What TMSA does

TMSA (Transportation Marketing and Sales Association) is a 100-year-old non-profit trade association serving sales and marketing professionals across the commercial freight transportation industry. Founded in 1924 and headquartered in North Olmsted, Ohio, the organization provides education, networking, and recognition programming to professionals working across motor carriers, third-party logistics providers, railroads, air carriers, ocean lines, port authorities, OEMs, and adjacent supplier and media verticals. TMSA's portfolio of member services includes a flagship annual ELEVATE Conference that rotates through U.S. cities, role-based education tracks segmented by professional function, virtual accelerators, a biennial benchmarking study, multiple awards programs (Trailblazer, Rising Star, Purpose, Mountain Mover), an on-demand content library of webinars and presentations, and a year-round Slack-based community. The organization explicitly positions itself as the only association dedicated to this vertical and commemorated its centennial in 2024.

TMSA is structured as a 501(c)(6) non-profit governed by a Board of Directors, with Jennifer Karpus-Romain serving as Executive Director and Brian Everett as CEO. Revenue is generated through four streams: tiered individual and corporate membership fees billed annually, conference and event registration with member and non-member pricing, multi-tiered corporate sponsorships (Gold, Silver, Bronze, Corporate, Supporting, Learning Track, Media Partner), and a partner membership program for vendors and service providers. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. The go-to-market motion is community-led and event-driven, anchored by the annual ELEVATE conference and supplemented by year-round Slack engagement, webinars, and virtual accelerators. The organization reports strong conference satisfaction metrics (100% of attendees at 2026 ELEVATE indicated the conference delivered on their reason for attending; 90% rated networking highly; 80%+ rated content as highly relevant). Leadership has expanded the board and added a DEI taskforce, role-based education tracks, and a Slack community over the past several years to deepen member engagement.

TMSA does not develop proprietary software products; its technology footprint consists of standard community and content infrastructure, including a website and member portal, blog, 'On the Move' podcast, social media presence across LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and the Slack community. There are no patents, no APIs, no disclosed AI/ML capability, no technology acquisitions, and no funding rounds in the source data. Operating geography is the United States with no disclosed international expansion. The organization is independently operated with no parent company, private equity, or venture capital ownership.

Name

TMSA

Legal name

Transportation Marketing & Sales Association

Website

https://tmsatoday.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1924

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

TMSA (Transportation Marketing and Sales Association) is a 100-year-old U.S. non-profit trade association providing education, networking, and recognition programs to sales and marketing professionals across the commercial freight transportation and logistics industry, anchored by its annual ELEVATE Conference.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

North Olmsted

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: TMSA generates revenue through tiered membership fees for individuals and corporate members across various professional levels including Company Leader, Marketing Leader, Sales Leader, Marketing Practitioner, and Sales Practitioner tracks.
2. Conference and Event Registration: Revenue from the annual ELEVATE Conference and other events including virtual accelerators, regional workshops, and benchmarking webinars. Member and non-member registration rates apply.
3. Sponsorship: Corporate sponsorship opportunities at Gold, Silver, Bronze, Corporate, Supporting, Learning Track, and Media Partner levels for conferences and events.
4. Partner Membership: Partner membership program for vendors, suppliers, and service providers looking to connect with TMSA's member base of transportation and logistics sales and marketing professionals.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels12 records

Core offering

TMSA is a non-profit membership association that provides professional development, peer networking, and industry education to sales, marketing, and communications professionals in the commercial freight transportation and logistics industry. Its core offerings are role-based membership tiers (Company Leader, Marketing Leader, Sales Leader, Marketing Practitioner, Sales Practitioner), the annual ELEVATE Conference, virtual accelerators, benchmarking webinars, multi-category awards programs, a content resource library, and a year-round Slack community connecting members across motor carriers, 3PLs, railroads, air carriers, ocean lines, port authorities, OEMs, and suppliers.

Product overview

TMSA (Transportation Marketing and Sales Association) is a non-profit membership association, not a software product. It offers a portfolio of member services including the annual ELEVATE Conference, the On the Move Podcast, biennial Benchmarking Studies, role-based Education Tracks, multiple Awards Programs (Trailblazer, Rising Star, Purpose, Mountain Mover), a Resource Center with webinars and presentations, and a TMSA Slack Community for year-round networking. These are membership-based programs and content offerings, not a unified software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ELEVATE Conference: TMSA's flagship annual conference bringing together the top sales and marketing talent across the transportation and logistics industry for two days of inspiring keynotes, engaging breakout sessions, and meaningful networking.
• On the Move Podcast
• TMSA Slack Community
• TMSA Trailblazer Awards

Products and services

• TMSA ELEVATE Conference TMSA's flagship annual conference bringing together sales and marketing professionals across transportation and logistics for keynotes, breakout sessions, role-based tracks, networking events, and award ceremonies.
• On the Move Podcast TMSA's podcast featuring interviews with sales and marketing experts in transportation and logistics, published on social media platforms and podcast directories.
• TMSA Benchmarking Study Biennial study providing metrics and data on marketing and sales performance in transportation and logistics, available to TMSA members.
• TMSA Education Tracks Role-based learning tracks (Company Leader, Marketing Leader, Sales Leader, Marketing Practitioner, Sales Practitioner) delivering personalized education experiences to TMSA members.
• TMSA Awards Programs Award programs including Trailblazer Awards, Rising Star Awards, Purpose Awards, and Mountain Mover of the Year recognizing excellence in transportation and logistics marketing and sales.
• TMSA Resource Center Member-only database of webinars, conference presentations, award submissions, and case studies spanning five years of content for TMSA members.
• TMSA Slack Community Year-round digital community platform for TMSA members to collaborate, share industry news, and network outside of conferences.

