This dissertation examines the resiliency, efficiency, and environmental impact of barge shipments within the upper Ohio River basin, contrasting findings relevant to this region with assumptions and findings of broader national studies and providing alternative assessment methods. The unique attributes of this region’s inland waterways infrastructure and usage patterns are dominated by the shipment of coal; mines and powerplants with heavy and inflexible dependence on barge shipments; and the constrictions of the waterway infrastructure. Acknowledging these attributes allows for a more accurate assessment in the future of risks due to infrastructure failure and opportunities for efficiency gains. Research goals were set in three major areas: assessing the impact of an extended loss of commercial river navigation due to catastrophic infrastructure failure; assessing current and potential new efficiency metrics for inland waterways freight movement, both in terms of vessel movements and the infrastructure itself; and quantifying and assessing air emissions from regional commercial river traffic. The first research goal was to assess the impact of an extended loss of commercial river navigation due to catastrophic infrastructure failure. The objectives of this research goal were to develop a failure scenario; to develop methodologies to identify at-risk commodity shipments, feasible alternate modes of transportation, supply chain options, and shipping costs; and to develop a methodology to assess the potential closure of facilities impacted by infrastructure failure. A hypothetical failure scenario was assessed for a year-long closure of the Monongahela River between Charleroi and Elizabeth in 2010. For this scenario, the potentially displaced volume of coal shipments from mines to powerplants for a hypothetical river shutdown in 2010 was estimated at 7.0 million tons. The resilience of the impacted facilities, the feasibility of their shipping alternatives, and their ability to re-organize into new markets were assessed, showing heavy predicted impacts for facilities within the hypothetical failure zone, minimal impacts on facilities located below the failure zone, and mixed impacts above the failure zone that depend on facility-specific shipping mode alternatives. Lost revenues were estimated for facilities that close due to an inability to adapt, as well as the replacement cost of towboats and barges trapped by a catastrophic and sudden failure. The aggregate costs to these facilities as a result of a year-long closure in 2010 were estimated at $0.56-1.7 billion. The second research goal was to assess commonly used and potential new efficiency metrics for the inland waterways. Objectives of this goal included the development of methodologies to identify, characterize, and differentiate between vessel and commodity trips; to assess efficiency metrics currently used by USACE and develop improved metrics; and to conduct stochastic time studies of commodity trips to quantify efficiency gains from infrastructure improvements. The vessel and commodity trip analyses provide a unique assessment of the inefficiencies created by the infrastructure bottlenecks within the region. Data from USACE’s Lock Performance Monitoring System and the Energy Information Administration’s Survey 923 were used to characterize and rank the vessel and commodity trips made in 2010 in terms of frequency, tonnage, and ton-miles. Such rankings can be used to prioritize optimization projects and to assess usage patterns. The analyses of various efficiency measures commonly used for the inland waterways were conducted in light of the particular constraints of operation within the upper Ohio River basin. These upriver locks differ in size, requiring vessel operators to optimize the type and configuration of barges used within the region, and causing the regional profile to differ from fleet and flotilla profiles generated at a national level or for other regions. Consideration of these differences allows for more accurate analysis of usage patterns, with implications for efficiency considerations of time and fuel consumption. Stochastic modeling of historical usage patterns allows for the comparison of time requirements with different flotilla configurations and with different infrastructure configurations. A scenario analysis on a typical regional shipment between a coal mine and powerplant was used to demonstrate the method. Results show that completion of a long delayed lock reconstruction project will reduce the time required, and thus the cost and fuel, to move commodities across the region. The savings for a 15-jumbo barge tow moving 200 miles across the study area was estimated to be 17% as a result of completion of the Lower Mon Project. The third research goal was to quantify and assess the regional impact of commercial river traffic on air quality. The specific objectives of this goal were to develop a methodology for calculating emission loadings; and to develop a methodology to assess the impact of vessel emissions on regional air monitors. An estimation of particulate emissions from the vessels’ diesel engines is presented, showing total releases of PM2.5 to be about 360 tons in 2010 across 600 river miles of the upper Ohio River basin, on the same order of magnitude as the major point source releases reported in Allegheny County, and about 25% of releases from a typical 1,700 MW regional powerplant. A screening analysis estimates PM2.5 concentrations attributable from towboats passing through the Liberty-Clairton non-attainment region, predicting that these emission levels would be orders of magnitude below the detection limits of the region’s air monitors, and would be dwarfed by the point source impacting those monitors.

