In 1952, Alfred Alcide Devall purchased three wooden hulled tow boats for a total of $12,000 and so humbly began Devall Towing & Boat Service of Hackberry.  The company initially worked in the oil patch but in the 1960s, it began pushing tank barges carrying petrochemicals.  Since that time, the company has successfully focused on servicing that industry.  Alfred’s sons, Mike, Claude, Joe, Bubba and Allen, began helming the company in the 1983.  The brothers grew the company by towing their customers’ barges on the Intracoastal Waterways from Brownsville, Texas to Pensacola, Florida.  In 2004, another opportunity arose; the brothers purchased twelve of their customer’s barges.  Today, the company is being helmed by the third generation, operates over one hundred barges, thirty five push boats, four fleets, diesel service division and is a major provider of marine logistics not only on the ICWW, but also the Mississippi River and its tributaries and the Gulf of Mexico.