North Olmsted, OH, April 24, 2026 —The Transportation Marketing and Sales Association (TMSA) announced the recipients of its 2026 Trailblazer Awards and Rising Star Awards on June 8, 2026, during the TMSA ELEVATE 2026 conference in Denver, Colorado. The awards recognize exceptional achievement in transportation and logistics marketing, sales and go-to-market strategy.
Seven campaigns earned Trailblazer Awards this year, spanning lifecycle email marketing, go-to-market launches, thought leadership, employer branding, direct mail and market research. Three emerging professionals received Rising Star Awards in recognition of outsized impact early in their careers. TMSA also recognized Ben Adams as Member of the Year and Emily Phillips as Partner of the Year for their exceptional volunteer leadership and service to the association.
Seven campaigns earned Trailblazer Awards this year, spanning lifecycle email marketing, go-to-market launches, thought leadership, employer branding, direct mail and market research. Three emerging professionals received Rising Star Awards in recognition of outsized impact early in their careers. TMSA also recognized Ben Adams as Member of the Year and Emily Phillips as Partner of the Year for their exceptional volunteer leadership and service to the association.
Trailblazer Award honorees include ITS Logistics for the ITS Fuel Card Lifecycle Campaign and the DropFleet Go-to-Market Launch; Drop & Hook and IMC Logistics for the Cargo Security Thought Leadership Campaign and the IMC Reels Employer Brand Program; Trailer Bridge, Inc. for the Summer Starter Kit Integrated Campaign; Position : Global and Tenet for the Tenet Market Launch; and LeadCoverage for the Supply Chain Growth Index. Rising Star Award recipients are Michelle Okeke of Triumph, Robert Book of Road Dog Care Company and Revolution Trucking, and Sara Sasek of Position : Global. TMSA's individual service awards were presented to Ben Adams of COFC Logistics, Member of the Year, and Emily Phillips of E.MISSION Advisory, Partner Member of the Year.
"The caliber of work recognized this year reflects the sophistication and strategic thinking that defines the best marketing and sales professionals in our industry," said Jennifer Karpus-Romain, Executive Director of TMSA. "From Senate testimony to AI governance frameworks to campaigns that converted directly into revenue, these honorees demonstrate what is possible when transportation professionals lead with creativity, data and strategy."
TRAILBLAZER AWARD WINNERS
ITS Logistics — ITS Fuel Card Lifecycle Campaign
ITS Logistics built a segmented lifecycle email campaign to engage existing fuel cardholders on non-fuel savings benefits — including repairs, tires, maintenance, and roadside assistance — delivering 3,129 emails with a 20.6% average open rate and 6.6% average CTR. The program surpassed 1 million gallons of fuel purchased in its first year and is on track to generate $1 million in lifetime revenue share by end of 2026.
ITS Logistics — DropFleet Go-to-Market Launch
ITS Logistics introduced DropFleet as a branded hybrid capacity solution, executing a full go-to-market program across trade media, trade shows, 12 email campaigns, eight programmatic campaigns, and a complete sales enablement toolkit. DropFleet revenue grew 102% year over year, new customers grew 20%, and 25 media placements — with Echo Global's CEO publicly calling DropFleet "a highly differentiated" and "industry leading" solution following ITS's acquisition.
Drop & Hook and IMC Logistics — Cargo Security Thought Leadership Campaign
Drop & Hook and IMC Logistics built a cargo security thought leadership platform anchored by Chief Strategy Officer Donna Lemm's policy expertise, culminating in her testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary on behalf of the American Trucking Associations. The campaign generated coverage in more than 12 outlets, a 14.3% LinkedIn engagement rate against a 2–3% B2B benchmark, and 477% year-over-year growth in searches for brand name "IMC Logistics".
Drop & Hook and IMC Logistics — IMC Reels Employer Brand Program
Drop & Hook and IMC Logistics built a short-form video strategy on Facebook and Instagram — publishing 197 Reels in 2025, a 97% increase year over year — that generated 3.2 million Facebook views and 820 Meta lead conversions. Careers page traffic grew 580% year over year and become-a-driver page traffic grew 416%, with Meta's benchmarking tool rating IMC "Higher than others" for followers and content interactions.
