Since its foundation in 1976 by nine independent Danish hauliers, the company has achieved rapid expansion and international presence, predominantly through a series of strategic competitor acquisitions, some of the most important ones being Samson Transport (1997), DFDS Dan Transport Group (2000), J.H.Bachmann (2004), Frans Maas (2006), ABX LOGISTICS (2008), UTi Worldwide, Inc. (2016), Panalpina Welttransport (Holding) AG (2019) and Agility Global Integrated Logistics (GIL) (2021).

With headquarters in Hedehusene (near Copenhagen), Denmark, and offices in more than 80 countries, DSV employs 74,000 people, including temporary workers and collaborates with partners and agents globally.

Its main activities lie within road transport (trucking) networks in Europe, North America and South Africa, global air and sea freight forwarding business, and contract logistics across the globe.

As part of an asset-light financial strategy to maintain fixed costs at a minimum and be able to quickly respond to market fluctuations, the group does not own any ships or aeroplanes and only a relatively small fleet of trucks and trailers.

[1] In 1976, Leif Tullberg and nine independent haulers established DSV, an initialism for "De Sammensluttede Vognmænd af 13-7 1976 A/S" (The Joint Hauliers of 13-7 1976).

[3] Seeking a foothold on the international market, DSV bought two competing export companies in 1989, Borup Autotransport A/S and Hammerbro A/S-Bech Trans.

The acquisition of the Dutch Frans Maas Group in 2006 placed DSV as a truly Pan-European road transport and logistics supplier – and one of the three largest in Europe.

With this acquisition, the company gained a stronger foothold in the Middle East and added additional capacity to all its divisions: Air & Sea, Road and Solutions.