Marquitz Reflects On His Career In The Barge Industry

Recently married and finishing up his education at Washington University in St. Louis where he majored in business, Dan Marquitz was looking for a job. The third of four boys in the Marquitz family, he grew up in north St. Louis where he excelled in sports. Little did he know then that his calling would be in the barge and towing industry.

An interview with Fernando Curth, vice president of marine operations at Bunge Corp. in St. Louis, for a dispatcher job, turned out to be the beginning of a career that has lasted more than 55 years. To cap it off, last month Marquitz sold 235 barges that he owned personally and immediately bought 15 new ones to “keep the passion alive.”

The crux of the story, of course, lies in the years between and how he achieved such astounding success.

After 14 years with Bunge, Marquitz said, he took a job as senior vice president of marine operations at ConAgra in St. Louis, where he was given the opportunity to start a new barge line.

“I had the privilege of working with an outstanding team,” he said, “and in 1983, three of us were recruited by a private equity firm to establish a new grain and barge line, Merchants Grain & Transportation.”

As president of Merchants Transportation, he oversaw the construction and syndication of approximately 300 barges, three 6,000 hp. boats and four 2,800 hp. boats, he said, many of which continue to operate today.

Then, in 1986, by which time he was well-known and respected in the industry, Marquitz was approached by his lifelong friend Russell Flowers to be president of a company Flowers operated for Chromalloy Corp., The Valley Line, in St. Louis.

“I accepted,” Marquitz said, “and eventually, after an ownership change, the new owners, Sequa Corp., asked me to oversee Sabine Towing in Port Arthur, Texas, in addition to The Valley Line. Over the next six years, we facilitated the sale of Sabine Towing to Kirby Corp. and The Valley Line to American Commercial Barge Line (ACBL),” Marquitz said.

Following the acquisition, ACBL’s then-president Joe Bobzien and soon-to-be president Mike Hagan invited him to join ACBL at its headquarters in Jeffersonville, Ind., as senior vice president of marketing and business development.

“Though I never expected to stay for a decade, my time there working with Mike, another lifelong friend, made the time both enjoyable and rewarding,” said Marquitz, who added, “In 2002, my wife, Anita, and I decided it was time to return to St. Louis to be closer to our three children and six grandchildren.”

Not idle for long, though, at the request of Russell Flowers, he took on a brief role as co-president of a barge line, Pinnacle Transportation, which they ultimately closed after leasing most of the barges to MEMCO.

This led to another meaningful friendship, he said, when Mark Knoy, then president of MEMCO, asked him to join the barge line as senior manager of business development.

“I accepted,” Marquitz said, “and held the post for ten years. Mark remains a close friend to this day.”

Throughout his career, Marquitz steadfastly believed in the long-term potential of the barge industry. So much so that in 1986, with the purchase of two barges, he established his first company, MKJ Inc., which he named for his children, Michele, Karen and Jeff. In 1992, as he expanded into tank barges and harbor tugs, he founded JEM Transportation, named in honor of his parents, John and Estele Marquitz.

“Throughout these years, I maintained full transparency with my employers regarding my ownership of barges and boats,” Marquitz was quick to add.

Between 2012 and 2016, Marquitz began divesting JEM’s tank barges, harbor tugs and 50 hopper barges, shifting focus to newer 14-foot covered hopper barges.

“Over time, both JEM and MKJ continued to grow and add new barges each year,” he said, “culminating in a fleet of 265 barges by 2024.”

It was one of the largest individually owned barge fleets in the industry.

Through all this, together with his wife, Marquitz decided it was time to downsize.

“ACBL proved to be the perfect partner for this transition,” he said. “In November 2024 during a quiet dinner in St. Louis with another longtime friend from my Jeffboat and ACBL days, Patrick Sutton, I began discussions about the potential sale of the barges, and on February 25, we finalized the sale of 235 barges, with Patrick leading the ACBL team seamlessly.”

Commenting on the transaction, Peter Coxon, CEO of ACBL, said “it represents ACBL’s largest fleet investment in more than a decade and underscores the company’s commitment to long term fleet investments. This investment is another step in building an even stronger, more resilient company—one that will continue to move America into the future.”

Featured image caption: A view of a 14-foot-draft hopper barge built for Dan Marquitz being launched from Arcosa’s shipyard. (Photo courtesy of Dan Marquitz)