Weekly barge rates in future months for downbound freight originating from seven locations along the Mississippi River System. This dataset contains rates for transactions one month in the future.

The seven locations are: (1) "Twin Cities," a stretch along the Upper Mississippi; (2) "Mid-Mississippi," a stretch between eastern Iowa and western Illinois; (3) "Illinois River," along the lower portion of the Illinois River; (4) "St. Louis"; (5) "Cincinnati," along the middle third of the Ohio River; (6) "Lower Ohio," approximately the final third of the Ohio River; and (7) "Cairo-Memphis," from Cairo, IL, to Memphis, TN.

The U.S. Inland Waterway System utilizes a percent-of-tariff system to establish barge freight rates. The tariffs were originally from the Bulk Grain and Grain Products Freight Tariff No. 7, which were issued by the Waterways Freight Bureau (WFB) of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). In 1976, the United States Department of Justice entered into an agreement with the ICC and made Tariff No. 7 no longer applicable. Today, the WFB no longer exists, and the ICC has become the Surface Transportation Board, which does not have jurisdiction over barge rates on the inland waterways. However, the barge industry continues to use the tariffs as benchmarks for rate units.

Each city on the river has its own benchmark, with the northern most cities having the highest benchmarks. They are as follows: Twin Cities = 619; Mid-Mississippi = 532; St. Louis = 399; Illinois = 464; Cincinnati = 469; Lower Ohio = 446; and Cairo-Memphis = 314.

To calculate the rate in dollars per ton, multiply the percent of tariff rate by the 1976 benchmark and divide by 100: (Rate * 1976 tariff benchmark rate per ton)/100. As an example, a 271 percent tariff for a St. Louis grain barge would equal 271 percent of the St. Louis benchmark rate of $3.99, or $10.81 per ton.

Weekly barge rates for downbound freight originating from seven locations along the Mississippi River System, which includes the Mississippi River and its tributaries (e.g., Upper Mississippi River, Illinois River, Ohio River, etc.). The seven locations are: (1) "Twin Cities," a stretch along the Upper Mississippi; (2) "Mid-Mississippi," a stretch between eastern Iowa and western Illinois; (3) "Illinois River," along the lower portion of the Illinois River; (4) "St. Louis"; (5) "Cincinnati," along the middle third of the Ohio River; (6) "Lower Ohio," approximately the final third of the Ohio River; and (7) "Cairo-Memphis," from Cairo, IL, to Memphis, TN (see map under Attachments).

The U.S. Inland Waterway System utilizes a percent-of-tariff system to establish barge freight rates. The tariffs were originally from the Bulk Grain and Grain Products Freight Tariff No. 7, which were issued by the Waterways Freight Bureau (WFB) of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). In 1976, the United States Department of Justice entered into an agreement with the ICC and made Tariff No. 7 no longer applicable. Today, the WFB no longer exists, and the ICC has become the Surface Transportation Board, which does not have jurisdiction over barge rates on the inland waterways. However, the barge industry continues to use the tariffs as benchmarks for rate units.

Each city on the river has its own benchmark, with the northern most cities having the highest benchmarks. They are as follows: Twin Cities = 619; Mid-Mississippi = 532; St. Louis = 399; Illinois = 464; Cincinnati = 469; Lower Ohio = 446; and Cairo-Memphis = 314.

To calculate the rate in dollars per ton, multiply the percent of tariff rate by the 1976 benchmark and divide by 100: (Rate * 1976 tariff benchmark rate per ton)/100. As an example, a 271 percent tariff for a St. Louis grain barge would equal 271 percent of the St. Louis benchmark rate of $3.99, or $10.81 per ton.

Table 9: Weekly Barge Freight Rates for Southbound Only Shipments

Weekly barge rates (percent of tariff) for downbound grain freight originate from six locations along the Mississippi River System (MRS), which includes the Mississippi River and its tributaries (e.g., Upper Mississippi River, Illinois River, Ohio River, etc.).

The Mississippi River System uses a percent of tariff system to establish barge freight rates. The tariffs were originally from the Bulk Grain and Grain Products Freight Tariff No. 7, which were issued by the Waterways Freight Bureau (WFB) of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). In 1976, the U.S. Department of Justice entered into an agreement with ICC that made Tariff No. 7 no longer applicable. Today, WFB no longer exists, and ICC has become the Surface Transportation Board of the U.S. Department of Transportation. However, the barge industry continues to use the tariffs as benchmarks as rate units.

Here are the six MRS locations where the percent of tariff is collected each week: (1) Twin Cities, from Minneapolis, MN, to La Crosse, WI, on the Upper Mississippi River (2) Mid-Mississippi, from Genoa, WI, to Winfield, MO, on the Upper Mississippi River (3) Illinois River, from Chicago, IL, to Hardin, IL, on the Illinois River (4) St. Louis, from Grafton, IL, to Cape Girardeau, MO, on the Upper Mississippi River (5) Ohio River, from Silver Grove, KY, to Paducah, KY, on the Ohio River (6) Cairo-Memphis, from Buffalo Island, MO, to Memphis, TN, on the Lower Mississippi River

Within these locations (except for Twin Cities), multiple benchmark rates apply, depending on the exact origin location and the distance to the Gulf. (Please see the Rate Data by Segment" Excel file below for specific locations.)

