American Commercial Barge Lines News

Offshore service vessels, along with workboats serving harbors and inland rivers, have embarked on an industry-wide voyage toward reduced emissions of greenhouse gasses. Professor Craig Philip, a faculty member with Vanderbilt University’s Center for Transportation and Operational Resilience (VECTOR) and former CEO of Ingram Barge Company, provides this context: “The Maritime Sector has long provided shippers with the most fuel-efficient and sustainable freight transport option…

I. MoneyNo one ever said it’s easy to understand federal budgets and spending plans. Nevertheless, a general sense of clarity and straightforwardness is critical for any review of public expenditures. This becomes more pressing when tracking revenue and expenditures linked to specific users’ fees, such as the $0.29/gallon fuel tax, paid by inland waterways operators. In 2021, the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF) held $221.5 million, money earmarked to build, maintain and operate…

Lock Closures Starting on the Illinois Waterway This Summer May Result in  More Freight Flowing Through St. Louis Region.Businesses that move or handle commodities on the Illinois Waterway system are being encouraged to start making alternative plans due the scheduled closure of locks on that inland waterway system. With a two-week closure planned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers beginning as early as August 2019 and closures of 90 to 120 days expected in the summers of 2020 and 2023…

Richard R. (Rick) Calhoun, Cargo Carriers, Chairman; Cornel Martin, President & CEO; Merritt Lane, Canal Barge Line, Vice Chairman; Rodney Weinzierl, Illinois Corn Growers Association, Vice Chairman;  Matt Woodruff, Kirby Corporation, Counsel; Peter Stephaich, Campbell Transportation Company, Secretary; Cherrie Felder, Channel Shipyard Company, Treasurer. Dan Mecklenborg, Ingram Barge Line Co., was named Immediate Past Chairman, and Berdon Lawrence, Kirby Corporation and Mark Knoy, AEP River Operations, were named Honorary Past Chairmen. Named to At Large positions were Michael Hennessey, CONSOL Energy Co.; Tim Parker, Jr., Parker Towing Company; Stephen Little, Crounse Corporation; and Dale Roth, Carpenter’s District Council of Greater St. Louis and Vicinity.

The American Waterways Operators (AWO) and the U.S. (CEMS) to towing company personnel. The system, developed by the Coast Guard's Research and Development Center with cooperation from AWO member companies, is designed as a comprehensive approach to alertness in the industry. Alertness Campaign, which has been ongoing since 1999. Crew alertness is at the top of the Coast Guard's and AWO's priority list of safety initiatives. light management. The goal of the workshop was to facilitate the development of company-specific CEMS plans by participants. A guide on crew endurance is expected to be distributed in September. for the CEMS. One of those, American Commercial Barge Lines (ACBL), has already implemented the CEMS on several vessels in its fleet.

At its Annual Meeting held October 1 in Houston, the Board of Directors of Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) elected the following officers and Executive Committee members for 2007-2008: Dan Mecklenborg, Senior Vice President, HR & Chief Legal Officer, Ingram Barge Company, Chairman; R. Barry Palmer, WCI, President and CEO; Steve Little, President and CEO, Crounse Corporation, General Counsel; Peter Stephaich, Chairman, Campbell Transportation Co., Secretary; Cherrie Felder, Vice President, Channel Shipyard, Treasurer. H. Merritt Lane III, President and Chief Executive Officer, Canal Barge Company; Peter Lilly, Chief Operating Officer--Coal, CONSOL Energy Inc., and Rick Calhoun, President, Cargo Carriers, were named as Vice-Chairmen.

Reports said that the owner of the tugboat and barges that struck the Queen Isabella Memorial Bridge’s pier protective system and a concrete pillar along the Intracoastal Waterway on Wednesday is conducting its own investigation into the incident. ACL is the parent company of Louisiana Dock Co. and American Commercial Barge Lines, the registered owners of the Howard Evans tugboat and barges respectively. The U.S. Coast Guard documented that a watch stander at the U.S. Coast Guard sector office in Corpus Christi received the call of the collision at 4:29 p.m. The Coast Guard crews reported seeing no visible signs of structural damage.

The American Waterways Operators (AWO) and the U.S. Coast Guard recently co-sponsored a workshop to introduce the Crew Endurance Management System (CEMS) to towing company personnel. The system, developed by the Coast Guard's Research and Development Center with cooperation from AWO member companies, is designed as a comprehensive approach to alertness in the industry. The workshop, held July 17-18 in Houston, complements the Coast Guard-AWO Safety Partnership's Crew Alertness Campaign, which has been ongoing since 1999. Crew alertness is at the top of the Coast Guard's and AWO's priority list of safety initiatives. The workshop aimed to increase the awareness of factors affecting alertness…

Inland mariners are suppressing staged fires on a towboat superstructure in a new "hands-on" safety course developed by Seamen's Church Institute's Center for Maritime Education Paducah, Ky. SCI's creative initiative brought together the City of Paducah, a local college, and the maritime industry to create the first-ever fire safety course designed specifically for those who work the rivers. Developed in response to updated U.S. Coast Guard regulations, this fire safety course, (recently approved by the USCG), is available to licensed and non-licensed mariners who work on inland rivers. The two-day course includes classroom instruction and controlled burns on local fire department's fire field equipped with a superstructure (the top portion) of towboat and a tank barge.

The LST-325 (Landing Ship, Tank), a World War II amphibious vessel designed to land battle-ready tanks, troops and supplies directly onto enemy shores, will once again be plying the waters, but this time, being towed as a floating memorial making a maiden educational voyage on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers this summer. The LST-325 is one of only two World War II LSTs to be preserved in the United States and is crewed solely by veterans. Towing services are being provided by several barge companies including Kirby Corporation (Houston, TX); Luhr Bros. (Columbia, IL); Madison Coal and Supply (Charleston, WV); MEMCO Barge Line (Chesterfield, MO), and American Commercial Barge Lines (Jeffersonville, IN). Acquired by the USS LST Ship Memorial, Inc.