A variety of challenges face the U.S. transportation system in the next few years, with very few solutions available in the near term, Bobby Martens, Iowa State University (ISU) associate professor of economics, said earlier this month during the 2022 ProAg Outlook series.

“Behind any transportation system are fundamentals of supply and demand conditions,” Martens noted. Despite the hardships faced by the barge, rail and truck transportation systems, markets continue to demand and receive products, often paying more to access them, he said.

“With infrastructure, we tend to only think about it when there is a problem,” Martens said. 

Barge traffic down the...