Amatrans

What Amatrans does

Amatrans is a privately held French freight forwarding and customs brokerage company founded in 1984 and headquartered in Nantes, with a second operations office in Le Havre. The company operates across four integrated service lines: air freight (Fret Aérien) with real-time tracking for urgent and sensitive shipments, sea freight (Fret Maritime) handling over 12,000 full containers annually via partnerships with more than 30 shipping companies, road freight (Fret Routier) providing pre- and post-carriage plus door-to-door service through 20+ years of carrier-chartering relationships with French and European trucking operators, and customs clearance (Douane) executed under its Commissionnaire en Douane license (Agrément number 4498) with a credit arrangement at Le Havre customs for bonded removal, suspensive regimes, and sanitary/phytosanitary compliance.

The company serves two primary segments: French SMEs (PME/PMI) requiring international shipping for full containers, groupage, or urgent air freight, and individuals (Particuliers) importing vehicles or relocating personal effects. Its technology footprint is conventional — a quote-based website funnel, direct phone/email sales, and basic real-time tracking on air freight — with no proprietary platform, API, or disclosed AI capabilities. Customer acquisition relies on direct sales and word-of-mouth referrals, evidenced by published testimonials from small-business and individual clients.

Amatrans generates revenue through transactional freight fees on a quote-based, pay-as-you-go model with no published rate cards; pricing varies by cargo type, volume, origin, and destination. Its distribution runs through direct customer engagement and a chartered network of carriers and shipping partners rather than owned assets. The company has remained independent and privately held with no disclosed funding rounds, acquisitions, or ownership changes since founding.

Name

Amatrans

Legal name

AMATRANS

Website

https://amatrans.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Amatrans is a privately held French freight forwarder and customs broker founded in 1984, providing air, sea, and road freight plus licensed customs clearance to French SMEs and individuals through offices in Nantes and Le Havre.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Freight Forwarding

NAICS

Freight Transportation Arrangement (488510)

SIC

Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731)

akta.pro primary industry

Air–Ocean Multimodal Forwarding (TLACAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Customs Brokerage for Ocean Shipments (Import/Export Clearance) (TLACABAG), Air–Road Intermodal Forwarding (TLACAEAE), International Freight Forwarding (Air/Ocean) for Personal Effects (HSAKACAD), International Vehicle Shipping & Import Assistance (HSAKACAJ)

Keywords

• International freight forwarding
• Customs brokerage services
• Air freight transport
• Sea freight forwarding
• Road freight logistics

Headquarters

HQ city

Le Havre

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. International Freight Transportation: Revenue generated from air, maritime, and road freight services. Services include full container shipments, groupage containers, vehicle transport, and personal effects moving. Pricing appears quote-based, tailored to specific shipment requirements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Amatrans provides international freight forwarding across air, sea, and road modes, combined with licensed customs brokerage. It serves both business customers (PME/PMI) requiring container, groupage, or urgent shipments and individual customers needing vehicle transport, personal effects moving, and import services. The company operates as a transit organizer, leveraging a 30+ shipping-line partner network and 20+ years of chartered European carrier relationships to deliver door-to-door logistics worldwide.

Product overview

AMATRANS is a logistics and international transport company offering a unified suite of services. The core portfolio consists of four integrated service lines: Air Freight (Fret Aérien) for urgent and sensitive shipments, Sea Freight (Fret Maritime) for large cargo volumes handling over 12,000 containers annually, Road Freight (Fret Routier) for pre- and post-carriage and door-to-door delivery, and Customs Clearance (Douane) as a licensed customs commissioner. These services work together to provide comprehensive door-to-door logistics solutions for businesses and individuals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fret Maritime (Sea Freight) Maritime transport solutions for voluminous cargo with complete customs management, including full container shipments and groupage containers for businesses, plus vehicle transport and personal effects moving for individuals. The service covers worldwide destinations via a network of 30+ shipping-company partners.
• Fret Routier (Road Freight) Flexible and reliable road transport for regional and international delivery, including pre- and post-carriage of full containers on 20'/40' chassis, full truckload transport (savoyardes, taut-liner, and surbaissés) across France and Europe. Delivered via a chartered network of French and European carriers.
• Douane (Customs Clearance) Expert customs clearance services as a licensed customs commissioner (Agrément No. 4498), including customs procedures, bonded removal, bonded storage, suspensive regimes, sanitary and phytosanitary compliance, and sampling/physical inspection support. Available for both businesses and individual importers/exporters.
• Fret Aérien (Air Freight) Rapid and secure air transport of goods worldwide with real-time tracking. Handles urgent shipments and sensitive merchandise ranging from small parcels to large cargo via Amatrans' global agent network.

Named customers7 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• 30+ Shipping CompaniescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAmatrans has established partnerships with more than 30 shipping companies worldwide, enabling them to handle over 12,000 full containers annually and respond to any type of shipping request at any time through their global agent network.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• CEVA Logistics: Global freight forwarding and contract logistics provider with French roots, offering ocean, air, and road freight plus customs. Overlaps in multimodal forwarding but operates at much larger scale and broader geography.
• DHL Global Forwarding: Global freight forwarding arm of Deutsche Post DHL, offering ocean, air, and road freight plus customs brokerage. Adjacent competitor for Amatrans' customer base with substantially larger scale and digital platform.
• Dachser: German-headquartered global logistics provider offering European road freight, air, and ocean forwarding. Comparable multimodal forwarding scope, though with significantly greater European road network density.
• DSV: European-headquartered global freight forwarder with strong air, sea, and road capabilities plus customs services. Comparable product mix but operates at significantly larger scale across more geographies.
• Kuehne+Nagel: World's largest ocean and air freight forwarder with global customs brokerage. Competes for the same SME and individual shipper demand but with vastly greater scale, technology, and direct carrier capacity.
• DB Schenker: European-headquartered global freight forwarder with full multimodal capability and customs services. Competes for similar SME and mid-market freight forwarding customers across Europe.

Direct peers

• Heppner: French independent freight forwarder and customs broker with multimodal services across Europe. Closely comparable in being a mid-sized French forwarder serving SMEs with integrated customs.
• Geodis: French-headquartered global freight forwarder offering multimodal air, sea, and road services plus customs brokerage. Most directly comparable given shared French origin, full multimodal scope, and customs capability.
• Bolloré Logistics: French multimodal freight forwarder with strong ocean, air, and road capability plus customs services. Comparable scope and target market overlap with Amatrans' SME and industrial customer base.
• GEFCO: French-headquartered multimodal logistics provider with strong European road and ocean capability, historically focused on automotive logistics. Comparable in geography and customer profile, though at larger scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Amatrans