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Strategic Advisor·Freight & 3PL

Rob Kemp

President and CEO / TIA Board Chairman at DRT Transportation

Lebanon, Pennsylvania, USA

RK
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Why they matter

As TIA's sitting Board Chair and a 3PL founder-CEO, Kemp has direct visibility into freight-fraud economics, broker consolidation trends, and regulatory momentum shaping the whole brokerage sector.

Background

Rob Kemp is the founder, President and CEO of DRT Transportation LLC, a Lebanon, PA-based third-party logistics and intermodal marketing company he started in 2007 as a dedicated full truckload brokerage. DRT has since grown into a multi-modal 3PL with offices in Houston, St. Paul, and Kingsport, a Cold Chain division, and a sister company (DRT Logistics), earning five Inc. 5000 honors along the way. In April 2025 Kemp was named Chair of the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) Board of Directors, putting him at the center of the industry's response to freight fraud and broker-carrier trust issues.

Notable deals

  • 2025
    Appointed Chair of the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) Board of Directors, representing 1,800+ member 3PL companies
  • 2025
    As TIA Chair, led federal partnership push with the FBI (including a briefing at FBI Headquarters) and IC3, helping secure bipartisan support for the Freight Fraud Prevention Act and reporting 200+ fraud cases resulting in 17 indictments and $4.2M recovered
  • 2023
    Joined TIA leadership in Washington, DC meetings with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) on industry safety standards and fraud
  • 2016
    Participated in a TIA trade mission to Cuba assessing the Port of Mariel and cross-dock logistics opportunities for Panama Canal-routed freight

Call-prep brief

Background

  • Founder, President & CEO of DRT Transportation (founded 2007, Lebanon, PA), a multi-modal 3PL/intermodal marketing company with divisions in cold chain and logistics, five-time Inc. 5000 honoree.
  • Named Chair of the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) Board in April 2025, giving him an industry-wide vantage point beyond his own P&L.

Current focus

  • Freight fraud prevention is his signature issue as TIA Chair: federal partnerships with the FBI/IC3, the Freight Fraud Prevention Act, and member training programs.
  • Running DRT's day-to-day growth (customer retention, headcount, geographic expansion) while carrying a national trade-association role.

What he cares about

  • Trust and legitimacy in the broker-carrier relationship — has spoken about his own company's fraud exposure and frustration with law enforcement responsiveness.
  • Technology adoption (blockchain load verification, AI anomaly detection) as a fraud-prevention lever for the broker community.
  • Regulatory engagement — active with FMCSA and federal law enforcement, not just industry-facing advocacy.

Recent moves

  • Nov 2025: announced deeper federal law-enforcement partnerships and a forthcoming industry summit/DOT awareness campaign.
  • Apr 2025: became TIA Board Chair.

Potential sensitivities

  • DRT is privately held/family-run; Kemp may be protective of financials and wary of being positioned as a "seller" given his operator-founder identity.
  • His public profile is tightly bound to TIA advocacy — approach him as an industry voice, not just a target company executive.

Questions to ask

  1. How is freight fraud actually changing deal economics and diligence for 3PL buyers right now?
  2. Which brokerages/technology vendors is TIA seeing as best-in-class on fraud prevention and could be acquisition targets?
  3. What's his read on consolidation appetite among mid-size, founder-owned 3PLs like DRT?

Outreach draft

Subject
Freight brokerage market perspective — quick call?
Hi Rob, I came across your recent work leading TIA's federal partnerships on freight fraud, and your perspective as both a 3PL founder and industry chair stood out. We're a private equity team studying the freight brokerage and 3PL landscape, and we'd value your read on where fraud prevention, technology adoption, and consolidation are heading for operators like DRT. Would you have 20 minutes in the next couple of weeks for a call? Happy to work around your schedule and keep it informal — genuinely interested in your on-the-ground view of the market. Thanks for considering it, [Placeholder Name]

Linked companies

Sources