Initiatives | Promotion

The Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association is the only association addressing the majority of issues affecting the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. No other group duplicates this function. In order to address these issues effectively, the GICA spends much of its time and resources educating people on both sides of the issues, regarding the economic and environmental benefits of waterway transportation. Check our brochure or PowerPoint presentation (3MB download) for information beyond what is provided here, or contact our offices to schedule a guest speaker for your group.

Advantages Over Competing Modes: Economy of Scale

Inland barge transportation is easily the lowest-cost carrier when compared to land-based alternatives such as truck or rail. Because of its very large cargo capacity, one standard inland barge can carry the same freight that would otherwise require 15 railcars or 60 trucks! Even more significant is the fuel efficiency of water-based transportation. A barge can move one ton of cargo 514 miles with one gallon of fuel. A railcar can carry the same cargo only 202 miles, and a truck can carry it only 60 miles.
As you can imagine, any shift of cargo from water to land-based transportation would increase the cost of many goods, including common consumer items, several-fold. By keeping costs down, barge transportation benefits virtually all consumers, and also enables our nation’s products to compete in the global market.

Advantages Over Competing Modes: Safety in (Small) Numbers

Barge transportation is statistically the safest mode for moving goods. This is true for several reasons. First, every barge on the water means 15 fewer railcars or 60 fewer trucks on land. With fewer vehicles on our roads and railways, there is less congestion, and less probability for accidents.

Second, barges keep hazardous cargo away from highly populated areas. In the unlikely event of an accident, a barge carrying dangerous cargo poses much less of a threat than a similar accident involving a train or truck in a densely-populated area.

And finally, in comparing barge, truck and rail transportation, barges have the fewest number of accidents per unit of cargo moved. This could be attributed to several factors. They are slower moving, allowing more time to act in preventing a collision. Also, because of their great capacity, fewer barges are required to move a given load. This results in less congestion on the waterways than on our highways, and less chance for an accident to happen.

Advantages Over Competing Modes: Environmentally-Friendly

Barge transportation creates just a fraction of the noise and air pollution produced by railcars and trucks. It does nothing to further burden our already congested roadways. In fact, every one barge eases congestion by keeping 15 railcars off the tracks or 60 trucks off the road!

Barge transportation is the logical solution to our nation’s growing traffic, safety, and environmental concerns!