Quantifiable outcome

• TMSA turned 100 years old in 2024, demonstrating long-term sustainability and industry relevance
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, gold sponsor, silver sponsor, bronze sponsor, supporting sponsor and affiliate member.

• Position: GlobalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 June 2026Position: Global, a logistics and supply chain marketing agency, was awarded the TMSA Trailblazer Award and Rising Star award at the 2026 TMSA Elevate Conference. The agency demonstrated rapid strategic execution with a comprehensive marketing campaign completed in just two weeks.
• VideoRequestgold sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerGold Sponsor of the 2026 TMSA ELEVATE Conference.
• Faye Digitalgold sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerGold Sponsor of the 2026 TMSA ELEVATE Conference.
• Sol de Naples Marketinggold sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerGold Sponsor of the 2026 TMSA ELEVATE Conference.
• Warner PRsilver sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerSilver Sponsor of the 2026 TMSA ELEVATE Conference.
• Drop & Hookbronze sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerBronze Sponsor and Learning Track Sponsor of the 2026 TMSA ELEVATE Conference.
• Swish Advertisingbronze sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerBronze Sponsor of the 2026 TMSA ELEVATE Conference.
• SalesIntelsupporting sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerSupporting Sponsor of the 2026 TMSA ELEVATE Conference, leading Coffee Talk on finding look-alike accounts.
• Upwellsupporting sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerSupporting Sponsor of the 2026 TMSA ELEVATE Conference.
• Caliperaffiliate memberGTM or Marketing PartnerHuman capital analytics company and TMSA Affiliate member contributing talent management content to TMSA blog.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA): The national trade association for 3PLs, freight brokers, and transportation intermediaries, operating on a very similar member-services + conference model. Both TIA and TMSA target the same 3PL and brokerage buyer community with membership, education, and an annual conference.
• National Industrial Transportation League (NITL): A long-running shipper transportation league providing member-driven advocacy, conferences, and education for industrial transportation professionals. NITL's membership model and conference business closely parallel TMSA's, with overlap on shipper-side transportation marketing and sales professionals.
• Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP): A long-standing professional association serving supply chain and logistics professionals with membership tiers, an annual conference (EDGE), education tracks, and research. CSCMP and TMSA both monetize through individual/corporate membership and education, and overlap in their professional-development positioning within transportation/logistics.
• Intermodal Association of North America (IANA): The trade association representing the intermodal marketing and freight rail industry, with a comparable member-services and annual convention model. IANA overlaps with TMSA's ocean/rail/port member segments and competes for similar corporate sponsorships and association mind-share.
• American Trucking Associations: The leading national trade association for the U.S. trucking industry, with a similar membership-and-events operating model serving motor carriers — TMSA's largest served vertical. ATA and TMSA both monetize through tiered membership, conferences, and advocacy, and overlap on trucking industry sales/marketing decision-makers.
• NASSTRAC (National Shippers Strategic Transportation Council): A shipper-focused trade association that runs membership programs and an annual conference serving shipper-side transportation buyers. Like TMSA, NASSTRAC monetizes through member dues, events, and educational content, and addresses many of the same transportation marketing/sales topics from the shipper perspective.
• Women in Trucking: A non-profit association focused on advancing women in the trucking industry, with membership, an annual conference, awards, and DEI programming. Women in Trucking operates a comparable association model and shares TMSA's audience of trucking industry sales/marketing and HR leaders.

Broad incumbents

• American Marketing Association (AMA): The largest general professional association for marketing professionals, offering membership, an annual conference, training, and certifications. AMA is a broader incumbent serving the same marketing profession that TMSA targets within transportation, and competes for some corporate marketing training budgets.
• Association of American Railroads (AAR): The standard-setting trade association for the North American rail industry, with a much broader policy and operational remit than TMSA's marketing focus. AAR is comparable as a long-standing transportation trade association that operates member services, conferences, and industry research.
• ASCM (Association for Supply Chain Management, formerly APICS): A larger, more globally scaled supply chain professional association offering certifications, membership, and an annual conference. ASCM overlaps with TMSA's education and certification-adjacent content and competes for the same corporate training budgets in transportation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TMSAtoday
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCiB6f1xKLwUPog7MAcfJVZA/featured
• Facebookfacebook.com/TMSANetwork
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/transportation-marketing-and-sales-association
• Instagraminstagram.com/tmsatoday

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about TMSA