Believe it or not, it’s already March, which means it’s also TOC Logistics’ birth month! Time has absolutely flown since our company first got its start over a decade ago.
We’re feeling a little nostalgic, so we decided to look back at where we’ve been over the years and where we’re going in the future.
Humble Beginnings
In 2010, our now-President and CEO Gary Cardenas launched TOC Logistics. His dream was to create an organization that could provide new and creative solutions for the global supply chain. The idea was simple—businesses do best when they focus on what they’re good at. And so, it only made sense to create a supply chain solutions company that focused on providing what the industry deeply needed: help optimizing supply chains and mitigating losses.
At its beginning, TOC’s team was small, eager, and ready to learn. Mike Klage, TOC Logistics’ Solutions Director, recalled his first shipment from over a decade ago.
“TOC’s first shipments were imports. But for the first shipment I did for TOC, I was handed paperwork for some steel and a phone number. My boss said, ‘Send that to China.’ So, I called that number, and I figured it out,” Mike laughed. “And that’s how I learned exports.”
It’s incredible to compare that story with where TOC Logistics is today, when 50% of our customs team is comprised of licensed customs brokers. In 2021, our customers’ cargo visited 26 different countries around the world, guided by the expertise from our agile team. We never forget where we started, and that’s what helps us grow each and every day.
Moving Forward
Nowadays, TOC Logistics works alongside our sister company, ProTrans Solutions, to tackle some of the toughest challenges the industry has to offer. Still, a lot has happened in the last twelve years.
When we asked Anne Brouwer, TOC’s Director of Operations, to pick a favorite memory, she couldn’t name just one. “There’s so many. All the victories of all the customers I have met or onboarded, all the people I’ve met…it’s hard to pinpoint one.”
“I’m one of the exceptions here,” she said. “Most people take on different roles throughout their time with TOC Logistics. I’ve been in my position from the beginning, and I don’t intend to change. When we started, though, we were very small, so I was doing a bit of everything including sales. Now that we’ve grown, I’m able to specialize. I focus on being a coach to a lot of industry newcomers and on inspiring my team to do logistics differently than the rest of the industry.”
Anne’s right about the company’s growth. In 2021, TOC Logistics hired about sixty new team members. That means each team member can follow TOC’s original purpose—to focus on providing the services they are experts in, instead of wearing too many hats.
“We’re designed to be different,” said Jennifer Coulter-Lissman, Vice-President of TOC Logistics. “Our focus is to look creatively at solutions to support our customers’ supply chains.”
That’s what TOC Logistics has done for the last twelve years, and it’s what we intend on continuing, even in the face of a constantly changing industry and never-before-seen challenges. To all our vendors, team members, and customers, thank you for the last twelve years of excellence. We can’t wait to see what the next twelve will bring.