France Cargo Systems

What France Cargo Systems does

France Cargo Systems is a privately-held French freight forwarder and logistics operator founded in 1993 and headquartered in Herblay-sur-Seine, France. The company runs an international road-freight network spanning eight countries — France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Ukraine — with daily departures and a leading position on the France–Ireland corridor as the first French carrier to operate regular services into Ireland. It operates three wholly-owned subsidiaries: Irish Cargo Systems (1999), France Cargo Systems Tunisie (2002), and DEPOPHARMA (2003), giving it direct in-country presence on its key European and North African lanes.

The core service offering centers on B2B freight forwarding with a defined specialization in regulated and high-service verticals: pharmaceutical logistics under French Good Distribution Practices (BPD), temperature-controlled transport (cold chain 2–8°C and 15–25°C), and dangerous goods under ADR/IMO. The company holds ISO 9001:2015 certification (achieved 2017) and operates 5,050 m² of warehouse capacity to support these flows. End-customer segments are described as pharmaceutical, cosmetics, industrial, and food manufacturers. There is no proprietary technology platform, digital booking portal, or marketplace component evidenced in the available material; service is delivered through direct sales and operational assets.

France Cargo Systems is wholly owned by sole proprietor Samir SELMANE and operates with 11–50 employees. The business model is conventional freight forwarding — revenue derives from per-shipment margins, cold-chain premiums, and warehouse storage — with no disclosed pricing, contract structure, or financial figures. There are no external funding rounds, no venture or private equity backing, and no digital marketing presence; the firm appears to grow organically through corridor additions (most recently Algeria in 2021) and vertical specialization rather than capital-led scaling.

Name

France Cargo Systems

Legal name

FRANCE CARGO SYSTEMS

Website

https://fcs.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

France Cargo Systems is a privately-held French freight forwarder specializing in international transport across eight countries, with market-leading France–Ireland corridor service and pharmaceutical-grade cold-chain logistics for B2B clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Logistics Services

NAICS

Freight Transportation Arrangement (488510), General Freight Trucking, Long-Distance (48412)

SIC

Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731)

akta.pro primary industry

Cross-Border Freight Brokerage (USMCA/EU, etc.) (TLADAMAN)

Keywords

• International freight transport
• Multimodal logistics services
• Temperature-controlled transport
• Pharmaceutical logistics distribution
• Dangerous goods transport

Headquarters

HQ city

Herblay

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Freight Transport Services: Core revenue from freight transport services including daily departures to Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Ukraine. Services include groupage, partial lots, full loads, express, normal, and economy options.
2. Specialized Logistics: Revenue from specialized logistics services including pharmaceutical transport under BPD compliance, temperature-controlled transport, and dangerous goods handling through the DEPOPHARMA subsidiary.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

France Cargo Systems provides international multimodal freight transport services between France and seven country markets—Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Ukraine—offering daily departures, groupage, partial and full lot loads, and express, normal, and economy service levels. The company also delivers specialized temperature-controlled and dangerous goods transport, plus pharmaceutical logistics operating under Best Distribution Practices (BPD) compliance through its DEPOPHARMA subsidiary.

Product overview

France Cargo Systems is a freight and cargo transportation company founded in 1993, operating as a single unified service offering across multiple geographic markets. The company provides daily departure freight services between France and Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Ukraine. The portfolio includes three subsidiaries: Irish Cargo Systems (Ireland subsidiary), France Cargo Systems Tunisie (Tunisia subsidiary), and DEPOPHARMA (pharmaceutical logistics subsidiary). Core services encompass import/export, groupage, partial and full lots, express/normal/economy service levels, hazardous materials transport, and temperature-controlled transport.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 30% reduction in CO2 footprint for clients through optimized transport methods
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Irish Cargo SystemscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIrish subsidiary established in Dublin in 1999. FCS was the first French carrier to establish operations in Ireland, creating IRISH CARGO SYSTEMS to serve the Irish market including Northern Ireland. This strategic move positioned FCS as a leader in the France-Ireland transport corridor.
• France Cargo Systems TunisiecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTunisian subsidiary created in 2002, based in Radès. Established to meet proximity and service continuation needs in the Tunisian market. Serves as the operational hub for Tunisia route development including specialization in pharmaceutical logistics.
• DEPOPHARMAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPharmaceutical subsidiary created in 2003 to focus on medical, pharmaceutical, para-pharmaceutical, veterinary, and cosmetic product transport under strict BPD (Best Distribution Practices) compliance standards.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• DB Schenker: German-headquartered global logistics provider with extensive European road freight forwarding, contract logistics, and supply chain management. Overlaps with FCS on European cross-border freight forwarding, though operating at vastly larger scale and broader service portfolio.
• CEVA Logistics: French-origin global logistics provider (now owned by CMA CGM) with freight forwarding, contract logistics, and supply chain solutions. Comparable to FCS on French logistics heritage and freight forwarding business model, though at global incumbent scale with broader service portfolio.
• Kuehne+Nagel: Global freight forwarder and logistics provider with one of the largest European road freight and pharma logistics operations. Overlaps with FCS on European cross-border freight forwarding and pharmaceutical cold chain, but operates at global incumbent scale.
• Geodis: French-headquartered global freight forwarder and contract logistics provider with extensive European road freight and multimodal capabilities. Directly comparable as a French logistics provider operating across similar Europe-North Africa corridors, though at vastly greater scale and breadth than FCS.
• DSV: Pan-European freight forwarder with strong road and air freight operations and an active acquirer of regional forwarders. Comparable on European road freight forwarding business model and route-network strategy, with DSV's acquisition history making it a likely acquirer-type peer for FCS.

Direct peers

• Dachser: German-headquartered European road freight and logistics specialist with daily departure groupage networks across Europe. Comparable to FCS in road-based groupage/partial load services with daily departure cadence and European corridor specialization, though at significantly larger scale.
• Heppner: French independent freight forwarder with European road freight and multimodal operations. Closely comparable to FCS on French-headquartered, privately-held, mid-sized European freight forwarder profile with similar B2B focus on industrial and cross-border clients.
• Hellmann Worldwide Logistics: German-headquartered global freight forwarder with strong European road freight and specialized vertical capabilities. Comparable to FCS on cross-border European freight forwarding with daily departure cadence, and similarly mid-sized relative to global incumbents.
• STEF: French temperature-controlled logistics specialist focused on food and pharmaceutical cold chain across Europe. Highly comparable to FCS's DEPOPHARMA cold-chain pharmaceutical offering and temperature-controlled transport capabilities, with overlapping French heritage and pharma vertical focus.

Regional players

• ID Logistics: French-headquartered contract logistics and freight forwarding provider with European and emerging-market operations. Comparable to FCS on French-headquartered, European-focused logistics profile, with some overlap on pharmaceutical and industrial customer verticals though more weighted toward contract warehousing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/france-cargo-systems

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries3 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 France Cargo Systems