Expanded grain handling capacity strengthens St. Louis Region’s position as the most efficient inland port

This article originally ran on American Journal of Transportation on July 19, 2021. 

The St. Louis region’s position as the most efficient inland port in the United States has been strengthened following the recent addition of a new grain handling terminal on the banks of the Mississippi River in Cahokia, Illinois, adding additional capacity in the area known as the Ag Coast of America. The region garnered the title due to a 15-mile stretch of the Mississippi River featuring 15 barge-transfer facilities that, at total capacity, can handle 150 barges a day – the highest level of capacity anywhere along the Mississippi River. The addition of the 16th terminal, which was built by American Milling and purchased in December 2020 by Oakley St. Louis, LLC, a subsidiary of Arkansas-based Bruce Oakley, Inc., further expands the existing capacity with the ability to handle at least 1,000 more truckloads of grain daily.