Container on barge

Container on barge is a form of intermodal freight transport where containers are stacked on a barge and towed to a destination .

There is limited use of this mode of transport because a lack of infrastructure on the upriver side in the United States.

Historically, container on barge service could not compete with rail service because of the at times significantly longer transit time limiting its ability to transport time sensitive cargoes.

[1] With the development of the Louisiana International Terminal at the mouth of the Mississippi River, container on barge traffic could become mainstream, especially on the nation's inland waterways.

The Mediterranean Shipping Company along with the State of Louisiana and other investors are going to invest $1.8 billion to build a container terminal at St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, to open by 2028, it is going to be called the Louisiana International Terminal or ‘LIT’.

Inland waterway system
Upper Mississippi Lock and dams are 600' x 110'
A barge headed to Alaska carrying containerized cargo
3D sketch of a container feeder barge for the Lower Mississippi that is 1,400x210 feet could handle over 3,500 forty foot containers [ 2 ]