Four Generations from the Polakoff Family Cement Nexterus as an Industry Innovator.
New Freedom, PA. – December 6, 2023 – Nexterus, a world-class supply chain management and third-party logistics (3PL) services provider, announces the company just turned 78 years old. The family-owned business has now had four generations of executive leaders from the Polakoff family serve the company.
“We are thriving in the supply chain industry thanks to our excellent employees, clients, and partners,” says Sam Polakoff, CEO and Chairman of Nexterus. “Over the years, our innovative executives have cemented Nexterus as a leader in providing freight management and supply chain services for small to mid-size companies, helping these businesses to improve efficiencies, and grow profits.”
“By outsourcing to a 3PL, small to mid-size companies gain supply chain transparency and visibility to help them mitigate disruptions in their supply chains,” says Ryan Polakoff, President of Nexterus. “Our legacy is to help businesses overcome supply chain challenges, optimize processes and strategically grow.”
Highlights from the last 78 years include:
Abraham Allan Polakoff
President & Founder, 1946-1967
Started the company to meet the physical distribution needs of small to mid-sized companies and help them navigate the regulated world of U.S motor and rail transportation. The company was founded in Baltimore City, as Transportation Bureau of Baltimore (TBB).
Jay Polakoff
President, 1967-1999
CEO & Chairman, 1967-2000
During his tenure, Jay moved the company from Baltimore City to northern Baltimore County. He created a subscriber service to act as the traffic (logistics) department for small and mid-sized enterprises. In the late 1980’s, TBB developed what is believed to be the first Transportation Management System (TMS) in the industry. In the early 1980’s, when the trucking industry deregulated, TBB was one of the first domestic property broker license holders to specialize in LTL as a niche. TBB became the first 3rd party customer of most major LTL carriers in the U.S.
Sam Polakoff
President, 1999-2022
CEO, 2015- Present
Chairman, 2000- Present
Sam got his start with the company in 1975 and began blazing trails, leading to exponential growth for TBB, which soon rebranded to TBB Global Logistics to represent the company’s revenue & service proliferation. Sam expanded the company’s service portfolio by launching the company’s first formalized sales & marketing departments and I.T. department. Sam also launched new divisions such as freight payment and supply chain services and grew the company through acquisition in the early 2000’s, acquiring two customs brokerage/international freight forwarding firms. The company moved to South Central Pennsylvania in 2002, where it still resides today. In 2016, Sam led the rebranding of the company from TBB Global Logistics to Nexterus. In 2022, he founded BrillDog to create the country’s first supply chain management system (SCMS) to aid small and mid-sized companies.
Ryan Polakoff
President, 2022-Present
Ryan began with the company in 2003 and worked many years in sales & operations before ascending to leadership. He worked hand-in-hand with his father, company CEO, Sam Polakoff, to rebrand the company to Nexterus. Under Ryan’s leadership, the company has reimagined its approach to sales and marketing and, added services beyond freight management, including supply chain design & optimization, contract network warehousing, and parcel contract engineering & management.
Nexterus has been fortunate to add many new diverse accounts over the last few years and remains industry agnostic, proudly serving the supply chain needs of many different verticals.
Nexterus had a nice year of industry recognition in 2023 and was thankful to receive the following awards:
- Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive Top Software & Tech Award
- SupplyChainBrain Great Partner Award
- Inbound Logistics Top 100 Logistics IT Provider
Food Logistics Top 3PL & Cold Storage Providers Award - Supply & Demand Chain Executive – Top Supply Chain Projects Award
- Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive Women in Supply Chain Award- Lisa Flohr, Director of Operations