Drought Deters Mississippi River Transportation

(1/3/2013) After this historical drought in the midwest hurts the farmers in their crops, the Mississippi River near St. Louis (the famous gateway city by the River) will be shut down soon due to a low level of water. The cost of the river transportation disruption is estimated to be $2.8 billions for January 2013 alone. I know some railroads have received some urgent delivery requests due to this disruption. This can be a bad news for US river barge operators if their shippers eventually hook up with railroad. The barge operators may eventually lose many customers.