Ol’ Man River is Not Rolling Along

American Thinker ^ | 23 Ocy, 2022 | Clarice Feldman

[MtnClimber]

Even the great Mississippi has had it with Biden's presidency.

If you think the price of energy and food has reached the limit, I have bad news for you: All signs are it’s going to be much worse. Hot Air described the coming supply chain wreck.. Water levels on the Mississippi are tied with an all-time low. And that portends a bitter winter for consumers:

Just under half (47%) of all grain is moved by barge, according to the USDA. Approximately 5.4 million barrels of crude and 35% of thermal coal are moved on the Mississippi.

That’s just a small amount of Mississippi traffic, A great deal more than grain and coal normally is shipped by barge on the Mississippi.

That domestic decline in shipping is compounded by the mess in those ports bringing in foreign products. To avoid the snarl in California’s ports (compounded by California’s labor laws and air-quality regulations), ships are being diverted and unloaded in New York and New Jersey. Those ports offer far less unloading capacity than those in Los Angeles and Long Beach.

But transferring cargo to East Coast ports has also caused its own set of problems. The ports themselves are smaller in scale than either Long Beach or LA, and can’t hold as many ships or get them offloaded and cleared for the next cargo to come in. That is causing significant delays in on-time reliability. In other words, there’s a pretty decent chance that what you ordered may not get to the United States anywhere near the date they quoted you for its arrival. Once your container does arrive, it may sit in the boat for a while.

Even the next-tier port in Savannah is overwhelmed with more traffic than it can service, and once those ships are unloaded there’s

[MtnClimber]

Clarice ping.

[P.O.E.]

All those railroad lines dug up and replaced by bike trails?
I say make the cyclists carry the freight.

[FlipWilson]

We will be don, I have a plan. It involves a shit ton of beer, some munchies and the willingness to urinate in public.

[4yearlurker]

Sorry,there is already a Yellow River in China.

[Texas resident]

Barge traffic is way down, truckers are facing very high fuel prices and there is a railway strike on the horizon.

Thanks Brandon

[upchuck]

Thanks for the ping MtnClimber.

Clarice Feldman ping.

If you'd like to be on or off the Clarice Feldman ping list, usually issued only on Sunday morning, please click Private Reply below and drop me a FReepmail.

[Jane Long]

Supply chain ping.

[packagingguy]

Normally underwater parts of Arkansas are now large sand bars. This is about as low as I have seen in 50 years.

[gloryblaze]

Biden and his honchos are bad news all right, but the dangerously low water level of the mighty Mississippi is not of their doing.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Supply Chain Problems on the Mighty Mississippi River

I believe that I heard on Bloomberg news,
that each barge, fully loaded, accounts for and saves 7 tractor trailer loads on the roads.
As of yesterday, there were at least 700 barges being held up due to low water volume on the river.
Some barges, in order to avoid running aground, have reduced their loads by 20% to float higher in the reduced flow.
There is little expectation for the river to rise to acceptable and normal levels until early January, 2023.
As a direct result, harvested grains, bulk products and livestock feeds are expected to rise further due to increased transportation costs.

[blam]

"Barge traffic is way down, truckers are facing very high fuel prices and there is a railway strike on the horizon."

Don't forget the coming diesel gasoline shortage.

BIDEN ECONOMY: US Has Only 25 Days of Diesel Supply – Shortage Could Cripple Economy

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

This is something that I saw on Newsmax when I was staying at my friend’s house in Maryland while visiting relatives. That river is low, and it has little, if anything, to do with AGW. I’m guessing we might be in a hydrological drought cycle. JMO.

[DuncanWaring]

...that each barge, fully loaded, accounts for and saves 7 tractor trailer loads on the roads.

---

I’ve heard it’s more like 140 or so truckloads.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I’m guessing those were old, unused rail lines. In my old Maryland town of Mt. Airy, an old rail line went through town by a train station for traveling passengers. The line fell into disuse, except for a little freight west of town, so some of the crossings were paved over, some track was ripped up, and parking lots were built downtown where the tracks once were. Finally, a rail trail connected a park by the highway bypass east of town to the center of town along the remains of the old line.

[PeterPrinciple]

https://centralohioriverbusinessassociation.com/cargo-capacity-different-transportation-modes

Depends what is is.

[blam]

"As a direct result, harvested grains, bulk products and livestock feeds are expected to rise further due to increased transportation costs."

From what I've read, I've come to believe that most of the farm products coming down the Mississippi presently are destined for export.

Massive Bean Piles Appearing Along Mississippi River

“It’s a regular occurrence here in SESD … but we are prepared with pads / bunks / air / tarps. Some warm and wet weather down south and I see very bad things happening.”

[Texas resident]

Isn’t this a job for our Transportation secretary? Oh wait, he was picked because of his sexual preference, not for his expertise.