James Buchanan retired from the Morganton Police Department twelve years ago with the rank of Major. James is the type of individual that needs to stay busy so a relaxing retirement was not for him. James and another retired police officer, Alvin Webb (the W in B&W), decided to go into business together. From their law enforcement background they were aware of the state system for the disposal of items seized from drug arrests. The state offered contracts, based on bids, to haul, store, and auction seized property. Alvin and James incorporated and placed the winning bid for the state contract. For the next three years they collected, hauled, stored, and sold at auction seized property. They were paid a small percentage of the auction proceeds with the state receiving the remainder. Unfortunately much of the property seized was not worth much and the auctions were expensive and time consuming to conduct. Their last auction cost $6,000 which brought their net proceeds down to a disappointing level. About the time they were ready to dissolve the partnership the state changed the seizure disposal procedure. All seized property is now transported to Raleigh and sold on the internet.
With the partnership dissolved James new business evolved into a towing service. He owned a flatbed truck and a wrecker as part of the seizure business so it was somewhat of a logical decision for him. Alvin was no longer a partner leaving James as the sole owner of the business.
According to James it takes a long time to build a towing business. There is a great deal of competition so trying to get in rotations or get business from garages is difficult because they are already using a service. His business is now well established but he doesn’t recommend towing for new entrants. In fact, his advice to entrepreneurs is, “Don’t go into the towing business!” He shares an experience he had a couple of years ago with an acquaintance who was determined to enter the business. James sold him a wrecker and the man started his own towing service. Six months later he was out of business.
According to James there are several drawbacks to the towing business. One of the major drawbacks is the amount of overhead involved. For example, his flatbed averages 7 ½ miles per gallon of diesel, oil changes are $200, each tire costs $400 (there are 6 tires), insurance is $5400 per year, and there are a number of miscellaneous fees involved in operating the business. In addition he must also own a wrecker in addition to his flatbed to be eligible for highway patrol rotations. He actually does not have to own a flatbed but the hookups are faster and easier which makes accident cleanups operate more efficiently and safely. He uses his flatbed 99% of the time.
Another major drawback to the towing business is the time involved. James is on call 24/7. His workload is very unpredictable. Some days he may only receive a couple of calls; other days he has towed as many as eleven vehicles. This unpredictable schedule has hampered James favorite pastime—hunting. He would like, at some point, to sell his business and spend more time with his family and hunting. I would not say that operating a towing service is James’ passion but it does fill his need and stay busy and to help people.
