Air Emissions
Waterborne commerce is the greenest form of transportation because less power is required when moving through water. As a result, Great Lakes freighters use less fuel and produce fewer emissions while moving cargos than trains and trucks.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined that a Great Lakes freighter sails 607 miles on one gallon of fuel per ton of cargo carried, while locomotive travels just 202 miles on a gallon-per-ton basis and a truck just 59 miles using the same measure.
Marine transportation by a laker produces 90 percent less CO2than the same load moved by truck and 70 percent less than a thousand-ton load moved by a train.
