No more tows for Faulk
A life in the towing business has been good to Iberia Towing owner Buford Faulk, but after decades of working in the business the New Iberia resident has decided to call it quits.
Faulk, who has worked in towing for 43 years and 23 years in New Iberia, said Halloween day at midnight will be when he hangs up the closed sign on the “maw and paw” business he’s run with his wife for the last time.
“I better get excited, I’m just making my 43 years doing this,” Buford said with a smile Saturday afternoon.
The Abbeville native said he got started in towing when he was young and working on a farm. Whenever it rained, Faulk said he would make money by hauling junk cars, and word eventually spread that he was handy for the job.
“People started finding out and I worked myself up,” he said. “I worked for other people but that didn’t work out, so I started my own business.”
It also provided him with a bit of self-education about the business. Although he never finished high school, Faulk said he’s learned plenty on the job and doesn’t find it a hassle. The reason for retirement, he said, was a desire to move on to other things.
“I’m going to be 66 next month, so I just thought it was time to boogie.”
Faulk runs Iberia Towing with his wife Willa, to whom he’s been married for 43 years and with whom he shares children and grandchildren.
He’s not planning on taking it easy. Faulk said he plans on starting another business after he takes a short vacation in November to celebrate his birthday in Tennessee. When he did decide to retire, Faulk said word got around quickly.
“You know how they say a little birdie told me? It was more like a hawk. Everybody found out really quickly,” he said.
As for what he enjoyed most about the towing business, Faulk said it provided him a good life with a steady income even though some of the customers can get a little testy.
Faulk said he always enjoyed his elderly clients, who he would often give discounts to for being so polite. He has also always put in special consideration for cancer patients.
“If you’ve got cancer or are going through treatment you don’t owe me nothing,” he said.
“It’s been a good life, but it’s time to move on. And my wife agrees with me.”
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