This dissertation examines several issues regarding the congestion on the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway. Chapter II identifies and measures the impact of lock congestion on grain barge rates on these waterways. Results indicate grain barge rates on both rivers are not affected by lagged lock congestion. In present time, however, lock congestion in the lower reaches of the upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers are found to increase barge rates that link the north central United States to the lower Mississippi Gulf port area. The findings suggest the impact of lock congestion on grain barge rates is moderate. Chapter III explores the interaction between grain prices in export and domestic markets and transportation rates linking these markets over time. Three model frameworks were evaluated and some consistent results are observed. In general, shocks in transportation rates (barge, rail, and ocean) explain a great proportion of the variation in corn and soybean market prices in the long run, suggesting the importance of transportation in grain price determination. The volatile ocean freight rates are the mostimportant transportation rates contributing to the variation in grain prices, while shocks in barge rates on the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway generally explain less than 15 percent of the variation in grain prices. The dynamic interrelationships among the six evaluated transportation rates are also found. In addition, the north central corn markets likely have the most influence over other markets while soybean export price dominates the soybean market in the long run. Chapter IV estimates the structural demand for grain barge transportation on both the upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. Results suggest foreign grain demand is the most influential force affecting grain barge demand on both rivers. Also, results indicate an inelastic demand for grain barge transportation on the Upper Mississippi in the short run; demand is price elastic in the long run. The price elasticity for grain barge demand on the Illinois River is consistently inelastic. Additionally, the winter season and floods affect demand on the Upper Mississippi negatively, while barge demand increases on the Illinois River in winter.

O objetivo principal deste trabalho é propor diretrizes pró-ativas para o planejamento e gestão ambiental das hidrovias brasileiras, no que tange ao transporte comercial de cargas. O trabalho começa com uma abordagem panorâmica sobre o transporte hidroviário no Brasil, as vantagens deste modal, os dados sobre extensões hidroviárias, os entraves ao desenvolvimento do sistema hidroviário e o problema a ser resolvido. Para isso, foi realizada uma pesquisa exploratória buscando informações técnicas e ambientais, além de se embasar no arcabouço jurídico dos órgãos intervenientes na gestão ambiental do transporte hidroviário. O trabalho foi dividido em elementos, fases, etapas e níveis hierárquicos de gerenciamento para um sistema hidroviário. Os elementos analisados foram vias, veículos, terminais, cargas e controles. O projeto hidroviário foi dividido em etapas de planejamento, implantação, operação, manutenção e desativação/descarte. A partir destes elementos foram identificados ações, atividades, os aspectos ambientais, os impactos ambientais associados a estes, e foram propostas medidas mitigadoras para minimizar tais impactos ambientais. O trabalho, ainda, teve outras divisões, bem como aquela que o divide em fases de Planejamento e de Gestão Ambiental. E com relação à hierarquia de gerenciamento, o trabalho foi dividido em estratégico, tático e operacional. Na fase específica de gestão ambiental são propostas duas alternativas de implantação de Sistema de Gestão Ambiental, uma que propõe a aplicação de planos e programas ambientais para assuntos e quesitos ambientais de maior relevância, sem se preocupar em certificações ambientais, e outra, que é a aplicação da Norma ISO 14001 para os sistemas hidroviários. Com isso, como contribuição, este trabalho preocupou-se em propor planos, programas e diretrizes para o planejamento e gestão ambiental de elementos que compõem a infra-estrutura do transporte hidroviário interior no Brasil, porém termina fazendo proposições de políticas públicas, baseadas nas reais necessidades do setor. / The main objective of this work is to propose proactive directives for the environmental planning and management of Brazilian inland waterways, as for as the commercial transport of cargo is concerned. The work starts with a panoramic approach to the inland waterway transport in Brazil, the advantages of this modal, the data about inland waterway extensions, the restraints to the development of the inland waterway system and the