Discovering Maritime Transportation

Significance of the Industry  Transport roughly 14% of total national freight  26.5% of total domestic ton-miles  Employ close to 200,000  Average compensation = 47,000

General Service Characteristics  Commodities Hauled  Dry bulk (coal & coke) = 28.3%  Petroleum (& related) = 24.4%  Food & farm = 14.4%  Chemicals = 8.4%  Iron ore, iron & steel = 4.7%  All other = 19.8%

General Service Characteristics  Length of Haul  Internal carriers average haul 482 miles  Great Lakes carriers average 508 miles  Coastal average 1652 miles  Load Size  Barges normally transport 1000 – 1500 tons (max capacity 3000 tons)  Equivalent to 16 railcars or 60 trucks  Great Lakes carriers average 20,000 tons

General Service Characteristics  Low-Cost Service  Primary advantage  Lowest cost mode for shipment of non-liquid products (1997 averages below)  Barge per-ton fees = $0.73  Rail per-ton fees = $2.40  Truck per-ton fees = $26.12  Oil pipelines per-ton fees = $1.37

General Service Characteristics  Speed of Service  Transit time longest of the 4 modes that move non- liquids  Speeds average between 5 – 10 miles per hour (upstream vs. downstream)  Service Disruption  Ice  Hurricanes

Types of Vehicles  Tanker  Largest ship in domestic water industry  18,000 – 50,000 tons  Barge  Most commonly used vessel by internal waterway carriers  Powerless (towed by a tugboat)  1500 – 3000 tons

Terminals  Most often provided by the public  Local government agencies operate ports and storage facilities  Some private firms invest in own terminals  Grain, coal, oil  Containerization critical