​Trucking The Vehicle Of Progress For The Wilson Family

Shakir Muhammad
October 2018

I have always been overly fascinated by the majestic sight and sound of seeing a large convoy of heavy-duty trucks rolling down the highway. I was immediately hooked on trucks when I saw my neighbor behind the steering wheel of a bright mint red tractor- trailer. MR. G.T. Mullins was an outstanding award-winning caliber driver during his very exciting history making career at the IGA food store chain in Demopolis, Alabama. Mullins was also one of the first Afro-Americans to ever drive for the food supply company small fleet. I was really impressed with his unique ability to expertly maneuver the huge over-size vehicle through hectic conditions on narrow winding city streets. He was a deftly skilled operator under pressure, especially in tight high traffic zones with limited space and visibility and very little margin for error. He truly was a highly trained professional driver. I want to commend Mullins and all those brave long serving Afro-American truckers who broke through, persevered and made a positive contribution while setting a great example for the legion of young modern day conscientious Afro-American drivers like me. He would be flabbergasted and overfilled with joy to know that he was the person who inspired me to enter truck driver training school, obtain my CDL and parlay them into gainful employment as a professional driver. He would be even more thrilled to know that he is the main reason the Wilson family has become one of our small town’s most prominent trucking families as well. My two young forward-thinking nephews, John L Wilson, III and Marco Wilson, and in-law Napoleon McAlpine have gradually transformed themselves into a very smart cadre of top performing professional drivers. These three highly motivated trailblazers are totally committed to making our families a global.

Today I'm a highly skilled veteran OTR driver, avid recruiter, writer, progressive political activist and one of the most outspoken members of the Afro-American Truckers Association, who enjoys all the formidable off and on road challenges, extensive travel and independence that long haul trucking provides. I also like going to many different places and meeting new peoples while earning industry leading pay and benefits. Trucking has afforded me nearly unlimited access to all the US 48 contiguous states, including Canada and Mexico. It has also provided me a special privilege to finance my nephew's daughter’s tuition through flight training school where she will start earning her wings as a high-flying pilot in the aviation industry. But more broadly, this uniquely challenging and stress intensive leadership position has elevated my role model status to a new stratospheric height. It has given me added incentive and opportunities to transfer my valuable on-road experience into attracting scores of young talent to the industry. It has also made me increasingly successful in impacting more industry wide change, that has led me to enlist Movin' Out to speak out on critical issues facing the industry fastest growing demographic groups among the US driver work force, promote new innovative ideas, raise public awareness and influence the policy makers and stakeholders who regulate and govern the trucking industry. I am helping to advance the collective interest of the growing number of young self-determined Afro-American truckers who are becoming more organized and effective in employing the media and other assets to enhance their overall clout, upward mobility and market share of the rapidly expanding multi-billion-dollar trucking industry moving forward.