Let’s see if this ever sees the light of day.
https://www.workboat.com/news/coastal-inland-waterways/inland-container-vessels-highlight-project/
Interesting article and while I wish them well they obviously are not familiar with the Illinois River. Many of the towboats that work portions of that river have jack-up pilot houses that need to be lowered due to pass under bridges.
Looking at the configuration of that vessel they’re not familiar with a lot of things about the inland river system. Including manning requirements of a vessel like this vice those of a pushboat. It’s a great idea and container on barge for inland transit has a lot of good points to it versus long haul trucks. The issue is getting customers more accustomed to the times involved. 11 days from NOLA to St. Louis versus 2, not counting handling delays.