To calculate the rate in dollars per ton, multiply the percent of tariff rate by the benchmark rate. A few examples: (1) A 300-percent tariff for grain barge at Minneapolis, MN, would equal 3.00 times the benchmark rate of $6.19, or $18.57 per ton. (2) A 250-percent tariff for a grain barge at Dubuque, IA, would equal 2.50 times the benchmark rate of $6.00 or $15 per ton. (3) A 225-percent tariff for a grain barge at Peoria, IL, would be 2.25 times the benchmark rate of $4.84 or $10.83 per ton. (4) A 215-percent tariff for a grain barge at St. Louis, MO, would be 2.15 times the benchmark rate of $3.99 or $8.58 per ton. (5) A 200-percent tariff for a grain barge at Cincinnati, OH, would be 2.00 times the benchmark rate of $4.69, or $9.38 per ton. (6) A 150-percent tariff for a grain barge at Hales Point, TN, would be 1.50 times the benchmark rate of $3.51, or $5.27 per ton.

Figure 8: Illinois River Barge Freight Rate

Weekly barge rates in future months for downbound freight originating from seven locations along the Mississippi River System. This dataset shows rates for transactions three months in the future.

The U.S. Inland Waterway System utilizes a percent-of-tariff system to establish barge freight rates. The tariffs were originally from the Bulk Grain and Grain Products Freight Tariff No. 7, which were issued by the Waterways Freight Bureau (WFB) of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). In 1976, the United States Department of Justice entered into an agreement with the ICC and made Tariff No. 7 no longer applicable. Today, the WFB no longer exists, and the ICC has become the Surface Transportation Board, which does not have jurisdiction over barge rates on the inland waterways. However, the barge industry continues to use the tariffs as benchmarks for rate units.

Each city on the river has its own benchmark, with the northern most cities having the highest benchmarks. They are as follows: Twin Cities = 619; Mid-Mississippi = 532; St. Louis = 399; Illinois = 464; Cincinnati = 469; Lower Ohio = 446; and Cairo-Memphis = 314.

To calculate the rate in dollars per ton, multiply the percent of tariff rate by the 1976 benchmark and divide by 100: (Rate * 1976 tariff benchmark rate per ton)/100. As an example, a 271 percent tariff for a St. Louis grain barge would equal 271 percent of the St. Louis benchmark rate of $3.99, or $10.81 per ton.

Monthly barge rates for downbound freight originate from 12 port locations along the Columbia-Snake River System to Portland OR or Vancouver WA. The 12 locations are as follows: (1) Lewiston, ID; Clarkston WA; and Wilma, WA, on the Snake River (2) Central Ferry, WA, and Almota, WA, on the Snake River (3) Lyons Ferry, WA, on the Snake River (4) Windust, WA, and Lower Monumental, WA, on the Snake River (5) Sheffler, WA, on the Snake River (6) Burbank, WA, Kennewick, WA, and Pasco, WA, on the Columbia River (7) Port Kelly, WA, and Wallula, WA, on the Columbia River (8) Umatilla, OR, on the Columbia River (9) Boardman, OR, and Hogue Warner, OR, on the Columbia River (10) Arlington, OR, and Roosevelt, WA, on the Columbia River (11) Biggs, OR, on the Columbia River (12) The Dalles, OR, on the Columbia River

A base rate is set for the year for each port, which runs from August 1 to July 31, in early summer. The port-to-port rates do change each month based on a fuel surcharge. To calculate the fuel surcharge, the spot price of No. 2 Low-Sulfur Diesel for Portland, OR, is recorded for every business day of the month and then averaged at the end of the month. Based on that average, the fuel surcharge rate is increased by a certain fraction of a percent over the base rate for each port location and is applied for the second following month. For example, the fuel surcharge for September would be based on July’s average spot price, and shippers would know the barge freight rate for September at the beginning of August.

This data shows the weekly cost indices of transporting grain by each mode: truck, rail, barge, and ocean-going vessels. The base of each index (set to 100) is each mode’s average cost in the year 2017. For truck, the base rate is $2.65 per gallon of diesel. For rail, the base rate is $4,833.14 per railcar. (The rail rate is the near-month secondary rail market value and monthly tariff rate with fuel surcharge for select shuttle train routes, per car.) For barge, the base rate is 327 and is based on Illinois River barge rates. The ocean indices are based on the rate, per metric ton, to Japan. For the Gulf-to-Japan ocean route, the base rate is $39.33/metric ton. For the Pacific Northwest-to-Japan ocean route, the base rate is $21.05/metric ton.

The dataset contains quarterly and annual grain transportation costs and total landed costs for shipping corn, wheat, and soybeans from Minnesota, North Dakota, and Kansas from the U.S. Gulf and Pacific Northwest to Japan. The data specifically show rail, ocean, barge, and trucking rates for shipping grain to Japan. The total landed costs include transportation costs and farm values for each grain

This data contains the costs of transporting grain to Mexico by truck, barge or rail, and ocean vessels to Mexico by water route, and by truck and rail by the land route. It includes the total transportation and landed costs.