:Commercial barge traffic on southern stretches of the Mississippi River was at a standstill on Tuesday as low water levels halted shipments of grain, fertilizer and other commodities on the critical waterway, shipping sources said.
:

:The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is dredging the river to deepen the shipping channel to allow some cargo to pass. But shippers fear that without substantial rain the jam will persist well into the busiest grain export period of the year. Products such as road salt are also hauled north ahead of winter.
:

:
Shippers have been loading less cargo per barge so vessels sit higher on the water, and towing companies have reduced the number of barges per tow by nearly 40% as the low water conditions narrowed the navigable channel.

Many U.S. Gulf exporters have pulled offers for corn and soybeans loaded in October and November as it is unclear if they can source enough grain, threatening already sluggish export sales.
:

A full 60% of the export grains of the U.S. are transported down that river to the Gulf.

https://www.marinelink.com/news/us-barge-backlog-swells-parched-499934

On Wed, 5 Oct 2022 08:14:27 -0700 (PDT), Fred Bloggs
<bloggs.fredbloggs.fred@gmail.com> wrote:

>:Commercial barge traffic on southern stretches of the Mississippi River was at a standstill on Tuesday as low water levels halted shipments of grain, fertilizer and other commodities on the critical waterway, shipping sources said.
>:
>
>:The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is dredging the river to deepen the shipping channel to allow some cargo to pass. But shippers fear that without substantial rain the jam will persist well into the busiest grain export period of the year. Products such as road salt are also hauled north ahead of winter.
>:
>
>:
>Shippers have been loading less cargo per barge so vessels sit higher on the water, and towing companies have reduced the number of barges per tow by nearly 40% as the low water conditions narrowed the navigable channel.
>
>Many U.S. Gulf exporters have pulled offers for corn and soybeans loaded in October and November as it is unclear if they can source enough grain, threatening already sluggish export sales.
>:
>
>A full 60% of the export grains of the U.S. are transported down that river to the Gulf.
>
>
>https://www.marinelink.com/news/us-barge-backlog-swells-parched-499934

Coincidentally, I was just googling and street viewing Lake
Providence, Louisiana. It's badly named, one of the poorest places in
the USA.

Louisiana: good place to be from.

On Wednesday, October 5, 2022 at 11:51:04 AM UTC-4, John Larkin wrote:
> On Wed, 5 Oct 2022 08:14:27 -0700 (PDT), Fred Bloggs
> <bloggs.fred...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >:Commercial barge traffic on southern stretches of the Mississippi River was at a standstill on Tuesday as low water levels halted shipments of grain, fertilizer and other commodities on the critical waterway, shipping sources said.
> >:
> >
> >:The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is dredging the river to deepen the shipping channel to allow some cargo to pass. But shippers fear that without substantial rain the jam will persist well into the busiest grain export period of the year. Products such as road salt are also hauled north ahead of winter.
> >:
> >
> >:
> >Shippers have been loading less cargo per barge so vessels sit higher on the water, and towing companies have reduced the number of barges per tow by nearly 40% as the low water conditions narrowed the navigable channel.
> >
> >Many U.S. Gulf exporters have pulled offers for corn and soybeans loaded in October and November as it is unclear if they can source enough grain, threatening already sluggish export sales.
> >:
> >
> >A full 60% of the export grains of the U.S. are transported down that river to the Gulf.
> >
> >
> >https://www.marinelink.com/news/us-barge-backlog-swells-parched-499934
> Coincidentally, I was just googling and street viewing Lake
> Providence, Louisiana. It's badly named, one of the poorest places in
> the USA.
>
> Louisiana: good place to be from.

Was just reading about barge transportation on rivers and other inland waterways. Apparently everything scales up on the lower Mississippi with huge and powerful towboats and the largest string of huge barges (35 x 195 ft). They have to reduce the barges per tow to make it around the bends without scraping the bottom or outright grounding I presume. As with everything else in this country, infrastructure maintenance and rehabilitation has been lacking:
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/towboat.htm

On Wed, 5 Oct 2022 09:25:05 -0700 (PDT), Fred Bloggs
<bloggs.fredbloggs.fred@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Wednesday, October 5, 2022 at 11:51:04 AM UTC-4, John Larkin wrote:
>> On Wed, 5 Oct 2022 08:14:27 -0700 (PDT), Fred Bloggs
>> <bloggs.fred...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> >:Commercial barge traffic on southern stretches of the Mississippi River was at a standstill on Tuesday as low water levels halted shipments of grain, fertilizer and other commodities on the critical waterway, shipping sources said.
>> >:
>> >
>> >:The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is dredging the river to deepen the shipping channel to allow some cargo to pass. But shippers fear that without substantial rain the jam will persist well into the busiest grain export period of the year. Products such as road salt are also hauled north ahead of winter.
>> >:
>> >
>> >:
>> >Shippers have been loading less cargo per barge so vessels sit higher on the water, and towing companies have reduced the number of barges per tow by nearly 40% as the low water conditions narrowed the navigable channel.
>> >
>> >Many U.S. Gulf exporters have pulled offers for corn and soybeans loaded in October and November as it is unclear if they can source enough grain, threatening already sluggish export sales.
>> >:
>> >
>> >A full 60% of the export grains of the U.S. are transported down that river to the Gulf.
>> >
>> >
>> >https://www.marinelink.com/news/us-barge-backlog-swells-parched-499934
>> Coincidentally, I was just googling and street viewing Lake
>> Providence, Louisiana. It's badly named, one of the poorest places in
>> the USA.
>>
>> Louisiana: good place to be from.
>
>Was just reading about barge transportation on rivers and other inland waterways. Apparently everything scales up on the lower Mississippi with huge and powerful towboats and the largest string of huge barges (35 x 195 ft). They have to reduce the barges per tow to make it around the bends without scraping the bottom or outright grounding I presume. As with everything else in this country, infrastructure maintenance and rehabilitation has been lacking:
>https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/towboat.htm

There is a community of river pilots. You have to hire one to navigate
a big ship up from the gulf. Each pilot owns a short segment of the
river and passes it on to his kids. There is another industry of
"pilot boats" that run out and swap the pilots at the ends of each
segment. There are nice houses along the river that they can hang out
or sleep in.

They hang around the bridge and chat and once in a great while might
say "a bit to port" or something. It pays well.