The Ingram Barge Company is a

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

company based in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. According to the company website, Ingram operates nearly 4,000 barges with a fleet of over 80 linehaul vessels and over 30 tug boats. The company operates on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

Cumberland River The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States. The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 river drains almost of southern Kentucky and ...

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...

, Gulf Intracoastal Waterway,

Kanawha River The Kanawha River ( ) is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi (156 km) long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, its watershed has been a significant industrial region of th ...

Illinois River The Illinois River () is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River at approximately in length. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, the river has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins with the confluence of the Des Plaines ...

, and the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , ), sometimes referred to locally as the Mon (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in nor ...

. In 1994 ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine listed Ingram as the 14th largest privately held company in the

. Ingram Barge is part of the Ingram Marine Group, in turn part of Ingram Industries.

History

Ingram Barge Company (IBCO) was founded in 1946 by Orrin Henry Ingram, Sr., also known as Hank. The company started out as Ingram Products Company, transporting primarily petroleum and running terminals in St. Paul and Louisville. Over time, Hank expanded the barging side of the business and reorganized his fleet under a new subsidiary – Ingram Barge Company. He brought on his sons, Frederic B. Ingram and E. Bronson Ingram II, to be integral members of the company. In the 1960s, IBCO acquired a sand and gravel yard, which would later become known as Ingram Materials Company, and officially put IBCO into the dry cargo transportation business. During this time of expansion, the family was hit with the unexpected: Hank Ingram died in April 1963. After Hank’s death, Bronson and Fritz continued their father’s vision of growing their barging business. They expanded into off-shore marine construction and started moving other types of cargo, among them coal and crushed stone. In 1978, the brothers split up Ingram Corporation. Bronson began his leadership of Ingram Industries Inc., which encompassed IBCO. In 1984, Ingram purchased Ohio Barge Line, formerly owned by U.S. Steel. Neil N. Diehl came on board as Chairman Emeritus of IBCO to oversee the acquisition. During the 1980s, Ingram bought many boats and barges from several different transportation companies, allowing IBCO to become the third largest for-hire river carrier in the U.S. On June 15, 1995, E. Bronson Ingram died. Ingram Industries was then organized, naming two of Bronson’s sons, Orrin H. Ingram II and John R. Ingram, as Co-Presidents. In 1998, Orrin was appointed Chairman of IBCO and in 1999, became President and CEO of Ingram Industries. John became Vice Chairman of Ingram Industries and Craig E. Philip was named President and CEO of Ingram Barge Co. Following Craig's retirement in 2014, Orrin was named CEO of Ingram Barge Co. In 2002, IBCO acquired Midland Enterprises LLC, which included The Ohio River Company LLC and Orgulf Transport LLC. In 2005, Ingram acquired Riverway Company. These strategic acquisitions allowed Ingram to become what it is today – the largest carrier on the inland waterway system. Ingram barge company

Ingram Barge and Hurricane Katrina

Perhaps the most famous Ingram barge was ING 4727, which broke free of its moorings during

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

and landed in what had been a residential neighborhood of the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana. It was suggested that the ING 4727 was responsible for the major breach in the

Industrial Canal The Industrial Canal is a waterway in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The waterway's proper name, as used by the U.S. Army United States Army Corps of Engineers, Corps of Engineers and on NOAA nautical charts, is Inner Harbor Navigation ...

, although several major studies concluded otherwise. The ING 4727 was in the custody of Lafarge North America at the time of the hurricane. In 2008, a federal district court in New Orleans found that Ingram Barge was not responsible or liable for the breakaway of the ING 4727. In 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit dismissed an appeal of the district court’s ruling, thereby officially ending Ingram Barge’s involvement in the ING 4727 litigation.

Competition

Competition includes Kirby, American Commercial Lines, Higman Barge, SCF Marine and ARTCO.

Gallery

Image:River towboat DBQ IA.jpg, M/V ''Bill Berry'' of the Ingram Barge Company pushing cargo barges up the

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...

Image:James E. Anderson Ingram Barge Ohio River.JPG, ''James E. Anderson'' pushing coal and sand on the Ohio River at

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

IngramBarge.com
Water transportation in Tennessee Companies based in Nashville, Tennessee Dry bulk shipping companies Transportation in Tennessee Ingram family Transport companies established in 1946