Today we’ll talk about something that seems to worry folks who watch the river: they see a day or so when there are no ships arriving or departing, or waiting in an anchorage nearby, and they tend to assume the worst about the state of commerce on the river.

Today we’ll talk about the comings and goings of ships, what the factors are, and why a slow day on the river is not a cause for alarm. That’s because there’s always a lot happening on the river that we “landlubbers” do not see. In fact, some ports are seeing record cargoes.