The St. Louis region held on to its top ranking spot as the most efficient inland port district, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), annually moving nearly 200,000 tons per mile more than its closest competitor.
Figures were based on tons moved per mile during 2017. They also reached the third largest inland port by total tonnage. Additionally, the regional port system maintains the second highest concentration of port facilities per mile of all inland ports, with a port per mile ratio of 2.36. That fact put the St. Louis Regional Ports in command of 39 percent of 2016’s freight, despite covering only 8 percent of the 855-mile section of the Mississippi River.
“These latest numbers go beyond reinforcing a key stretch of our port system as the Ag Coast of America; they underscore the St. Louis region’s critical role in the nation’s freight network,” Mary Lamie, executive director of the St. Louis Regional Freightway, said. “Continuing investments in the St. Louis region’s ports and river terminals have created a highly competitive shipper and carrier market featuring greater efficiencies and lower costs. We have every reason to believe the positive trends will continue, given the excess capacity at river terminals and high concentrations of barges; exceptional intermodal connectivity; and the region’s unrivaled location in America’s heartland, providing the northernmost ice-free and lock-free access on the Mississippi River.”
The region is seeing an increase in diversity of products and is one of the top five U.S. ports for job growth in industrial employment. This should continue to expand as well, given that public and private investments are advancing projects in all four of the region’s public ports. To continue such growth, however, the U.S. Department of Agriculture notes that improvements in U.S. infrastructure from farms to ports will be necessary.