Tonnage shipped on the Arkansas River in August was down more than 2%, but tonnage shipped between January and August is up more than 7%, with a 60.4% gain in internal shipments driving the tonnage gains in the first eight months of 2026.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) reported 7.066 million tons shipped on the river between January and August, up 7.5% compared with 6.57 million in the same period of 2025. The January-August gain follows a 2025 in which tonnage was down 19.5% compared with 2024.
August commercial shipments on the river totaled 801,620 tons, down 2.4% compared with 821,235 tons in August 2025.
Inbound shipments in the first eight months totaled 2.286 million tons, down 9.5% compared with the same period in 2025. The period had 2.129 million tons in outbound shipments, down 11% compared with the same period in 2025. Internal shipments – those sent between port operations on the river – totaled 2.65 million tons in the first four months, up 60.4% compared with the same period in 2025.
“We are pumping tons in and out,” said Marty Shell, president of Van Buren-based Five Rivers Distribution, which manages the Port of Fort Smith and port operations in Van Buren. “This will be our strongest third quarter in my 32 years of business. (We are) trying to build additional warehouse space in the 4th quarter of 2026 and into 2027.”
Shell said the biggest challenge facing the industry is higher energy costs.
“Fuel prices are a killer for everyone and if we could get that under control and easy up on tariffs we would be putting more money into infrastructure needs,” he said.
Following are the top categories of products shipped on the river in the first eight months of 2026, with the percentage change from the same period in 2025.
• Sand, gravel, rock: 2.812 million tons (up 33%)
• Chemical fertilizer: 1.153 million tons (down 12%)
• Iron and Steel: 708,260 tons (down 3%)
• Minerals and building materials: 574,800 tons (up 5%)
• Soybeans: 449,772 tons (up 6%)
The Arkansas River system – McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS) – is 445 miles long and stretches from the confluence of the Mississippi River to the Port of Catoosa near Tulsa, Okla. The controlled waterway has 18 locks and dams, with 13 in Arkansas and five in Oklahoma. The river also has five commercial ports: Pine Bluff, Little Rock, Fort Smith, Muskogee, Okla., and the Tulsa Port of Catoosa in Oklahoma.
According to the Arkansas Waterways Commission, the average annual freight tonnage on the MKARNS is approximately 12 million tons. On land, 381,857 semi-trucks or 99,283 railcars would be required to ship the same amount.
River shipments totaled 10.011 million tons in 2025, down 19.5% compared with 12.446 million tons in 2024.
Inbound shipments in 2025 – those coming from off the river system – totaled 3.461 million tons, down 8.75% compared with the same period in 2024. Outbound shipments totaled 3.455 million tons, down 27.5% compared with the same period in 2024. Internal shipments – those sent between port operations on the river – totaled 3.094 million tons, down 20.3%.
Not counting the historic flooding of 2019 that halted river shipping for months, 2025 river tonnage was the lowest in the past 10 years. Following are the past 10 years of tonnage numbers, according to the Corps.
2025: 10.011 million
2024: 12.446 million
2023: 12.206 million
2022: 11.011 million
2021: 10.696 million
2020: 10.322 million
2019: 8.48 million
2018: 10.932 million
2017: 11.918 million
2016: 11.542 million
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