problem to be solved. With this objective, we made an exploratory investigation searching for technical and environmental information, besides finding support in the juridical framework of the organs related to the environmental management of inland waterway transport. The work was divided into elements, phases, stages and hierarchical levels of management for a waterway system. The elements analyzed were rivers, vehicles, terminals, cargoes and control. The waterway project was divided into planning stages, implementation, operation, maintenance and deactivation/discard. From these elements, we identified actions, activities, environmental aspects and environmental impacts associated to them, proposing mitigating measures to minimize such environmental impacts. The work also had other divisions, such as the one that divides it into the Environmental Planning and Environmental Management phases. In relation to management hierarchy, the work was divided into strategic, tactic and operational. In the specific environmental management phase, we propose two alternatives for the Environmental Management System implementation, one suggesting the application of environmental plans and programs for environmental issues and queries of greater relevance, without concerns about environmental certifications, and another one, which is the application of the ISO 14001 Standard on waterway systems. Therefore, as a contribution, this work is concerned with proposing plans, programs and directives for the environmental planning and management of elements which constitute the facilities of the inland waterway transport in Brazil, but it also makes propositions of public policy, based on the real necessities of the sector.

O objetivo deste trabalho é utilizar parcela do potencial da Internet como ferramenta de apoio ao desenvolvimento do processo de ensino-aprendizagem, através do emprego efetivo de alguns de seus recursos e posterior avaliação dos resultados obtidos em disciplina específica da Engenharia de Transportes. Para introduzir e avaliar a abordagem aqui proposta foi selecionada a disciplina STT403 - Aeroportos, Portos e Vias Navegáveis, oferecida pelo Departamento de Transportes da Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos, da Universidade de São Paulo, que é ministrada dentro do curso de graduação em Engenharia Civil. A parte da disciplina relativa a Portos e Vias Navegáveis, que tem cunho predominantemente informativo, foi adaptada para um método de ensino a distância, neste caso semipresencial, ou seja, as aulas expositivas tradicionais não foram suprimidas. Na abordagem aqui proposta as aulas foram ministradas em sala de aula e um material confeccionado pelos alunos com auxílio do professor foi disponibilizado na Internet, para que posteriormente os demais alunos pudessem consultá-lo. As dúvidas daí resultantes foram sanadas tanto em sala de aula como em consulta direta ao docente. Além das pesquisas realizadas pelos alunos, testes, bibliotecas, agenda e o desempenho individual de cada aluno também foram colocados à disposição no ambiente computacional para auxiliá-los na construção do conhecimento. A adaptação da disciplina a este novo método de ensino foi feita com o ambiente WebCT, sistema de gerenciamento de educação a distância, que pode ser utilizado pelos professores da USP para disponibilizarem seus cursos e/ou disciplinas na Internet há alguns anos. Esta ferramenta, que foi concebida por uma universidade canadense para melhorar o processo de ensino-aprendizagem, possui rotinas desenvolvidas especificamente para estimular a interação entre professor-aluno e entre os próprios alunos. Os resultados observados se constituem em fortes evidências de que a educação a distância, baseada na Internet, pode vir a ser uma estratégia efetiva na oferta de cursos para estudantes de engenharia, engenheiros e profissionais da área tecnológica, em larga escala e sem comprometimento da qualidade. A avaliação dos resultados obtidos permite afirmar, no mínimo: que o índice de satisfação com o curso por parte dos alunos com relação aos aspectos analisados pode ser considerado razoável e que a abordagem proposta parece promissora. / The aim of this work is to explore a fraction of the Internet potential as a supporting tool for the improvement of the learning process of a specific course in the Transportation Engineering field. This is accomplished through the application, in a regular course, of selected Internet resources and subsequent evaluation of the obtained results. The course, named Airports, Ports, and Inland Waterways, is part of the Civil Engineering core curriculum at the São Carlos School of Engineering - University of São Paulo. The teaching approach used for exploring Internet resources in the part of the course that deals with Ports