The Ship Report: the mindboggling topic of economy of scale

The Ship Report, Tuesday, July 14, 2026Today we'll talk about economies of scale in the maritime industry, which means that the more you can ship at once in a single vessel, the more money you save in transportation costs. Sounds pretty dull, right?Well, when you start looking at the numbers, it's really kind of mind boggling. The amount of cargo a single barge can carry compared to say, a train of freight cars, or a fleet of semis, is pretty incredible. We'll learn why they say barges are the cheapest mode of transport in the US. And when it comes to ships, the numbers go even higher.