Every year roughly $180 billion worth of freight makes its way up and down the Mississippi River. An epic shortage of water on the nation's major inland waterways is expected to put upward pressure on everything from food items, to electricity.
The Mississippi River hovers at record lows as a result of the drought in the Midwest. It could soon mean big problems for the shipping industry on the river.
Because of the drought, there is only one shipping lane on the Mississippi. So the barges on the river have to coordinate in a way they’ve never had to.