and Inland Waterways did not eliminate the traditional classroom weekly meeting with the students, but took advantage of it to improve the process of distance education. In the approach proposed here, the students were organized in groups and asked to build a reference material with the aid of the lecturer in charge of the course. That material was later made available to the entire class through Internet, so that everyone could study it and evaluate it as well. The doubts arising from it could be discussed either in the classroom or directly with the lecturer. In addition to the results of the research carried out by the students, the environment built in Internet offered several other tools to support the learning process, such as: tests, libraries, agenda, and a management tool designed to track the individual performance of every student. The adaptation of the course to Internet has been done in a WebCT environment. That tool, which is a management system for distance education available for use at the University of São Paulo, has been designed by a Canadian university with the objective of stimulating the interactions among students themselves and with the course lecturer. The observed results seem to provide a strong evidence that Internet-based distance education might become an effective strategy for offering courses to Engineering students and professionals, and also to professionals of other technological areas. It can be a large-scale process without compromising the quality of the courses. Two points can be stressed, based on the evaluation of the results obtained with the application conducted here: the satisfaction level of the students with the course was not bad, and the proposed approach seems to be promising.

O objetivo deste trabalho é utilizar parcela do potencial da Internet como ferramenta de apoio ao desenvolvimento do processo de ensino-aprendizagem, através do emprego efetivo de alguns de seus recursos e posterior avaliação dos resultados obtidos em disciplina específica da Engenharia de Transportes. Para introduzir e avaliar a abordagem aqui proposta foi selecionada a disciplina STT403 - Aeroportos, Portos e Vias Navegáveis, oferecida pelo Departamento de Transportes da Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos, da Universidade de São Paulo, que é ministrada dentro do curso de graduação em Engenharia Civil. A parte da disciplina relativa a Portos e Vias Navegáveis, que tem cunho predominantemente informativo, foi adaptada para um método de ensino a distância, neste caso semipresencial, ou seja, as aulas expositivas tradicionais não foram suprimidas. Na abordagem aqui proposta as aulas foram ministradas em sala de aula e um material confeccionado pelos alunos com auxílio do professor foi disponibilizado na Internet, para que posteriormente os demais alunos pudessem consultá-lo. As dúvidas daí resultantes foram sanadas tanto em sala de aula como em consulta direta ao docente. Além das pesquisas realizadas pelos alunos, testes, bibliotecas, agenda e o desempenho individual de cada aluno também foram colocados à disposição no ambiente computacional para auxiliá-los na construção do conhecimento. A adaptação da disciplina a este novo método de ensino foi feita com o ambiente WebCT, sistema de gerenciamento de educação a distância, que pode ser utilizado pelos professores da USP para disponibilizarem seus cursos e/ou disciplinas na Internet há alguns anos. Esta ferramenta, que foi concebida por uma universidade canadense para melhorar o processo de ensino-aprendizagem, possui rotinas desenvolvidas especificamente para estimular a interação entre professor-aluno e entre os próprios alunos. Os resultados observados se constituem em fortes evidências de que a educação a distância, baseada na Internet, pode vir a ser uma estratégia efetiva na oferta de cursos para estudantes de engenharia, engenheiros e profissionais da área tecnológica, em larga escala e sem comprometimento da qualidade. A avaliação dos resultados obtidos permite afirmar, no mínimo: que o índice de satisfação com o curso por parte dos alunos com relação aos aspectos analisados pode ser considerado razoável e que a abordagem proposta parece promissora. / The aim of this work is to explore a fraction of the Internet potential as a supporting tool for the improvement of the learning process of a specific course in the Transportation Engineering field. This is accomplished through the application, in a regular course, of selected Internet resources and subsequent evaluation of the obtained results. The course, named Airports, Ports, and Inland Waterways, is part of the Civil Engineering core curriculum at the São Carlos School of Engineering - University of São Paulo. The teaching approach used for exploring Internet resources in the part of the course