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associations in the U.S. But I just want to kind of follow the pattern and kind of add to what’s previously been established by the former great chairmen and members of the Tennessee Trucking Association.” Tompson grew up around the trucking


industry. His father, Ray, leſt Little Rock, Arkansas, half a century ago and started Tompson Diesel, a diesel fuel injection and turbocharger remanufacturing facility in Oklahoma City. Te family lived in Yukon, also the home of country singer Garth Brooks, where Ray and his wife, Patsy Lou, raised their three sons, Eldon, Ray Jr., and Wayland, the youngest. Tompson, 60, enjoyed a childhood


running the streets, playing sports, and, as he grew older, working in the family business. At age 14 or 15 he was cleaning up parts, sweeping the floor and wiping windows, and at age 16 he was making deliveries. He liked to work and liked to earn money there and by


hauling hay in the summer. In high school, he earned the nickname “Wheels” because he ran on the track team and because he owned three vehicles: a 1967 Mustang GT, a 1956 stepside Ford pickup, and a Ford F-250 pickup, all of which he paid for himself. “I had all kind of jobs growing up,” he said.


“I loved to work and just be around people.” Tompson sold all three vehicles when


he enrolled in Oklahoma State University to study marketing. Aſter attending college, he joined the family business, working mainly in sales out of Lubbock, Texas, for a year, then moved to Tulsa for a year, and then back to Oklahoma City as a parts manager and then service manager. He then opened Kansas City Turbo and Diesel, a diesel fuel injection and turbocharger remanufacturing facility in Kansas City, Kansas, with his father and uncle, whose shares he later bought. Tat business stayed open for about seven years until Tompson became convinced that the over-the-road truck industry was moving in a direction he shouldn’t follow: away from


mechanically driven parts and toward all- electronic systems. More and more repairs were being done by original equipment manufacturers, who were stretching warranties from one year and 100,000 miles up to five years and 500,000 miles. “Tey kept all that within the


manufacturers’ circle versus the remanufacturing circle,” he said. “So you either had to diversify, recapitalize or change the way you were doing business and just basically back up a little bit and take a second step along the distribution chain.” Recapitalizing would have required


an investment Tompson wasn’t willing to make, so he sold out to a Tennessee company, Diesel Sales and Service, and worked there for about a year as part of the purchase agreement. During that time, Sasser introduced him to Wilson, owner of FirstFleet, a dedicated contract carrier. In 1992, Wilson hired him as vice president, and in about a year Tompson assumed the title of vice president of sales and marketing.


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