From driver to owner
Wilson has certainly proven her expertise, starting from day one behind the wheel of a truck pulling refrigerated trailers across the country and Canada. Wilson first started driving when she was 21, after attending a neighbor’s truck-driving school after graduating high school in San Bernardino, California. Even as a new driver, she was dedicated to putting the work in so that she could finesse the 53-ft. trailers carrying food, chemicals, ice cream, and more on her own.
“Everything I do, I do with full intentions of doing it the right way the first time,” Wilson said. After driving with a trainer for a while, “I always worked on trying to do it better than the average person. So, I took to heart [being able to back] the truck up, putting those 53-ft. trailers in tight little spaces, so I didn't have to rely on anybody else.”
After driving for eight years at one fleet, Wilson knew she was ready for the next step. She applied for a dispatch position at the same fleet and found that learning the system used outside the truck instead of within was not difficult, so much so that her then-supervisor, her future husband Steve Wilson, claims that she hip-checked him out of the way after about five minutes of training.
“I said, ‘I think I got this,’” Wilson laughed, “and he backed out of it, and that was the last training I had.”
But the experience was even more valuable because it helped her learn the big-picture of running a fleet. “It gave me a sense for what it's like to run a business,” she explained.
For a year, Wilson continued to work dispatch while also picking up additional management responsibilities when Steve had to help out at another location, which led to her becoming terminal manager. But when the fleet where she started her career was bought out, this led to layoffs throughout the company—including Steve.
“I think because they had me so much cheaper, they were going to have me do his position,” Wilson recalled. “So the day that they laid him off, I walked out with him.”
“By that time, we had become pretty close friends,” Wilson added. “A relationship grew after that.”
Even while employed as a dispatcher, Wilson split her time between work and the San Bernardino County Fire Department since April 2018, handling middle-of-the-night calls, rescuing hikers, and checking out downed power lines. Wilson also helped with some maintenance tasks for the fire engines around the station, and after the fleet’s layoffs, she played a larger role there, too.
While Wilson has stepped back from her volunteer firefighter work now, “I'm still pretty involved, I just don't actively respond to calls,” she explained. “But they’re still my firefighter family.”
After a few months recuperating from the layoffs, the Wilsons found a truck repair dealership that was selling their territory and offering to help the buyer establish themselves. The opportunity gave Wilson the chance to flex the high-level business understanding she gained from working as dispatch and terminal manager, but this time on her own terms. So, the couple attended the training they needed to, made a down payment, and got to work opening Inland Empire Fleet Maintenance.
The shop got its first customers in September 2019, and they were able to add another technician near the end of the year. Since then, the shop has only continued to grow, even through COVID, and in 2024, they moved to a bigger shop with 6,000 sq. ft. of repair space plus 3,000 sq. ft. of offices.
Nowadays, even when the shop life is challenging and Wilson has to contend with hiring difficulties and training, she relishes the independence she’s forged for herself.
“I probably could never go work for another company again,” she finished.
