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 It has been said if it can be moved by truck or rail, it can be moved by container-on-barge. Many times inland waterway transportation benefits can be overlooked simply because trucks on highways and railcars on railways are more easily seen. Without the inland waterway system in the United States there would be dramatic increases in a variety of areas – from the price of goods and the price of gas at the pump to congestion on the roadways. Containers have been regularly used on European and Chinese inland vessels and this mode of transportation is now finding its way into our inland waterways. Container-on-barge services can handle practically any product that can fit into a shipping container and shipping via container-on-barge is economical. Full containers with greater efficiency and fewer logistics means shippers save money. Container-on-barge shipping can use the existing inland waterway system and does not require as much infrastructure as do the rail and highway systems. And container-on-barge shipping is more green than rail or truck shipping, requiring less fuel than rail or truck. The figure above shows the difference between the three modes of inland transportation. For fuel usage per ton-mile, barge transportation is the most efficient and cost effective means of moving containers. It costs about 35 times as much to send freight by truck than by barge. Much interest in the country has been shown with container-on-barge shipping, and our staff here at Port Itawamba is keeping abreast of these new shipping trends.
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Post Office Box 577 - Fulton, Mississippi - Phone (662) 862-4573 - Fax (662) 862-5637