Research into Marine Transportation System (MTS) performance measures is an ongoing and collaborative effort by a number of Federal agencies, including the Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS), US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), US Department of Transportation (USDOT), Maritime Administration (MARAD), US Coast Guard (USCG), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC), US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL), Oceanographer of the Navy, and The Volpe Center.
This page visually summarizes various MTS performance measures in several different categories.
The Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF) is capitalized by a tax on fuel used by commercial towing companies on the inland and intracoastal waterways.
The rate has been 20 cents per gallon since 1995. IWTF revenues are used for construction and rehabilitation of navigation infrastructure on inland and intracoastal waterways.
The Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) is capitalized by the Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT), a federal import tax collected from shippers based on the value of cargo entering the USA.
The tax was last increased in 1990 to cover increasing maintenance costs for federally authorized deep draft navigation channels.
The U.S. Department of Labor produces multiple Producer Price Indexes (PPIs), these allow for the relative comparison of price changes across industries over time.
Data on producer prices for water transportation and warehousing services, including more detailed sub-categories, is based on an index starting point of 1982.
Significant amounts of foreign trade are moved via waterways. The value of these exported and imported goods are critical to many sectors of the national economy.
