Aug. 7—River levels have been a constant struggle when it comes to moving barges down the river, but business is looking to turn in an upward trend.

Transport 360 is a company that assists barges commuting from St. Louis down the Missouri River and has seen a yearlong struggle to be able to see barge traffic due to river levels. Right now, the current river depth allows barges to carry up to 1,300 tons of cargo.

Jason Laipple, general manager for Transport 360, said the company unloads a wide range of materials, including windmill blades, steel coils, grain and fertilizer. He said the Army Corps of Engineers has been doing work to keep the river open.

"I know they've done a lot of work on the levees, after 2019 obviously ... this year they've continued to do a lot of dredging, keeping that river channel open and at a depth where you can navigate easily, and a lot of the issue is it just has been very dry up north. They haven't had a lot of water in the dams to release for navigation," Laipple said.

Supply chain shortages and inflation have caused many issues in recent months, but Laipple said barges provide a cheaper option to send a high quantity of goods at once and limit the number of semi-trucks that are used on the highways.

"I think it will definitely be a significant help to farmers as it will save costs to get fertilizer up her and grain down to the ports," Laipple said.

Along with the water levels, one thing that Transport 360 deals with is the seasons and how that is dictated by what the customer wants when it comes to making shipments. He said they are coming off their slow season and expect to have several barges coming into the port at the end of the month.

"After harvest guys will start applying various fertilizers in preparation for the spring so from now through the first of December till navigation season ends (business will increase)," Laipple said.

Clayton Anderson can be reached at clayton.anderson@newspressnow.com. Follow him on twitter: @NPNowAnderson.