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 covering all 50 states — every milestone, every generation.
6th & 7th generation. One family.
Founded in 1850, Taylor is now in its seventh generation of family ownership, built on long standing relationships, trusted partnerships, and people who care deeply about the work they do. For 175 years, Taylor has remained family led, focused on doing right by customers, employees, and partners through every stage of growth.
Drew Taylor
"Our team is everything. The people on our floors, in our trucks, behind our desks — they're family. We care for them the way we care for our customers' inventory: like it's our own."
Grant Taylor
"Every pallet that comes through a Taylor dock — that's somebody's product, somebody's livelihood. We treat it that way."
Noelle Taylor
"175 years in, the answer is still: pick up the phone, find out what they actually need, and figure out how Taylor can help."
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.
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.
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.