July 17, 2008. Last month, the National Waterways Foundation released materials entitled, “Waterways: Working for America.” The information packet (available in print and as a slide show presentation) is based on a study conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute. The materials advocate using the waterways system as a safe and efficient mode of transporting goods across the United States.

Highlights of the compilation of this Texas study examine the economics of moving cargo through America’s inland river system and the impact this mode of transportation has on the environment and communities. From these numbers, the pamphlet poses hypothetical scenarios based on the current reliance of the country’s trade on the inland river waterways system and compares costs and energy uses of barge transportation with train and highway tractor-trailers. The inland river waterways, according to the published materials, transport “more than 60% of the nation’s grain exports, about 22% of domestic petroleum and petroleum products and 20% of the coal used in electricity generation.”

The Foundation uses this study to increase awareness of transporting goods along the waterways of America and to promote further use of the inland waterways system. The Seamen’s Church Institute, which serves the community of workers who accomplish this job – the task of operating towboats which push barges of cargo along the country’s inland waterways – took special interest in this survey which offers exposure to the often unseen trade and industry workforce.

“We’re excited by these materials that in real numbers demonstrate the importance of the waterways system,” says the Rev. David M. Rider, Executive Director of the Seamen’s Church Institute and Board Member of the National Waterways Foundation. “Many of us when driving down the road see the trucks and trains that intersect with the activities of our own life. It is not everyone who sees and can easily appreciate the impact that barge transportation has on our country.”

Recently, the Executive Director of SCI got a taste of life on the river, boarding and riding for several days on an Ingram Barge Company vessel in Louisville, Kentucky headed down the Ohio River. “Seeing the hard work and the dedication that these skilled men and women put in on long shifts away from family and friends is amazing. Their work is an indispensible component of our country’s economic prosperity.”

The Seamen’s Church Institute, whose mission is to promote safety, dignity, and improved working and living conditions for millions of men and women serving in the maritime workplace, will use this study, according to Rider, when they go out into communities to teach, sharing with others the importance of the Institute’s work. Rider says, “This study not only helps to increase awareness of the waterways system but also bolsters the need for our presence to the men and women who work on these waterways. With the help of others around the country, our work will continue to offer these hardworking Americans the support they need.”