If cargo is king, ports are its cupbearers, barges its royal carriages and towboats the unsung Trojans powering America’s inland waterways. The fleet of towboats operating on the navigable waterways… Read More
Author: Ken Eriksen
Ports are not just docks. They are economic engines. They connect farms to factories, mines to markets and nations to the world. Two recent announcements—one in Argentina, one in Louisiana—illustrate… Read More
As the Mississippi River winds past Memphis, Tenn., its mighty flow, averaging 593,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), or roughly 4.45 million gallons per second, supports navigation, ecosystems and communities. Read More
As the summer of 2025 has wound down, the refrain from the Turnpike Troubadours song “Long Hot Summer Day” comes to mind. For every day I’m workin’ on… Read More
As the summer of 2025 has wound down, the refrain from the Turnpike Troubadours song “Long Hot Summer Day” comes to mind. For every day I’m workin’ on the Illinois… Read More
At this year’s Inland Marine Expo in Nashville, hosted by The Waterways Journal, an attendee asked about surplus barges in the covered fleet. With barge demand in 2022 and 2023… Read More
The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW), spanning 1,058 river miles from Apalachee Bay, Fla., to Brownsville, Texas, is an all-star performer. From the Mississippi River at New Orleans, the GIWW extends… Read More
Ken Eriksen The Upper Mississippi River (UMR) extends 854 navigable river miles through the heart of the Corn Belt from Minneapolis past St. Louis to the mouth of… Read More
For the ninth consecutive year, commodities moving on the inland waterways were lower than the previous year. Barge volumes for 2023, as reported by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers… Read More
The number of barges being worked on the Mississippi River system, its connecting waterways and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway during 2024 totaled 22,385, including dry covered, dry open and tank… Read More