Trailer Bridge, Inc. — Summer Starter Kit Integrated Campaign
Trailer Bridge launched a summer-themed integrated campaign targeting 539 customers and prospects with creative direct mail, a campaign landing page, QR engagement, and a supporting email drip — achieving a 17.8% follow-up rate and more than $99,400 in total load value. The campaign converted one new customer, opened multiple RFP opportunities, and marked the company's first direct mail initiative executed with full sales-marketing alignment.
Position : Global and Tenet — Tenet Market Launch
After Tenet acquired a TMS business, Position : Global built the company's complete go-to-market presence — brand messaging, website, PR, and conference activation — in approximately two weeks ahead of the Air Cargo and CDLA conferences. The February 10, 2026 launch generated five earned media placements, a 51% website engagement rate, and 212 new users in its first 12 days.
LeadCoverage — Supply Chain Growth Index
LeadCoverage launched the Supply Chain Growth Index to give logistics companies a data-backed way to measure go-to-market ROI, introducing the Logistics Growth Efficiency Ratio (LGER) — qualified pipeline dollars per $1 of GTM spend — with a median benchmark of $26.68 and top-quartile companies exceeding $55. The index served simultaneously as thought leadership, demand generation, and sales enablement, helping revenue leaders defend budgets and shorten sales cycles during a challenging freight market.
RISING STAR AWARD WINNERS
Michelle Okeke — AVP, Marketing Manager, Triumph
In just two years in the transportation industry, Michelle Okeke led the end-to-end launch of LoadPay — Triumph's business bank account for owner-operators — growing it from roughly 100 accounts to more than 5,800 and reaching a $1.5 million annualized revenue run rate by end of 2025. Her Summer of LoadPay Sweepstakes alone generated more than 3 million impressions and drove 62% customer-base growth during the promotion period.
Robert Book — VP of Marketing, Road Dog Care Company / Revolution Trucking
As the sole marketing lead for Revolution Trucking, Robert Book authored a complete brand platform — including the federally registered trademark "We're Already There®" — that supported 8% year-over-year revenue growth and 98 top-three Google keyword rankings. In parallel, he built Road Dog Care from a direct-to-consumer startup into an enterprise driver wellness brand, originating a healthcare benefits partnership projected to generate seven-figure annual revenue.
Sara Sasek — Director of AI Voice and Policy, Managing Editor, Position : Global
In fewer than four years in the industry, Sara Sasek authored Position : Global's formal AI policy and developed proprietary LLM-based guardrails that are now embedded in the agency's standard new-client onboarding process — reducing revision cycles and strengthening messaging consistency across accounts. She has also introduced AI-driven AEO, GEO, and SEO digital footprint assessments as a client service offering and serves as the agency's internal advisor on AI implementation and governance.
INDIVIDUAL SERVICE AWARD WINNERS
Ben Adams, COFC Logistics - Member of the Year
Ben Adams was recognized as TMSA's 2026 Member of the Year for his consistent and meaningful contributions to the association. Throughout the past year, Adams actively served on two TMSA committees while helping amplify the organization's message through ongoing social media content creation and engagement. At a time when volunteer participation is increasingly difficult amid industry demands, his willingness to invest his time, ideas and energy across multiple initiatives made him an invaluable contributor to the association.
Emily Phillips, E.MISSION Advisory - Partner of the Year
Emily Phillips was named TMSA's 2026 Partner of the Year in recognition of her longstanding commitment to the association and its members. Over several years of volunteer service, Phillips has contributed through the Education Committee, led the Corporate Social Responsibility Subcommittee, and shared her expertise as a conference speaker. Her consistent willingness to support TMSA whenever needed, combined with her leadership and industry involvement, has made her an exceptional advocate for the association and a deserving recipient of this year's award.
ABOUT TMSA
The Transportation Marketing and Sales Association (TMSA) is the only organization exclusively focused on the business development needs of the transportation and logistics industry. TMSA provides professional development, industry research, networking opportunities, and recognition programs that help sales and marketing professionals advance their careers and drive business growth.
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Media Contact:
Jennifer Karpus-Romain
Executive Director, TMSA
jennifer@tmsatoday.org