This article originally ran in Logistics Management on February 8, 2021.
Efforts to deliver a new container-on-vessel service to efficiently and affordably transport freight along the underutilized inland waterways took a major leap forward late last year.
The plan calls for patented new waterway vessels that will move large volumes of goods and commodities along both the Mississippi River and Missouri River and their tributaries, serving key consolidation ports in St. Louis, Mo., and Memphis, Tenn., and several other feeder ports.
This might effectively create an all-water, north-south trade lane connecting the Midwest to the lower Mississippi River and on to worldwide destinations. Service on the new route could be available to shippers within the next 30 months.
“Recent milestones signal progress for the ambitious plan, which has been in the works for four years,” says Mary Lamie, executive vice president of multi-modal enterprises at Bi-State Development and head of the St. Louis Regional Freightway, one of the entities working to bring the new service to Missouri and the St. Louis region.
Read More
