6 ms·

We most definitely still use cargo ships for freight transport.

• hinkley 6y ago
  We definitely do, especially along the coasts, up the Missisippi, and along the Great Lakes, but we don't use them exclusively, and a lot of factories don't appear to use them at all. So in those cases, we get all the downsides and none of the advantages. Stated as a question: how often do brand new factories (or new enterprises in existing factories) use water for transport?
  • colechristensen 6y ago
    About 5% of domestic and 60% of international freight for the US is by water by weight. It is not an easy comparison to do because the last mile distribution kind of freight gets mixed in with the raw materials kind of freight. Canada and Mexico aside, you can’t really do international trade without ships, in 2019 international trade volume was 10% of our GDP.
  • wahern 6y ago
    > [T]hese waterways annually moves over 500 million tons of commodities, including petroleum products, farm inputs (e.g., fertilizer), coal, and grains--accounting for 4% to 5% of total commercial tonnage shipped in the United States. High-value cargo in containers rarely moves on the inland or intracoastal waterways. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11593 https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11593 So it seems you're correct--factories don't ship via inland and intracoastal waterways. But they appear to be extremely important for low-value commodities, such a grains: > America's farmers depend on the inland waterways for more than 60 percent of our farm exports. https://www.mvp.usace.army.mil/Portals/57/docs/Navigation/InlandWaterways-Value.pdf https://www.mvp.usace.army.mil/Portals/57/docs/Navigation/In...
• deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]