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Did you know that...

• Barge transportation carries 20% of the nation's coal... Enough to produce 10% of all U.S. electricity used annually.
  

• One 1500-ton inland tank barge carries enough gasoline to drive your car around the world 768 times.
  

• One 1500-ton hopper barge carries enough wheat to make 2,190,000 loaves of bread.
  

• Barge transportation has the lowest probability of an accident, and is statistically the safest mode of transportation, both in absolute numbers of accidents and in lives lost.
  

• An average tow configuration on the lower Mississippi River is longer than four football fields
  

• The cargo capacity of a standard inland barge...
  One barge = 1500 tons = 52,500 Bushels = 453,600 Gallons
  Is 15 times greater than one rail car...
  One rail car = 100 Tons = 3500 Bushels = 30,240 Gallons
  And 60 times greater than one semi truck...
  One semi truck = 25 Tons = 875 Bushels = 7,560 Gallons
  

• Barge transportation is the most fuel efficient method of moving the raw materials needed by the nation.
  
  Fuel Efficiency*

  Mode	Miles One Ton of Commodity Can Move Per Gallon
  Rail	202.0
  Highway	59.2
  Waterway	514.0
  Pipeline	492.0

* Source: Fuel Efficiency in Freight Transportation, Samuel Ewer Eastman

• Barge transportation has the lowest level of emissions.
  
  Emissions Produced*

  Mode	Hydrocarbon	Carbon Monoxide	Nitrous Oxide
  Towboat	.09	.20	.53
  Train	.46	.64	1.83
  Truck	.63	1.90	10.17

Pollutants in pounds produced in moving one ton of commodity 1,000 miles

* Source: EPA Emission Control Lab

 

• The Barge and Towing Industry General Information 1993
  

  Towing Companies	600 (Approx.)
  Towboats and Tugs	6,200
  Total Fleet Horsepower	8,795,682
  Dry Cargo Barges	26,674
  Dry Cargo Capacity	38 Million Tons
  Liquid Cargo Barges	3,837
  Liquid Cargo Capacity	10,673,686 Short Tons
  Industry Employees (On Vessels)	33,000
  Miles of Waterways	25,777

 

• Major Commodities Moved by Barge in 1993*

Commodity	Tons	Percent
Petroleum products	112.6	19.4
Coal and Lignite	173.5	30.0
Sand/Gravel/Stone/Rock/Soil	64.0	11.1
Chemicals	48.2	8.3
Grain/Oilseeds	72.1	12.4
Other	59.9	10.3
Petroleum-crude	38.7	6.7
Iron and Steel	3.5	0.6
Forest Products	0.3	0.1
Clay/Glass/Cement/Concrete	6.0	1.0
Non-Metallic Minerals	0.4	0.1
Total	579.3	100

*Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center

 

• 1993 Traffic*

Major Rivers	Tons (Millions)	Ton-Miles (Billions)
Mississippi River	298.3	162.2
Ohio River	227.2	60.3
Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway	3.8	0.2
Gulf Intracostal Waterway	114.9	19.3
Columbia-Snake Rivers	23.3	.12
Tennessee River	48.2	7.2
Illinois River	45.6	9.1
Monongahela River	33.1	1.3
Black Warrior System	23.7	6.2
Kanawha River	22.3	1.6
Cumberland River	14.3	1.4
TennTom River	7.1	1.1
McClellan/Kerr/Arkansas River	9.4	1.8
Missouri River	5.6	0.6

*Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center

 

• 1993 Domestic Barge Traffic for Selected U.S. Ports*

Coastal Ports	Tons (Millions)		Inland Ports	Tons (millions)
Houston	54,723,318		Baton Rouge	42,508,737
New York & New Jersey	55,964,026		Pittsburgh	44,490,094
New Orleans	35,574,937		Portland	10,256,327
Norfolk	7,223,505		St.Louis	27,551,350
Long Beach	2,809,812		Cincinnati	13,648,255
Mobile	22,288,469		Louisville	8,293,705
Los Angeles	3,789,918		Minneapolis	1,208,710
Philadelphia	14,117,566
Baltimore	9,742,784
Seattle	6,139,360
Tacoma	2,077,200
Boston	8,229,884
Oakland	1,350,698

*Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center

 

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