A Century in Business: What 100 Years of Family Ownership Means in Transportation

BROOKFIELD, Ohio — In 2026, Nick Strimbu Inc. reaches a milestone few carriers ever see: 100 years of continuous operation under four generations of the same family. For the shippers who depend on the company for flatbed, refrigerated, and dedicated fleet capacity, that longevity is more than a nice anniversary — it’s a track record of reliability that’s increasingly rare in transportation.That reliability has meant something just as real for the people behind the wheel: it has kept the company’s drivers’ wheels turning when other carriers’ wheels slowed down or stopped altogether.Founded in 1926 by Nick Strimbu Sr., an immigrant from Romania who started with a handful of trucks hauling clay pipe and brick across Ohio, the company has never changed hands outside the family — and never taken the easy way out when the industry got hard.Built to Weather What the Freight Market Throws at ItOver the past century, Nick Strimbu Inc. has operated through the Great Depression, a World War, multiple steel industry bankruptcies, and the 2008 financial crisis, which hit trucking as hard as almost any industry in the country.Rather than retreat during that downturn, company leadership made a strategic decision to diversify: expanding into refrigerated transportation, a move that transformed the business and positioned it for long-term stability. Today, refrigerated freight makes up the majority of the company’s business, while its flatbed division maintains deep, decades-long roots in steel, pipe, and industrial freight.“We could have cashed in like a lot of families do. We could have sold out, but we didn’t do that,” says Bill Strimbu, the company’s president and third-generation leader. “We wanted to create employment for people and our customers depended on us.”That decision reflects a philosophy the company calls stewardship — the idea that the business exists to serve the people who depend on it, not the other way around.“We learned that stewardship is that everybody else gets paid first,” Bill says. “The customers and drivers get taken care of first, and whatever’s left is what you get.”That same decision to diversify rather than retreat is what kept drivers working and paychecks steady through a downturn that put other carriers out of business entirely — while their drivers were left looking for new jobs, Nick Strimbu Inc.’s drivers kept supporting their families.The People Behind the ReliabilityFor shippers, that century of stability traces back to a simple internal principle: the company treats its drivers as the foundation of the business, not a line item.“The truck drivers are the most important part of this company,” says Harrison Strimbu, vice president and a member of the fourth generation of family leadership. “They’re the revenue producers, and having that as the foundation of our family has really made an impact on how we lead this place.”That principle isn’t new leadership rhetoric — Bill Strimbu says it has guided the business since he started working there himself in 1974, doing yard work and collections before ever stepping into leadership. And it translates directly into what shippers experience on the road: a driver base that stays, rather than one that turns over every few months.In an industry where driver turnover routinely disrupts service — missed pickups, unfamiliar routes, inconsistent handling of freight — a carrier that keeps its drivers for years, not months, is a carrier that can keep its promises. That’s the operational payoff of stewardship: the same driver relationships that Nick Strimbu Inc. has built over decades are what keep flatbed, refrigerated, and dedicated fleet freight moving reliably for the customers who count on it.A Rare Kind of Continuity in TransportationFor shippers evaluating carrier partners, that continuity carries real weight. Nick Strimbu Inc. is now led by its fourth generation — Harrison Strimbu as vice president and Spencer Strimbu as CEO — representing an unbroken line of family leadership that has guided the company’s decision-making through a century of economic cycles.“There are a lot of things that the company has been through that we’ve survived that are only explainable by an act of God,” says Harrison Strimbu. “It’s been passed down from generation to generation that we aren’t owners, we’re stewards of this place.”That long-term orientation shapes how the company approaches growth today. Rather than scaling for scale’s sake, Nick Strimbu Inc. has deliberately stayed disciplined about the kind of carrier it wants to be — one still built around service and relationships rather than volume alone.“We never want to be a mega fleet, but we want to maintain the same level of service and the same culture here while continuing to grow this company to serve more people and serve our communities,” Spencer Strimbu says.That continuity isn’t only a selling point for customers — it’s a foundational business philosophy that shapes why drivers stay. Drivers appreciate the vision and family values that have been passed down through the generations, and it’s that unchanging culture, more than any single benefit, that keeps them behind the wheel at Nick Strimbu Inc. year after year.A Partner for the Next CenturyToday, Nick Strimbu Inc. operates regional flatbed and refrigerated divisions serving the Midwest and Atlantic Seaboard, along with a dedicated fleet and logistics division, employing roughly 175 people across its transportation and maintenance operations.For shippers looking for a carrier partner with a genuine long-term track record — one that has already proven it can navigate a century of industry disruption without changing ownership, cutting corners, or losing the drivers who make service consistent — Nick Strimbu Inc.’s centennial offers a rare kind of proof point.“If you focus on how you can help others, all the rest falls into place,” Spencer Strimbu says.It’s a track record built as much for the drivers as for the shippers it serves — a hundred years of keeping paychecks steady and families supported, even when the freight market gave other carriers no choice but to slow down or close down.Companies and drivers interested in exploring a carrier or dedicated fleet partnership with Nick Strimbu Inc. can contact the company directly to learn more.Nick Strimbu Inc. is a fourth-generation, family-owned flatbed and refrigerated carrier headquartered in Brookfield Township, Ohio, founded in 1926.