Lockage Fee Detrimental To Waterway And Nation

The Waterways Journal
6 July 2009

Guest editorial
By Mike Tagert
Administrator, Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority

The recently released budget proposal by the administration includes new fees for commercial users of the nation’s inland waterway system. The proposal would require all commercial waterway users, including those utilizing the Tenn-Tom Waterway, to pay “lockage fees” as they transit the inland waterway system. According to the proposal, such fees would secure the financial stability of the nation’s Inland Waterway Trust Fund, which exists to build and rehabilitate infrastructural components of the system.
The Tenn-Tom Waterway Development Authority urges Congress to reject this new fee and work toward long-term solutions for the funding needs. The towing industry will be responsible for its share but the government must spend the money wisely and efficiently as well. A “lockage fee” would disproportionately tax users transiting a locking river like the Tenn-Tom with such components, while others may not pay any fees.
Higher fuel costs, increased congestion, and greater pollution from other competing transportation modes continue to highlight the advantages of the Tenn-Tom and waterborne transportation. Average annual tonnage moving on the Tenn-Tom Waterway is equivalent to an additional 284,000 trucks per year that might otherwise move on our highway and interstate road system.
With nearly 140,000 direct, indirect, and induced jobs created and a total economic impact of $43 billion since 1996, the Tenn-Tom continues to provide economic development opportunities for the mid-South and the entire nation. The Tenn-Tom Waterway Development Authority encourages Congress to reject lockage fees which would otherwise hinder such economic benefits.