Government Accountability Office Summarizes Shipments on the Missouri River

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report (GAO-09-224R) to members of Congress summarizing the shipments of materials on the Missouri River in the four states that are served by barges and other vessels on it. Most of the shipments were in Missouri (83 percent) and were of sand and gravel (84 percent). Of the sand and gravel shipments, most (54 percent) were transported 1 mile or less.

All the data used in the report are based on tonnage. It does not address the value of materials (which include chemicals, farm products and manufactured goods) or the economic impacts of shipping and barge traffic on the river.