ST. LOUIS –The latest data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) confirms the St. Louis region remains home to the most efficient inland port district in the nation based on tons moved per river mile in 2022, the most recent year numbers are available. The data reveals that, in 2022, the St. Louis region’s barge industry handled 369,309 tons per mile, while the average tons per mile across the other eight inland port districts was 92,863. Essentially, the St. Louis Metro Ports collectively moved almost four times the average tons per mile, as compared to the other eight inland port districts in the U.S.
Dan Lester, SVP, Business Development for the Infrastructure Group at Ingram, says that efficiency is increasingly important in today’s environment when barges are very expensive to build, and the number of existing barges being retired continues to increase. Ingram, the leading carrier on the inland waterways, operates eight facilities along the Missouri and Illinois banks of the Mississippi River in the St. Louis region.
“How do you increase capacity without spending additional capital? You move to the more efficient operations like St. Louis. For us to be able to operate efficiently and create more capacity for our customers, we want to see product moving to areas where we can get them to a dock, unloaded and reloaded as quickly as possible,” said Lester. “The value of the St. Louis region is based on efficiency. When you combine that with the infrastructure improvements we’re doing on our docks, it creates great opportunities for all shippers either north bound to St. Louis or south to the Gulf. Add in the fact that 35 barge tows can go all the way from the Gulf to St. Louis, and it’s clear that this route is the best option.”
St. Louis Metro Ports include the following individual ports: America’s Central Port (IL), Southwest Regional Port District (IL), St. Louis City Port Authority (MO), St. Louis County Port Authority (MO) and Jefferson County Port Authority (MO). Collectively serving 70 miles along the Mississippi River, these five ports handled nearly 26 million tons of cargo in 2022. With that tonnage total, the St. Louis Metro Port system also remains one of the highest tonnage inland ports nationwide, ranking number five. Though not part of St. Louis Metro Ports by the definition of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Kaskaskia Regional Port District is an additional port in the bi-state St. Louis region that also plays an important role in moving freight on the inland waterways. It has consistently handled more than five million tons of cargo annually since 2017.
Fifty percent of U.S. crops and livestock are produced within a 500-mile radius of the St. Louis region, including approximately 80% of corn and soybean acreage and, in recent years, a significant percentage of those commodities has consistently been handled by the St. Louis region’s ports.
“With more than 200 barge handling terminals in the port district, which is strategically located as the northernmost ice-free and lock free port on the Mississippi River and features exceptional multimodal capabilities, our ports are leaders in the movement of agricultural products,” said Mary Lamie, Executive Vice President of Multimodal Enterprises for Bi-State Development and head of the St. Louis Regional Freightway.
The St. Louis Regional Freightway is a regional freight district that works to enhance and optimize the region’s freight network and strengthen modal flexibility, while raising awareness about the global connectivity the St. Louis region offers. At the heart of that global connectivity is a 15-mile stretch of St. Louis’ port system, known as the Ag Coast of America. It is home to 16 barge-transfer facilities that, at total capacity, can handle more than 150 barges a day – the highest level of capacity anywhere along the Mississippi River.
To help ensure the region can continue to serve as a competitive shipper and carrier market featuring unmatched efficiencies and lower costs, continuing public and private investment is further strengthening the St. Louis region’s ports and river terminals, and the associated freight network that serves them. The St. Louis Regional Freightway’s Priority Projects initiative reveals more than half a billion dollars in infrastructure improvements have recently been completed while more than $2.3 billion in additional projects are funded and more than $5 billion in additional projects are in the planning stages.
“These investments include not only enhancements to our region’s ports and interstates, but also improving at-grade rail crossings and increasing efficiency of freight rail interconnectivity with the region’s Class I railroads,” said Lamie. “Improving the entire network is key to supporting the barge industry and global competitiveness.”
