Moxie Media Brings Continuous Learning To The Inland Rivers Industry

Moxie Media Inc. is a seasoned veteran when it comes to e-learning and online instruction for employees in many industrial fields.

In recent years, though, it has focused more and more on the inland waterways. Moxie Media has been in the forefront of bringing continuous learning to towboat companies and their employees.

“A substantial portion of our business is serving the oil and gas industry,” said Bob Stout, Moxie Media general manager. Recent swings in the prices of oil and gas, however, have incentivized drillers and producers to find efficiencies.  That meant producing more oil and gas with fewer people. While that’s good news for drillers’ profitability and for consumers at the gas pump, it was problematic for Moxie.

“That [side of our business] took a hit,” Stout admitted. “It is slowly coming back. But the inland maritime industry side has been steadily growing.”

The last time Moxie Media appeared in the pages of The Waterways Journal, in 2014, it reported a user base of about 10,000. Today, that figure is closer to 30,000, said Stout.

Online learning and wireless connectivity on the rivers have both come a long way in those five years. Moxie’s offerings reflect both those developments. “Our sales from DVDs have dropped and are being replaced by online e-learning and video streaming formats,” said Stout.

Today, Moxie’s customers include most towboat operators on the rivers. Its hundreds of online courses cover every imaginable topic a towing company employee—at any level of seniority—could want or need to know about. Offerings range from an introductory course for new deckhands to courses on first aid, how to handle dangerous cargoes, line handling, safe skiff operation, watchstanding and vessel security.

Video-based courses on safety topics alone number in the dozens, with the specific regulations covered always mentioned up front.

One of Moxie’s most popular offerings is a comprehensive seven-course offering called “Initial Crew Orientation” that covers time-sensitive training for new crew members as required by the Subchapter M regulations. Safety topics range from marine fire prevention and response to hazard communication, respiratory protection, and more. Courses can be purchased separately or bundled into more complete curricula, depending on a customer’s size and needs. “We pretty much have Sub M covered”

“Most e-learning providers can accommodate record-keeping capabilities, but Moxie’s learning management system is very robust and can integrate with other software and data management systems. It also has automated email reporting and training scheduling and tracking,” said Stout.

Moxie Media has been producing maritime training courses for over 30 years. “Our core staff is very experienced with the inland maritime industry. I’ve worked in this industry my entire career. We know what our customers want and we deliver,” said Stout