There was an article in The Herald-Dispatch this morning that Ingram Marine will close its rail-to-river terminal here in Huntington WV on May 31. The article quoted Ingram officials as giving several reasons for the closing, including lack of long-term contracts and not being able to do continuous blending of coal.
The fact the terminal will close saddened me but it didn’t surprise me. For several weeks, I’ve been watching statistics related to cargo movement on the Ohio River, and they have not been good.
It started when a person asked me why she saw a lot of barges tied up to the river bank in this area. It intensified when I noticed that many of my favorite towboats were not moving on the river. Some of them are idle -- all tied up with no place to go.
This chart shows the change in tonnage at the two locks and dams closest to Huntington. I chose these locks partly because they are the ones I am most familiar with and partly because they are the first ones above and below the mouth of the Big Sandy, where a lot of coal comes out for movement on the Ohio.
Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam
1/1 to 5/21/06 1/1 to 5/21/08 1/1 to 5/21/09 Pct chg, 08-09 Pct chg, 06-09
Coal 15,591,081 12,070,237 11,361,419 -5.87% -27.13%
Other 8,122,427 6,953,216 4,992,268 -28.20% -38.54%
Total 23,713,508 19,023,453 16,353,687 -14.03% -31.04%
Greenup Locks and Dam
1/1 to 5/21/06 1/1 to 5/21/08 1/1 to 5/21/09 Pct chg, 08-09 Pct chg, 06-09
Coal 17,189,381 12,685,718 12,386,497 -2.36% -27.94%
Other 11,248,337 9,497,345 7,628,744 -19.67% -32.18%
Total 28,437,718 22,183,063 20,015,241 -9.77% -29.62%
Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
You can see that tonnage is down this year compared to last year, and it’s way down compared to the recent highs recorded just three years ago.
A person who knows the local river industry told me recently that boats are tied up and crews are laid off, but that was before the Ingram announcement.
The Ingram loading dock was formerly owned and operated by Ohio River Co. Ingram acquired Ohio River Co. a few years ago, and I suppose it took over the dock. I remember getting a tour of the place in the 1980s. Around 1980, Ohio River Co. installed a rotary dump. A rail car loaded with 100 to 120 tons of coal would go into the dock and be rotated maybe 150 degrees. Its entire load would fall into a pit, and a conveyor would load the coal onto a barge.
Many times, CSX trains going to the dock would block 5th and 3rd avenues in Huntington. Those are four-lane, one-way streets carrying U.S. east and west, respectively, through town. The trains are annoying at times, but they represented jobs and Huntington’s role as a major shipping point for coal. It’s two or three dozen miles from Huntington to the nearest active coal mine, but the city and this region are important points for moving coal.
By the way, Ingram is one of the largest haulers of cargo on this part of the Ohio River. I don't have the exact stats handy, but you can figure Ingram and AEP are the top two, based on how often I see their boats out there.
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