Inland Water Freight Transportation Industry Profile

Companies in this industry provide inland water transportation of cargo on US lakes, rivers, or intracoastal waterways. Major companies include independents, such as American Commercial Barge Line, Ingram Barge, and Kirby Inland Marine, and captive subsidiaries of companies that transport commodities, such as American River Transportation (owned by Archer Daniels Midland).

The US inland water freight transportation industry includes about 300 establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with combined annual revenue of about $6 billion.

The industry does not include companies that provide transportation of cargo on the Great Lakes System; those operations are covered in the Coastal and Great Lakes Freight Transportation profile.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand is driven primarily by the level of agricultural exports, petroleum refining, coal usage, and chemical shipments. Large companies have advantages in handling a broad range of cargo types, along with economies of scale in purchasing and marketing. Small companies compete by specializing in particular cargo types or services, subcontracting to larger companies, and offering responsive customer service. The US industry is highly concentrated: the largest 50 companies generate about 95% of industry revenue.

Inland barge companies compete with other methods for transporting bulk materials and liquids, including trucks, railroads, and pipelines.

PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Major services are transportation of dry bulks (about 40%) and bulk of liquids and gases (about 20%). Freight transportation services consist of dry cargo (such as grain, coal, steel, fertilizers, and aggregates) and liquid cargo ...