thoughtleaders
BY MITCH MAC DONALD, GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
THE DC VELOCITY Q&A
the voice of
the middleman
interview with Robert Voltmann
The brokers who used to hang around truck stops have been replaced by
sophisticated transportation intermediaries who do an estimated $162 billion
in business each year. It’s Robert Voltmann’s job to represent them.
IT’S NOT EASY THESE DAYS TO FIND AN EXECUtive who’s bullish on his or her organization’s growth
prospects. But Robert Voltmann is just that. Voltmann
is president and CEO of the Transportation
Intermediaries Association (TIA), an organization
that represents third-party logistics service companies
of all stripes—freight forwarders, brokers, and intermodal marketing companies among them. TIA’s
membership has been growing for the past eight years,
Voltmann reports, and he doesn’t see that changing
anytime soon. In fact, he aims to increase membership
by a whopping 17 percent in 2009 alone.
mism. First, he sees a large untapped pool of potential
members. “We believe that at 1,200 members, we represent 10 percent of the industry by number—we estimate that there are 12,000 operating licensed brokers,”
he says. And he’s confident the organization has much
to offer members—online training classes, insurance
and credit reporting services, and, of course, advocacy.
Prior to joining TIA in June 1997, Voltmann was
director of policy for the National Industrial
Transportation League—a position he took after serving as chief of staff to Interstate Commerce
Commissioner Ed Emmett. Before coming to
Washington, Voltmann worked for two economic
