@Sullyman I think this is part a bug, part missing feature.
The (minified) panel states should be restored at startup, if not this is a bug.
Having a toolbar-style arrangement of minified panels is not possible now, this is in the feature request list, has been requested before.
One thing that is possible now, and could be close to this, is to create a new custom toolbox (Customize Toolboxes) and add the panel opening actions to that. This will temporarily pop-up the panel, but it will also close when clicking away.