The purpose of the award is to provide an update to the report entitled economic contribution of the US tugboat towboat and barge industry hereafter referred to as the study which was released in june…

This Cooperative Agreement award, valued at $300,000.00, was provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) under the United States Marine Highway Grants program (CFDA 20.816). The purpose of the award is to provide an update to a report entitled "Economic Contribution of the US Tugboat Towboat and Barge Industry" that was released in June 2021. The update will evaluate the industry's economic impacts, including business revenue, taxes paid, GDP contributions, employment effects, and the industry's role in enabling imports/exports and domestic freight movement. The report will also analyze emerging industry trends such as fleet aging, digitalization, and alternative fuels. Key deliverables include a comprehensive written report, executive summary, data tables, and briefings for MARAD and the American Waterways Operators (AWO). The awardee for this Cooperative Agreement is the American Waterways Operators Foundation. The award period runs from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2029.

The purpose of the award is to provide an update to the report entitled economic contribution of the US tugboat towboat and barge industry hereafter referred to as the study which was released in june 2021. The report quantified the industrys economic impact and value at the national and state levels. The scope of the study included all US flag tugboats towboats and barges that operate in whole or in part on the domestic waterways and ports of the US including those on rivers intracoastal waterways atlantic pacific and gulf coasts the great lakes the saint lawrence seaway and between the US mainland and noncontiguous states and territories. Since release of the study in 2021 the industry has undergone significant changes and has been impacted greatly by changes in global and domestic trade as well as the continued advancement in infrastructure development on our nations inland waterways. Activities to be performed evaluation and investigation of economic impacts and possible effects of infrastructure investment. Calculate the total amount of industry business revenue generated and taxes paid. Calculate the industry contributions to national GDP. Calculate the job effects and multipliers nationally by direct indirect and induced jobs. Quantify the economic value of the tugboat towboat and barge industry as an enabler to imports and exports and how this industry promotes the exports of US goods to global markets. Articulate the economic value the industry contributes to moving goods from source to consumption in the US domestic market. Describe the types of cargoes carried and industries supported nationally. Basic underlying detailed industry freight flow data. Comparison of industry wages to similar sectors. Industry wages nationally. Quantify the private investment in the industry that has occurred in the last five years and what is planned for the next five years. Calculate in aggregate terms the return on investment to the industry e g times dollars invested results in y dollars in output. Analyze and discuss new trends such as aging fleets digitalization and automation innovations including artificial intelligence and machine learning for onboard operations vessel management scheduling and deployments LNG terminals and other. Calculate the total amount of industry business revenue generated and taxes paid by state. Calculate the jobs effect and multipliers by state data for direct indirect and induced jobs. Industry wages by state. Describe the types of cargoes carried and industries supported by state. Describe how the tugboat towboat and barge industry assists with transporting the volume of cargo coming in and going out of each states ports.describe what industrial and agricultural sectors rely on water transportation and the volume of certain key commodities that move on the water in each state. List the waterways and top five cargoes carried in the waterways of each state. Describe how the tugboat towboat and barge industry assists with transporting the volume of cargo coming in and going out of the nations ports. Describe the types of cargoes carried and industries supported by waterway. Quantify the impacts by waterway. Industry impact from a shipping cost point of view. Describe the types of cargoes carried and industries supported by waterway. Describe what retail agricultural industrial and agricultural sectors rely on water transportation and the volume of key commodities that move on the water. Where possible characterize industrys contributions to moving government owned and or government-impelled cargo. Deliverables expected outcomes a well written comprehensive report plus an executive summary that updates and builds upon the principles and findings of the original report produced in may 2017. Set of standalone versions of relevant graphs maps and charts that visually depict the information presented in the report. Tables of both national and state level raw data that can be independently used and manipulated in isolation of any other portion of the report. Two briefings and present the study findings to select audiences in the washington DC area at the direction of marad. These deliverables to be presented in electronic and hard copy formats. Intended beneficiary marad and AWO and the general public. Subrecipient activities not applicable.