Barge Shipping Slows At Port Of Little Rock

The Little Rock Port Authority (LRPA) reported that it saw slower activity across the docks in October “as expected,” with 22 barges worked during the month.

Despite slower barge traffic, the port’s railroad had car counts that were well ahead of projections.  LRPA saw an increase of 18 cars over the previous month, with a total of 947 cars switched and invoiced during October.

Fourteen barges were worked at the river dock and eight barges were worked at the slackwater dock.  A total of 34,000 net tons were handled with commodities including lightweight aggregate, nepheline syenite, potash, rock and sand, steel coils, wet cake and wire rod coils.  This slowdown was expected, the port said, and LSI, the port’s stevedore, looks for barge activity to be back to normal levels in November. 

Year-to-date, the port’s docks have loaded or unloaded 451 barges with 689,000 net tons of cargo, only 18 fewer barges than last year’s record handling. The terminal saw a significant jump in rail activity as LSI worked 109 railcars.  LSI gained a lot of outside storage with increased truck shipments, but said it remains space-constrained with inside storage as demand remains high.

“LSI expects that the year will end on a strong note with near record handling activity despite the record flood earlier in the year,” said Bryan Day, executive director of the Little Rock Port Authority. “We are proud of the continued progress of activity in the port and along the Arkansas River.”