Your Full-Service Third-Party Logistics and Canadian Supply Chain Partners

Mario La Barbera

After graduating from McGill University, eager to apply his studies, Mario decided to move to the US. Based in Philadelphia and New York, he never turned down an opportunity to travel to virtually all east coast ports, intermodal terminals and hundreds of plants to learn more about supply chains and transportation.

After five years, he returned to Canada and held Director roles for two large Class 1 railroads. Realizing his entrepreneurial skills were better used in smaller organizations, Mario created Acurail and later co-founded PiVAL International in 2003, based in Montreal.

Under his leadership and strategic guidance, PiVAL built a strong team overseeing operations in dedicated warehousing, cross dock, expedite and integrated transportation solutions. Mario has more recently embarked on changing the company culture to embrace operational excellence using the Shingo Model.

Mario is on several transportation committees and chaired logistics’ councils to advise governments and policy makers. A proud father of three active children and married to his childhood friend, Mario’s entire family shares his devotion to fundraising for children’s hospitals.

Rose Di Pancrazio

Rose graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Commerce. Her professional career began in auditing before she assumed various roles in supply chain companies across Canada and the US in the electronics, food, beauty and retail industries.

She joined PiVAL in 2003 to help launch the company. In her role as Special Projects Manager, Rose was directly involved in numerous start-ups of new warehouses and managed all procurement. In 2015, the role of Risk Manager was added to her procurement role. As Risk Manager, she became responsible to identify and mitigate financial, safety and security risks for PiVAL and implemented standard H&S, security procedures and policies throughout the company.

In 2018, Rose assumed a leadership role in human capital and was promoted to Vice-President – People & Culture in 2020. As a strategic People business partner, she is responsible to build a diverse, emotionally intelligent, and inclusive culture driving employee engagement across all departments to support the company’s long-term growth.

Martin Hillcoat

Martin started his supply chain career in transloading for a large Class 1 railroad, where he was responsible for a network of terminals across Eastern Canada. Looking to build more end-to-end supply chain experience and expertise, he joined a small domestic manufacturing organization where he was responsible for procurement, manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution. He held progressively senior roles in operations and supply chain over the next 20+ years, for organizations with a combination of both in-house and third-party manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution. He oversaw multi-site operations and suppliers in Canada, the USA, Asia, and Europe and has experience in e-com fulfillment and wholesale and retail distribution, across industries ranging from clothing, building products, chemicals, and food.

Martin’s primary goal is operations improvement within supply chain, manufacturing, and fulfillment/ distribution to help organizations improve profitability. In his role as VP Supply Chain, he is responsible for PiVAL’s dedicated warehousing, cross-dock, expedited and integrated transportation solutions, as well as ensuring that these services continue to provide a value add for the evolving needs of our customers and partners.

Martin holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Imperial College, London, England, an MBA from McGill University, and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from Villanova University in the USA. A proud father of three daughters, Martin and his family are active supporters of STEM education initiatives for girls.