the dominant benchmark competitor on global lanes.

Direct peers

• Hellmann Worldwide Logistics: Mid-sized German-headquartered freight forwarder offering sea, air, road, and contract logistics. Directly comparable to Poltrans as a multi-mode European forwarder of similar service scope, though at materially larger scale.
• Rhenus Logistics: German freight forwarder with deep historical ties to the German-Polish trade corridor, offering road, rail, sea, air, and customs services. Highly comparable to Poltrans's niche positioning on the PL-DE axis and multimodal TSL model.
• Gebrüder Weiss: Family-owned Austrian-headquartered freight forwarder offering land, sea, air, and logistics services across Europe. Closely comparable to Poltrans as a multi-generational, mid-sized European forwarder without public listing.

Emerging players

• Forto: Berlin-based digital freight forwarder focused on ocean and air freight with a technology platform. Direct geographic peer to Poltrans (Germany-based) and direct competitor on digital ocean/air forwarding, particularly for European mid-market shippers.
• Flexport: US-headquartered digital freight forwarder offering ocean, air, trucking, and customs with a proprietary platform. Represents the technology-driven competitive threat to traditional forwarders like Poltrans that lack a digital offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/poltrans-gmbh

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Poltrans