Demand for Trucks Rise as Mississippi River Floods

Flood conditions on the Mississippi River, which have halted shipping on 550 miles of water from Minnesota to Iowa, has also boosted the cost of shipping by truck in the Midwest, Bloomberg reported.

Truck rates are rising because demand for cargo space has grown quickly since the river was shut down.

The National Weather Service is now predicting that the flooding may extend another 150 miles to St. Louis by early May.

If the river is shut down in this area, it would cut off barge traffic to and from the Illinois River. This route is used by oil refineries, ethanol manufacturers and chemical plants in the Chicago area.

On Friday, the crest expected in Prairie du Chien, Wis. The river already has crested in St. Paul, Minn., at 23.4 feet - almost 10 feet above flood stage - and was expected to begin a slow fall over the next two weeks, the Associated Press reported.

The flooding has blocked train traffic across the region, and the river was expected to remain closed to barges for several days.

According to AP, Larry Daily, president of the Alter Barge Line in Iowa, said he was losing about $50,000 a day with 250 of the company's 400 barges tied up along the river.

Daily also said the longer the delay, the better the chance the cargo would be damaged. Each barge carries about as much as 60 trucks.

Showers and thunderstorms are forecast for much of the Midwest through the weekend, the National Weather Service said.

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