that deals with Ports and Inland Waterways did not eliminate the traditional classroom weekly meeting with the students, but took advantage of it to improve the process of distance education. In the approach proposed here, the students were organized in groups and asked to build a reference material with the aid of the lecturer in charge of the course. That material was later made available to the entire class through Internet, so that everyone could study it and evaluate it as well. The doubts arising from it could be discussed either in the classroom or directly with the lecturer. In addition to the results of the research carried out by the students, the environment built in Internet offered several other tools to support the learning process, such as: tests, libraries, agenda, and a management tool designed to track the individual performance of every student. The adaptation of the course to Internet has been done in a WebCT environment. That tool, which is a management system for distance education available for use at the University of São Paulo, has been designed by a Canadian university with the objective of stimulating the interactions among students themselves and with the course lecturer. The observed results seem to provide a strong evidence that Internet-based distance education might become an effective strategy for offering courses to Engineering students and professionals, and also to professionals of other technological areas. It can be a large-scale process without compromising the quality of the courses. Two points can be stressed, based on the evaluation of the results obtained with the application conducted here: the satisfaction level of the students with the course was not bad, and the proposed approach seems to be promising.

The United States Navy's involvement in the Vietnam War, especially its role in the region's inland waterways, has long been an overshadowed aspect of the conflict. Most histories ignore or minimize the Navy's contribution, especially its river patrol or 'brown water' role. Through archival and library research as well as interviews with U.S Navy Vietnam War veterans this thesis demonstrates the vital role played by the brown water navy in the northern provinces of South Vietnam. A key but understudied component of this effort was Task Force Clearwater, an improvised brown water fleet that-along with the maritime logistics campaign that it supported-would prove essential for the successful defense of South Vietnam's northernmost provinces and demonstrate the vital importance of inland naval power. Task Force Clearwater and its supported maritime logistics effort form a little explored component of the U.S. Navy's role in South Vietnam. A brown water task force that proved essential for the successful defense of the northern provinces of I Corps, Clearwater repeatedly demonstrated the vital importance of inland naval power and the critical need for reliable and protected routes of supply. The task force revealed many lessons that had been long understood, forgotten, and then relearned by the U.S. Navy, among them that control of inland waterways was perhaps the most advantageous form of logistical supply in war. Created in part to satisfy the ancient maxim of "keeping the supply lines open", the task force's role broadened with time. In the course of its existence the men and boats of Clearwater would provide not only the tools of war in I Corps but also provide key lessons for the future.

O objetivo principal deste trabalho é propor diretrizes pró-ativas para o planejamento e gestão ambiental das hidrovias brasileiras, no que tange ao transporte comercial de cargas. O trabalho começa com uma abordagem panorâmica sobre o transporte hidroviário no Brasil, as vantagens deste modal, os dados sobre extensões hidroviárias, os entraves ao desenvolvimento do sistema hidroviário e o problema a ser resolvido. Para isso, foi realizada uma pesquisa exploratória buscando informações técnicas e ambientais, além de se embasar no arcabouço jurídico dos órgãos intervenientes na gestão ambiental do transporte hidroviário. O trabalho foi dividido em elementos, fases, etapas e níveis hierárquicos de gerenciamento para um sistema hidroviário. Os elementos analisados foram vias, veículos, terminais, cargas e controles. O projeto hidroviário foi dividido em etapas de planejamento, implantação, operação, manutenção e desativação/descarte. A partir destes elementos foram identificados ações, atividades, os aspectos ambientais, os impactos ambientais associados a estes, e foram propostas medidas mitigadoras para minimizar tais impactos ambientais. O trabalho, ainda, teve outras divisões, bem como aquela que o divide em fases de Planejamento e de Gestão Ambiental. E com relação à hierarquia de gerenciamento, o trabalho foi