The extensive U.S. inland waterways system of more than 19,300 km, or 12,000 miles, of connecting waterways and 218 locks1 efficiently and sustainably delivers a reliable supply of soy to global customers. Barge transportation is the safest, most environmentally friendly, economical, and fuel-efficient way to move goods like soybeans for export.1

U.S. soybean farmers rely on inland waterways to ship soybeans and soy products via barge to Gulf of Mexico ports for export. On a single gallon of fuel, one barge can move freight more than four times farther than trucks, releasing 10 times fewer emissions.1 Barges have the smallest carbon footprint of transportation modes to deliver soybeans to ports.

Barges contribute to making inland waterways ideal for sustainable, efficient, cost-effective transportation of agricultural goods, energy products, building materials and industrial chemicals to deep water ports for export. The sustainability represented by this smaller carbon footprint is passed on to soybean customers, supporting the sustainability of U.S. soybeans.

 

1 Inland Waterways State Profiles, National Waterways Foundation, August 2020.