Man finds his rags to riches story later in life
CENTERVILLE, TEXAS – It was a warm, yet rainy afternoon in a small Texas town. John Wilson had a decision to make, and it wasn’t an easy one.
“Do I try to keep afloat, or do I make a change,” Wilson said. “I wasted my life as someone else’s employee, not getting anywhere.”
Wilson, 51, a former pipeline mechanic and father of two, dove into the unknown. After a long stretch of uncertainty and no calls for pipeline jobs he bought a semitruck to haul logs.
Semitrucks and lumber mills are no stranger to Wilson. Before he pipelined, he hauled logs. He chose to leave the log woods behind to start a career that held more promise.
With an unsteady future for the oil and gas industry after the 2018 presidential election, the pipeline had dried up. Wilson received fewer and fewer calls to go work, so he invested in a semi to haul logs.
“I started as a lease truck driver for other companies,” Wilson said. “As time wore on, I felt the sting of hard hours as someone else’s employee, with little to show for it.”
John Wilson stands and waves aboard his John Deere skidder. This piece of equipment is what drags trees into piles to be loaded on trucks. Photo by Moriah Williams.
“It was hard to be a lease truck driver for other companies,” Wilson said. “There were too many variables at play to have a decent paycheck.”
Wilson said he started to kick around the idea of logging in December of 2020. He wanted job that could achieve his childhood dream that would allow him to be his own boss.
“I might not have gone to business school,” Wilson said. “But I have a goal and a solid work ethic.”
Wilson said he had to refinance his old tractor and vehicles to make down payments on logging equipment. He went as far as to borrow money from family.
“People told me that I wouldn’t make it six months,” Wilson said. “But here we are in November of 2022, and we started in 2020.”
Even with two years in the books, the first six months were a learning curve, Wilson said. He has had his fair share of setbacks but continues to push through.
“When I started out, I couldn’t rub two nickels together,” Wilson said. “I started with old run-down equipment, but things are different now.”
According to Wilson, he now runs two crews. Which means two sets of equipment, two crews to work and more timber harvested.
“A newer loader cost $320,000,” Wilson said. “A skidder that pulls logs to the loader, so trucks can be loaded, cost $300,000.”
“I can afford that now,” Wilson said. “Before it was all just a dream.”
Wilson said it isn’t easy. In 2022, fuel cost tripled, pushing operation cost close to non-profitable. The weather decreases the amount of timber hauled to lumber mills and lease truck drivers aren’t predictable.
“It’s turned our life upside down,” said Evelyn Wilson, the bookkeeper and wife of John. “We have so much to deal with, and things aren’t how they used to be.”
According to Evelyn Wilson, the company still has a fair share of challenges.
“There are regulations and stacks of paperwork that are required every quarter,” Evelyn Wilson said. “We have to deal with federal regulations, department of transportation, drug tests, and high-cost insurance policies.”
According to Evelyn Wilson, John Wilson can’t retire anytime soon, but his hard work has paid off.
“We can support 4-H kids’ county fair projects and so much more,” Evelyn Wilson said. “His banker trusts him and supports his plans to expand his business further.”
It’s not just his wife and kids that can see how much Wilson has accomplished.
“He’s got a unique story,” said Jackson Woodall, Wilson’s son –in-law.
According to Woodall, Wilson has accomplished more in a short amount of time than men twice his age.
“In our part of the country, people don’t go out and accomplish big things,” Woodall said. “It’s not just the amount of money he has made, but how hard he has worked to make it.”
Woodall said that Wilson can be a positive influence for the younger generation, especially if they follow his work ethic and determination.
It’s 6 p.m. and Wilson and his wife are back from a quick trip to see their daughter. They are exhausted and have a long week ahead of them.
“I was able to afford last minute flights during a holiday to see my daughter,” Wilson said. “Before it would have been a FaceTime, but now I make enough I can see my kids.”
Wilson said that aside from the financial aspects, he feels that he has finally made something of himself. He says he came from a poor background, with very little in way of prospects as an adult.
“I can be proud of myself when I lay my head down at night,” Wilson said. “I don’t have to worry about living up to someone else’s expectations. One day, I’ll be able to retire and live the good life and say I did it with own two hands.”
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