10.4.4.2Vertical

Fleeting & Harbor Services

Companies fleeting barges and providing harbor assist services.

Market snapshot

These figures describe Inland Waterway & Barge (10.4.4), the segment that Fleeting & Harbor Services sits within. They are not figures for Fleeting & Harbor Services on its own.

Market size
~$8B
Growth
~5.3%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
Companies
~613 firms
Firms by employee count

82.2% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 504 micro-businesses, below most mandates.

The investable universe109 firms with 20+ employees
20–99
5651%
100–499
2927%
500+
2422%

River freight moves the bulk commodities that cannot bear truck or rail economics: grain, coal, aggregates, chemicals. Demand follows harvest and export cycles rather than GDP, and lock infrastructure age is the sector's most underpriced risk.

NAICS 483211, 483212. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Business model & economics

Revenue model

Barge freight rates and towing fees

Key economics

Revenue per firm
$13,488,078
Revenue per employee
$423,575
Employees per firm
31.7
Recurring revenue
Moderate

recurring bulk-commodity movements

EBITDA margin
Cyclical with commodity and barge rates
Capex intensity
High

Characteristics

  • Scale-driven: payroll is only 19% of revenue, so the cost base is assets, not headcount
  • Thin strategic-buyer pool: only 24 firms exceed 500 employees, so exits skew sponsor-to-sponsor
  • Moves grain, energy, and bulk on U.S. rivers.
  • Led by Kirby, Ingram, ACBL.
  • Critical artery for U.S. agriculture exports.

NAICS 483211, 483212. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Geographic concentration

AlabamaAlaskaArizonaColoradoGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOklahomaPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTexasWyomingConnecticutMissouriWest VirginiaIllinoisNew MexicoArkansasCaliforniaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaHawaiiIowaKentuckyMarylandMichiganMississippiMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkOhioOregonTennesseeUtahVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaIdahoNevadaVermontRhode IslandFloridaLouisiana

Louisiana at twenty times the national concentration (Florida a distant second): the lower Mississippi, where the river system meets the Gulf and barge traffic transfers to ocean vessels.

LouisianaFlorida

U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses (firms by state), NAICS 483211/483212. Concentration shown by location quotient.

M&A deal context

Deal activityModerate

Who’s acquiring

  • Barge operators (Kirby, Ingram, ACBL)
  • PE-backed and strategic consolidators
  • Maritime investors

What’s driving deals

  • Barge-operator consolidation.
  • Ag-export and energy-movement demand.
  • Infrastructure and water-level dynamics.

Find Fleeting & Harbor Services acquisition targets

Search Acquisera’s index for companies classified under Fleeting & Harbor Services (10.4.4.2) and build a targeted deal pipeline.

Search companies