The column was written for decades by James V. Swift (1916–2002) who worked for The Waterways Journal in various capacities for 60 years.
The publication’s wide-ranging news articles provide a window into the people and technology behind a robust major sector of industrial transport in the United States.
Topics covered include towboat launches and christenings, inland shipyards, lock and dam construction, marine salvage, admiralty law, the Army Corps of Engineers, dredging news, inland ports and terminals, barge and towboat construction and launches, new technology relating to towboats, and regulations of the U.S. Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency, and other federal agencies that affect inland waterways commerce, as well as news about major commodities that travel the waterways, such as grain, coal, steel and fertilizer.
Editorials in the journal often address federal, state and local regulation as they relate to the rivers and waterways and those who used them for transport.
Between January 2015 and 2019, The Waterways Journal had a publishing relationship with Terrain magazine, founded by Brad Kovach, which covers "outdoor fitness, adventure and discovery" in St. Louis and the Midwest.