Seven generations.
One promise to every customer.
Being family-owned isn't a history lesson — it's how we show up for customers today. Taylor Logistics is a woman- and family-owned third-party logistics (3PL) company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1850, we provide warehousing, cold storage, freight brokerage, dedicated transportation, drayage, kitting, packaging, and supply chain technology across the United States — now in our seventh generation of family ownership, and still making every decision with the next one in mind.
One family. Seven generations. One unbroken line.
Since 1850, the responsibility of caring for our customers' freight has been handed from one generation of Taylors to the next — never sold, never interrupted.
From Bath, England to a river town on the Ohio.
In 1850, John Rex Taylor III left Bath, England and travelled by ship to New Orleans, then up the Mississippi and Ohio to Cincinnati. With his son Edward, a horse and a carriage, he founded the Taylor Drayage Company — moving paper supplies from steamships to a Cincinnati book factory and finished books back to the river.
An original logistics network. The forebear of the e-commerce supply chain. A horse, a wagon, and one steady idea: service first to the customer.
"As the longest-standing family-owned 3PL, Taylor is a testament to enduring family bonds — blending tradition with innovation in the dynamic world of supply chain."
In business, effectiveness eclipses mere efficiency.
It's the principle that carried the Taylor family through the decline of the Miami & Erie Canal, the rise of motor trucks, and every disruption since.
Taylor's timeline.
From a horse-drawn drayage wagon on Cincinnati's cobblestones to a multi-mode 3PL across the country — scroll through every milestone, every generation.
1st gen
Taylor Drayage Company is founded
John Rex Taylor III sails from Bath, England to New Orleans, makes his way up to Cincinnati, and founds Taylor Drayage with his son Edward. A horse, a wagon, and a contract with the American Book Company — moving paper from the steamships and books back.
2nd gen
Surviving the technological turn
The Miami & Erie Canal — the lifeline of the drayage business — is in decline. Motor trucks are arriving. Rail is rising. Taylor relocates closer to Cincinnati's railroads and prepares for the rebrand.
3rd gen
Taylor Trucking Company
The horse-and-wagon era ends. Taylor Drayage becomes Taylor Trucking — running motor trucks between Cincinnati's rail terminals, river docks, and the city's growing manufacturing base. The fleet trades hooves for diesel.
4th gen
From trucking to warehousing
Taylor opens its first dedicated warehouse on Sharon Road in Cincinnati. Trucks haul goods in and out of Taylor-owned space — the company becomes a full warehousing-and-distribution operation, not just a carrier.
5th gen
"Taylor-Made" Service
Three brothers run the business. The "Taylor-Made Service" campaign is born — a custom approach for every customer, geared to their unique needs. "Service first to the customer" becomes the published creed, 135 years after John founded it.
5th gen
Taylor Distributing on the road
The blue Taylor tractors run dedicated lanes across the Midwest. The fleet pulls dry, refrigerated, and food-grade freight — and the warehouse footprint grows in lockstep.
7th gen
In comes the seventh generation
Grant Taylor joins the family business — the first of the 7th generation to step onto a Taylor floor full-time. The handoff begins: tech, food-safety certification, and a new dedicated client contract warehousing arm are all on the table. Same name on the door, new generation behind it.
6th gen
The Maine International Cold Storage Facility
Taylor opens MICSF on the Port of Portland, Maine — frozen, refrigerated, USDA-inspected, port-side. The first Taylor facility outside Ohio, and the first dedicated cold-storage operation.
7th gen
175 years. Same promise.
Two public food-grade warehouses in Cincinnati, a Northeast hub in Jessup, dedicated DCs in Monroe and McDonough, brokerage covering all 50 states from Norwood, and cold storage on the Port of Portland, Maine. And we're always looking to expand. Seven generations later — still caring for our customers' inventory like it's our own.
What makes Taylor different.
Not a holding company. Not private equity. A family that has run this business for seven generations — and makes every decision with the next one in mind.
More than history — it's how we show up for customers.
Long-term relationships over short-term results
Unlike publicly traded logistics companies focused on quarterly earnings, our decisions are made with the next generation in mind — investing in people, facilities, technology, and partnerships that create lasting value for our customers.
Seven generations of continuous improvement
Since 1850, every generation of the Taylor family has adapted to changing supply chains while preserving the values that built our company: integrity, accountability, and service.
Decisions stay close to our customers
Because we're privately owned, decisions aren't slowed by layers of corporate bureaucracy. Our leadership team remains directly involved in solving customer challenges and investing where it matters most.
Relationships built to last
Many of our customers and employees have been with Taylor for decades. We believe trust is earned through consistency, communication, and doing what we say we'll do.
6th & 7th generation. One family.
