Posted on April 4, 2020
Shipping activity along the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System remained sluggish as dredging crews continued to clear the inland navigation channels above Webbers Falls Lock & Dam 16 during post-flooding recovery.
Shippers at the Port of Muskogee turned to the railroad and trucking industry in January to pick up the slack and get cargo to and from the inland port. January barge tonnage sank from tallies recorded for the same period a year ago by more than 20%. January rail tonnage was up nearly 30% from totals recorded a year ago, and truck tonnage this past month posted a gain of more than 13%.
Port Director Scott Robinson predicted post-flood dredging could continue through April and into May and extend up the Verdigris River. While the MKARNS is open for unrestricted tows, Robinson said “there are some challenging areas for the towing industry to navigate.”
“Marking the channel is a challenge — marking where the channel exists today as opposed to where it previously existed is a challenge,” Robinson said. “Shippers are from time to time running aground in certain areas, which just adds to their costs.”
At the Port of Muskogee, imported and exported goods shipped by barge in January totaled 40,608 tons. That represents an decrease of 20.48% — or 8,318 tons — from the 48,926 tons shipped during the same month in 2019.
January barge cargo consisted of imported commodities that included nepheline syenite, clay, molasses, fertilizer and steel coils, which arrived on 27 barges. Exports included scrap steel and barite, which left the port on two barges.
Robinson said it could be awhile before barge tonnage returns to pre-flood levels regardless of river conditions. He attributed that to “risk management” and local manufacturers’ recent experience with “the additional costs of transportation that resulted from the May-June flood.”
“I think shippers are going to be … more careful in allocating transportation costs across different modes of transportation,” Robinson said. “Fortunately, we have an excellent rail configuration, and by the time we are finished with the BUILD project we will have as good as it gets as far as rail transportation and rail configuration system.”
The estimated $11.58 railroad project, half of which is being funded by a federal transportation grant, will lengthen the arc of the railroad track as it enters the port, accommodating access by modern six-axle locomotives. It also will include an expansion of the railroad marshaling yard at the port.
January rail tonnage totaled 40,740 tons. That represents a 29.6% — or 12,057-ton — increase from the 26,683 tons shipped during the same period a year ago.
Imported commodities by rail consisted primarily of steel coils, pipe, steel and hemicellulose extract, which arrived along with 14 other commodities on 407 cars. Commodities that left the Port of Muskogee in January by rail consisted entirely of pipe, which left the port on 26 cars.
Truck cargo tracked in January totaled 67,243 tons. That was up 13.03 percent, or 8,761 tons, from the 58,482 tons reported for the same period a year ago.
Commodities imported by truck in February consisted primarily of asphalt, pipe and steel, which arrived along with nine other commodities on trailers pulled by 524 trucks. Trucked exports consisted primarily of nepheline syenite, pipe, clay, asphalt and fertilizer, which left the port along with 18 other commodities on trailers pulled by 2,822 trucks.
Source: muskogeephoenix
