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The Mississippi River is a transportation powerhouse — especially for agriculture.
Roughly 60% of the U.S. grain exports float down the river by barge, and plenty of soybeans are moved that way.
But barges can move a lot of other goods too.
“Rubber, scrap metal, resin for polymers like paints, varnishes glues,” said Paul Rohde, Midwest region vice president for the Waterways Council, an organization that advocates for barge transportation. “It’s all about capacity.”
It would take more than 1,000 semitrucks to carry the same load as 15 barges and a single tow boat, the standard for this part of the Mississippi River, he said.
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