Meet Theo Egbujor of TRIPOD TRANSPORTATION

Today we’d like to introduce you to Theo Egbujor.

Hi Theo, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
When I graduated college, I started working for UPS unloading and loading 53-foot trailers.

Shortly after I began, I advanced to a supervisor for UPS. One day as a supervisor, I walked into our dispatch office and asked who makes the most money in the UPS operations besides corporate. I was shocked to learn that the drivers make the most money. I, then, inquired about driving for UPS or promotion and I watched how I was skipped over and not taken seriously.

It hurt that I was skipped over because I thought my performance was up to par., I won service champion numerous times while I was at UPS. During that time, I channeled my frustration into research to create my own trucking company. The only type of vehicle I can operate with a regular class D license was a sprinter van or box truck, we purchased a sprinter van and then signed with a dispatching company to help us receive freight. We drove about 100,000 miles in 4 months around the United States and were able to operate in 46 of the 50 states.

During those four months, I was truly cultured shocked by what I have seen.

There were a lot of pros and cons with the dispatching company and the biggest con was not receiving a load for 4 or 5 days after you drop one off, traveling 5/6 hours to pick up freight, and accepting loads before we were even knowing the drop location. My partner who was in law school at the time suggested the 26-foot box trucks as a way for us to get away from the cons of the sprinter van. The box trucks offer a bigger variety of services and if an individual chooses to, he or she can dispatch and find freight easier than you can in the sprinter van.

We bought the box trucks, hired drivers, and began to learn dispatch so we can dispatch our drivers. Of course, with anything new, there will be ups and downs.

The box trucks became the staple of the business for some time, we completed many contracts and projects with the box trucks, like picking up shingles for hurricane disaster victims or delivering one of the first Covid testing machines to NY. With the direction we were heading we wanted to continue to grow the company and we knew it was time to get semi-trucks.

It took us a whole summer to negotiate and buy four semi-tractor trailers. We were able to connect with a company that can supply drivers until we could outright hire our drivers. It was very difficult to find and hire drivers but with God’s help we were able to hire our driver and today we have all of our trucks filled!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Struggles along the way. Hiring drivers. Buying equipment/Maintaining equipment. Dispatching.

Learning the rules and regulations of the FMCSA in all classes, sprinter van, box trucks, & semi-trucks.

Like-minded individuals who share the same goals as you.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about TRIPOD TRANSPORTATION LLC?
Tripod Transportation LLC is a minority-owned OTR  “over the road” trucking company in Nashville, TN. My name is Theo Egbujor and I am the CEO of Tripod Transportation LLC.

We take pride in working with our drivers, our drives fuel the company and are the reason we are able to operate so we cherish them! We started with just a sprinter van and now have five trucks with consistency, dedication, and hard work you can do anything you put your mind to.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I define success as setting a goal and completing it.

As a leader, your team will have different views of success and you have to find the balance and make sure everybody is on track to complete their version of success, along with the company’s version as well.