Transport & Freight

ValIndex's multiples table puts Swiss freight companies at 3.5–5.5× EBITDA in transactions and 2.5–3.5× EBITDA on statutory valuations. Margins are thin — Hupac reported an EBIT margin of 1.9% for 2025 — so buyers pay for contracts with regular volumes, specialist services (chemicals, healthcare, temperature-controlled) and dense networks rather than for trucks. Depots and property are usually valued separately and can be worth more than the transport business itself.

Buyers look at: (1) customer contracts — duration, volumes and concentration; (2) the fleet — age, emission class and the share of electric vehicles, which are exempt from the LSVA heavy-vehicle fee; (3) drivers and dispatchers who stay after the sale; (4) specialisation, such as dangerous goods, healthcare or temperature-controlled transport; (5) depots and property, which are often separated from the operating business. Dependence on one large customer is the most common reason for a discount.

BFS STATENT counted 4,179 road freight companies, 16 rail freight operators and 878 forwarders and other transport-service firms in 2024 — 5,073 companies with 72,606 employees. A further 1,004 removal firms are counted separately. The number of road hauliers has fallen from 4,956 in 2011, while the average haulier grew from 6.9 to 8.6 full-time equivalents. Zurich has 614 road hauliers, Aargau 459, Bern 396 and Vaud 257.

Most road hauliers are family businesses, and many owners sell to larger groups rather than to a family successor: the number of hauliers fell by 16% between 2011 and 2024 while employment held steady. Groups such as Planzer take over customer contracts, drivers and vehicles — sometimes only the transport part of a business, as with Papyrus Schweiz in January 2026. Sellers with regular contracts, a modern fleet and a stable driver team are the easiest to place; the depot property is often sold or leased separately.

Five trends: (1) rail lost share to the road — 37% of freight in 2024, the lowest in fifteen years, and 68.6% across the Alps in 2025; (2) SBB Cargo shrinks its single-wagon network from about 280 to 230 points in December 2026; (3) fewer, larger hauliers, with Planzer and DSV consolidating; (4) electric trucks entering the fleets of Planzer, Camion Transport and Galliker; (5) thin margins in intermodal and chemical logistics, with Hupac at a 1.9% EBIT margin in 2025.

The main risks are: (1) customer concentration and short contracts; (2) weak industrial and export demand, especially in chemicals; (3) unreliable rail corridors until the Rhine–Alpine works are finished around 2029, which hurts intermodal operators; (4) driver recruitment and retention; (5) fleet investment needs for new emission rules and electrification. Due diligence should check contracts, fleet age and emission classes, driver turnover and the ownership of depots.

Fleet and fuel (about 33% of revenue) and personnel (about 32%) are the largest costs of a mid-sized haulier, followed by insurance and compliance (10%), depots (7%), administration and IT (6%) and the LSVA heavy-vehicle fee and road charges (5%), leaving an EBITDA margin of about 7%. These shares are indicative, not measured — no Swiss statistic publishes them. Published results confirm thin margins: Hupac reported an EBIT margin of 1.9% for 2025.

Zurich is the largest cluster (614 road hauliers and 131 forwarders with 9,213 employees around the airport). Aargau has the largest road freight workforce (5,512 employees), with Solothurn around the Olten junction. Basel is the gateway for imports via the Rhine ports, with 3,294 forwarding employees in Basel-Stadt. Eastern Switzerland (707 hauliers) and Central Switzerland (495) host family groups such as Camion Transport and Galliker, and Ticino (242 hauliers, 133 forwarders and customs firms) serves transalpine transit (BFS STATENT 2024).