{{Unreferenced, date=October 2019 The Ingram Barge Company is a

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

company based in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. 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 second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

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 the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...

, 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 valley has been a significant industrial region of the stat ...

Illinois River The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the D ...

, and the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , )—often 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 North Cen ...

. In 1994 ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

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

. Ingram Barge is part of the

Ingram Marine Group Ingram may refer to: People * Ingram (given name) * Ingram (surname) ** Ingram baronets, a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom, created 9 August 1893 Places * Ingram Park Mall, a mall in Texas, USA * Ingram, Northumberland, Engl ...

, in turn part of

Ingram Industries Ingram Industries is a manufacturing company headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The company consists of diversified businesses in marine transportation aggregate supply, book distribution, print on demand book manufacturing, management and di ...

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 and Hurricane Katrina

Perhaps the most famous Ingram barge was

ING 4727 ING 4727 was a barge belonging to Ingram Barge Company that became infamous when it went over or through a levee and landed in a residential neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina. Background and specifications ING 4727 w ...

, which broke free of its moorings during Hurricane Katrina 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 5.5 mile (9 km) waterway in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The waterway's proper name, as used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and on NOAA nautical charts, is Inner Harbor Navigation Canal ( IHNC). Th ...

, 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

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

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

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