Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/14583
TIMELINE FOR THE DOUGLAS FAMILY Alfred and Mary Clyde Douglas 1938-1942 Started driving in Florida 1941 Alfred and Mary Clyde White Douglas married 1942-1944 Mary Clyde drove until the birth of their first son (Billy) 1942 Start of business (Alfred Douglas Trucking) 1938-1988 Alfred Douglas drove until his death Alfred Douglas brothers and brother-in-law 1942-1950s Brothers: Hub, Dan, Poss, Jimmy and Henry Douglas; Brother-in-law: Donald White drove until 1998 Alf’s Café and truckstop 1948-1953 Destroyed by fire 1955-1972 New truckstop Billy and Toni Douglas 1963 Billy started driving 1969 Billy and Toni Harrison married. 1970-1980 Toni drove 1971 Billy Alfred Douglas II born. 1972 Billy Jr. started riding with his parents. 1974 Bridgette Douglas born, two weeks later riding in the truck with parents 1970s Hauled peaches in Gaffney S.C. 1996-1997 Became an owner-operator leased to Schanno 1997-2002 Leased to PBX 2002-Present Leased to Mercer Tom Harrison (Toni Douglas’ father) 1984-1996 Drove for Alfred Douglas and Sons Trucking Co. Bobby Douglas 1970-1998 Drove truck discharge from the Navy, moved his young wife from the Pleasant Home community outside of Andalusia, Ala., to the Deland, Fla., area. It was there in 1942 that they started Al- fred Douglas Trucking — the back- bone of this family’s legacy. “My grandfather was never scared to take a chance,” says 39-year-old Billy Douglas Jr. “Today, it seems like we are less likely to take a risk, but not back then. People like my grand- father would take chances and work hard and hope that things would turn out well. He and my dad [Billy Douglas Sr.] are two of the hardest working people I’ve ever known.” Today, with more than 300 years of combined trucking experience from drivers past and present, the Douglases are Truckers News’ 2010 Great American Trucking Family. Representatives of the magazine will present the award, which is spon- sored by Rand McNally Intelliroute TND, to family members at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas on Friday, Aug. 27, prior to the Randy Houser concert. Alfred and Mary Clyde both hauled fruit and other agricultur- al products in those early years. Al- fred often bought the produce he hauled, sometimes in large quan- tities. The family business soon in- cluded Alfred’s brothers Hub, Dan, Poss, Jimmy and Henry, as well as Mary Clyde’s brother, Donald White. When Alfred and Mary Clyde 20 TRUCKERS NEWS AUGUST 2010 Sonny Douglas (Dan Douglas’ son) 1970-2008 Drove truck 1970-1992 Drove for Alfred Douglas & Sons, Brown Packing, and Wal-Mart. 1992-1996 Became an owner-operator leased to Schanno 1996- 2002 Leased to PBX 2002-2008 Leased to Mercer Billy and Billie L. Douglas 1989 Started driving 1994 Billy and Billie L. Lowery married. 1996-1997 Became an owner-operator and leased to Schanno 1997-2002 Leased to PBX 1998 First son born: Brayton Alexander Douglas 2001 Second son born: Brenden Avery Douglas 2002-Present Leased to Mercer 2005 Daughter born; Briley Ashlyn Douglas Alfred and Mary Clyde Douglas share a lighthearted mo- ment in front of Alf’s Café, a restaurant and truckstop they owned for many years along U.S. Highway 29 in the Pleas- ant Home community just south of Andalusia, Ala. started a family, she returned to their Alabama farm, and the Doug- las men followed the seasonal ag- ricultural trucking opportunities in South Alabama, Florida and South Carolina and in regions as far away as New York State. Over the years, the business pros- pered. Eventually, Alfred returned to Alabama for good. Still, he found ownership of the products he hauled to be a valuable enterprise. “Dad was one of the first to start raising wa- termelons around here after buying and selling watermelons in Florida,” says son Bobby Douglas. “He later sold the fruit business, but back then we worked all the packing plants and juice houses in Florida.” Alfred and Mary Clyde added a truckstop to their portfolio in 1948, a welcome addition along U.S. High- way 29 for truckers and locals alike. Mary Clyde did the cooking at the truckstop’s restaurant (Alf’s Café) and handled the paperwork for the trucking business — all while tak- ing care of her kids. These included future truckers Billy Sr. and Bobby and their nephew Sonny Douglas, whom Alfred and Mary Clyde reared as their own. “She never turned away a hungry trucker,” says Toni Douglas, who is married to Billy Sr. and drove with her husband for 10 years. “If a driv- er showed up as they were closing, it didn’t matter that she had already COURTESY DOUGLAS FAMILY