Since 1880 Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) has represented the U.S.-flag Great Lakes fleet, which today can annually move more than 90 million tons of cargos that are the foundation of American manufacturing, infrastructure, and power generation: iron ore, limestone, coal, cement, and other dry bulk materials such as grain and sand. In turn, these cargos generate and sustain 146,500 U.S. jobs in the eight Great Lakes states and have an annual economic impact of more than $25.6 billion to the U.S. economy.

Currently headquartered in Westlake, Ohio, LCA continues to advocate for our 13 member companies, which operate 43 commercial cargo vessels on the Great Lakes. Membership in LCA is open to owners/operators of Great Lakes-licensed, self-propelled vessels (including tug/barge units that operate as self-propelled vessels) whose principal marine business is the transportation of cargo and whose vessels are subject to inspection by the U. S. Coast Guard under 46 USC 3301 (1), (9), and (10) and which are issued a Certificate of Inspection by the U. S. Coast Guard. Additional LCA historical files can be found on the Bowling Green State University online library at https://lib.bgsu.edu/archives/repositories/4/resources/580.