Drew, Grant, and Noelle are the family members leading Taylor today — the sixth and seventh generations of continuous family ownership since 1850, carrying forward the same values with the next generation always in mind.
Drew Taylor
Grant Taylor
Noelle Taylor Dalton
Built in The Queen City. Since 1850.
Seven generations of Taylors have grown up here — learned to ride bikes on these streets, walked these riverbanks, raised children who'd one day raise their own. We were founded on the cobblestones of this river town in 1850, and our HQ is still a few miles from where it all began. And as our family has grown beyond Cincinnati, every new city we've called home has welcomed us like one of their own — and we've done our best to show up the same way in return.
176 years on one river.
From a horse-drawn drayage cart on the Cincinnati levee to a public food-grade warehouse on International Blvd, the Taylor family has been part of the fabric of this city for longer than most American cities have existed in their current form.
Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, we serve manufacturers, food & beverage companies, CPG brands, retailers, and industrial businesses across the country. Explore our locations or get a quote.
Cincinnati raised us. We give back.
Taylor Cares is our community impact program. We focus on two causes that matter to our hometown: the Greater Cincinnati Foodbank and mental-health organizations across the region.
Greater Cincinnati Foodbank
Pallet space, fleet hours, and dollars to support the Greater Cincinnati Foodbank. Food-grade is what we do — getting it to neighbors is who we are.
Mental health organizations
#TeamTaylor partners with mental-health nonprofits across Greater Cincinnati — funding, awareness, and volunteer hours. Healthy minds build healthy communities.
Proud members of Cincinnati's business community.
Beyond our giving, we show up for the organizations that make our city a better place to do business — and a better place to learn from peers.
Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals
We're active in the Cincinnati Roundtable — sharing best practices, mentoring up-and-coming logistics talent, and helping shape the next generation of supply-chain leaders in our region.
Family & Private Business Community
Taylor is a proud member of the Goering Center for Family & Private Business at the University of Cincinnati — peer learning, governance, and the largest community of its kind in the U.S.
The beating heart of it all — the incomparable people behind every milestone.
Four questions. One Taylor.
At Taylor, our strength comes from history and from organizational clarity. Decades of experience, a transparent structure, a unified team. These four answers run the company.
Every Taylor decision, from a forklift purchase to a new facility lease, runs through these two filters: does it serve the team, and does it serve the freight on our floor?
Lencioni's three virtues, lived out on a 1,000,000 sq ft footprint. Hungry to take on the next challenge. Humble enough to admit when we got it wrong. Smart enough to know how to fix it.
175 years has taught us that customers don't want a stack of vendors. They want one team that knows their freight, their lanes, and their seasonality.
From a horse to a motor truck to a WMS-integrated cold storage facility, change has always been the only constant. The Taylor family has survived seven generations because we stayed effective, not just efficient.
Some things never change.
Seven generations later, we're still guided by the same belief: logistics is built on trust. While our technology, facilities, and capabilities have evolved, our commitment to relationships has remained unchanged. That's what it means to be family-owned — and that's the standard we bring to every customer we serve.
Our values will never change.
It's not just who owns the business.
It's how we do business.
For our customers, it means long-term partnerships, accessible leadership, and a team that takes ownership of every challenge. For our employees, it means room to grow and a culture built on respect.
We plan in generations, not quarters.
As a privately held family company, we make decisions for the long term — investing in relationships, facilities, and technology that create lasting value instead of chasing short-term results.
Your business isn't just another account.
Every customer has a name, a story, and goals. We take the time to understand your operation, because lasting partnerships are built on trust, not transactions.
Accountability has a last name.
Our family name is on every warehouse, truck, and shipment. That creates a level of ownership that's difficult to replicate.
Consistency matters.
Many of our customer relationships span years — even decades. The best logistics partnerships are built through reliability, communication, and continuous improvement.
Decisions happen close to the customer.
Family-owned means fewer layers of bureaucracy and leadership that stays connected to day-to-day operations and customer needs.
You're building a career, not filling a position.
Many of our leaders started in frontline roles. We believe in promoting from within and creating opportunities for long-term growth.
People stay because they belong.
Many Taylor employees have been part of our team for 20, 30, even 40 years. That loyalty is built through trust, respect, and shared success.
We know people by name.
As we've grown, we've worked to preserve the close-knit culture that has defined Taylor for generations.
Success is shared.
When the company grows, we invest back into our people — through training, technology, safer workplaces, and new opportunities.
Every role matters.
Forklift, inventory, dispatch, or customer meetings — every person contributes to the reputation we've been building since 1850.
After more than 175 years, we've learned that great logistics starts with great relationships. That's a principle that has guided our family for seven generations — and continues to shape every decision we make today.
Ready to be part of the
next chapter?
We'd love to hear about your freight. A real human will read your inquiry — and reply within 1 business day.