The Early Days
With more than 10 years of experience in the transportation industry, and with a young family at home, I decided to take a leap of faith and on March 1st, 2008, L3M Freight Solutions was born. My goal was to build a company that valued customers, suppliers and employees. A company that treated all stakeholders in a fair and respectful way, and a company culture where people enjoyed working and where family came first.
My passions in life are sports, music and most importantly, family. When deciding on our company name, family was at the forefront. L3M was derived from my wife Lori – “L”, along with our two children, Matthew and Madison, and myself – “3M”.
From the humble beginnings of a home office in Grimsby, ON, and with no accounts or leads to speak of, I ventured out and started knocking on doors. It was on March 18th, 2008 that our first customer entrusted me with a single skid from Milton to Mississauga. And so it began…
Since that day, we have achieved many milestones. Here are just a few that come to mind.
2009
In early 2009, with the company beginning to grow, we relocated to an office on Goderich Road in Hamilton, ON. After an expansion and a few renovations later, we still reside at the same location to this day.
March of 2009 brought us another milestone when we hired our first employee – who is still with us over 15 years later.
In October of that same year, Michael Porkolab (my twin brother) joined L3M as a co-owner and Vice President of Business Development. With many years of experience in both trucking and freight brokerage behind him, it was the right fit at the right time for Michael to join the growing family business.
2011
2011 was a big year for us. L3M Freight Solutions was recognized by Profit Magazine as one of Canada’s Top New Growth Companies and we were listed at #12 on their Profit Hot 50 list.
Also that year, Lori Porkolab, an original co-owner, joined the day-to-day operations of the company. Lori’s 20 years of experience in Finance and Accounting made her the perfect fit to oversee our Finance Department.
2012-2017
This 6-year period was an important time in our history. L3M continued to grow rapidly, both in terms of customers and revenues, as well as with the addition of key staff members in the administration and operations areas of our company.
2018
A record-setting milestone was achieved in 2018 with our first 5 million dollar revenue year in company history.
2020
2020 brought the world to a grinding halt with the arrival of Covid. Every sector of the economy faced unprecedented challenges. Some industries such as travel and tourism were hit the hardest, while the transportation industry also had its share of unique challenges to navigate through. Truck and driver shortages, rising costs and various health measures made the next few years difficult to say the least. Thanks to our long-term and very loyal customer base, we were able to retain our entire staff throughout the Covid years with no changes. We are certainly thankful that the worst of the pandemic is behind us.
2023
L3M handled our 40,000th shipment in company history. We also surpassed the 50 million dollar mark in total revenue since our inception.
We continue to use the same formula that has helped us grow to where we are today. We are proud to have earned a reputation with our customers and suppliers as an honest, reliable and fair broker within the transportation industry.
I look forward to what the future holds for L3M Freight Solutions…
Mark Porkolab
Founder and President
With one call to L3M Freight Solutions, your transportation challenges are quickly resolved. Our extensive network of reliable and compliant carriers throughout North America ensures the most efficient and cost-effective freight movement, prioritizing both profitability and reliability.
L3M Freight Solutions: Third-party logistics, transportation and shipping services to and from the United States and Canada
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