dividido em estratégico, tático e operacional. Na fase específica de gestão ambiental são propostas duas alternativas de implantação de Sistema de Gestão Ambiental, uma que propõe a aplicação de planos e programas ambientais para assuntos e quesitos ambientais de maior relevância, sem se preocupar em certificações ambientais, e outra, que é a aplicação da Norma ISO 14001 para os sistemas hidroviários. Com isso, como contribuição, este trabalho preocupou-se em propor planos, programas e diretrizes para o planejamento e gestão ambiental de elementos que compõem a infra-estrutura do transporte hidroviário interior no Brasil, porém termina fazendo proposições de políticas públicas, baseadas nas reais necessidades do setor. / The main objective of this work is to propose proactive directives for the environmental planning and management of Brazilian inland waterways, as for as the commercial transport of cargo is concerned. The work starts with a panoramic approach to the inland waterway transport in Brazil, the advantages of this modal, the data about inland waterway extensions, the restraints to the development of the inland waterway system and the problem to be solved. With this objective, we made an exploratory investigation searching for technical and environmental information, besides finding support in the juridical framework of the organs related to the environmental management of inland waterway transport. The work was divided into elements, phases, stages and hierarchical levels of management for a waterway system. The elements analyzed were rivers, vehicles, terminals, cargoes and control. The waterway project was divided into planning stages, implementation, operation, maintenance and deactivation/discard. From these elements, we identified actions, activities, environmental aspects and environmental impacts associated to them, proposing mitigating measures to minimize such environmental impacts. The work also had other divisions, such as the one that divides it into the Environmental Planning and Environmental Management phases. In relation to management hierarchy, the work was divided into strategic, tactic and operational. In the specific environmental management phase, we propose two alternatives for the Environmental Management System implementation, one suggesting the application of environmental plans and programs for environmental issues and queries of greater relevance, without concerns about environmental certifications, and another one, which is the application of the ISO 14001 Standard on waterway systems. Therefore, as a contribution, this work is concerned with proposing plans, programs and directives for the environmental planning and management of elements which constitute the facilities of the inland waterway transport in Brazil, but it also makes propositions of public policy, based on the real necessities of the sector.

Thesis deals with the efficiency of inland waterways in the Czech Republic and its measure which would lead to its greater use. For this precaution is considered a project the Weir in Děčín and without this, the project can not proceed in the construction of other projects in the Czech inland waterways. The first part is devoted to the description of inland waterways as part of the trans-European networks. Furthermore there are institutions in charge of the developement and operation of waterways. Legislation defining the rules to ensure continuity of water transport is also important in the developement and operation. The second part deals with positive relationship between freight water transport and economy of the Czech Republic. I describe in the last chapter of the thesis project the Weir in Děčín and the subsequent project of navigability of the Elbe River to Pardubice and construction of the Danube-Oder-Elbe.

Inom Europa har länge bedrivits en framgångsrik och attraktiv inlandssjöfart som ett led inom transportkedjan där gods framför allt har flyttats över från vägnätet till sjöfarten. Då sjöfarten som transportsätt är ett mycket miljövänligt alternativ finns det utöver miljövinster även samhällsekonomiska vinster att göra. Då den tunga trafiken på vägnätet avlastas minskas därmed risken för trafikolyckor. Vid transport av farligt gods minskar samtidigt risken för utsläpp av farliga ämnen i naturen. I Sverige har inlandssjöfarten inte haft samma genomslagskraft som i övriga länder med kanalsystem, trots att det finns ett stort behov av att avlasta det redan överbelastade vägnätet och ett uttalat mål från regeringen om att flytta över gods till sjöfarten. Genom att jämföra regelverken som finns för inlandssjöfarten inom Europa med de svenska reglerna är målet att ta reda på varför inlandssjöfarten inte har samma genomslagskraft i Sverige som i övriga Europa. Utöver reglerna som arbetet berör så analyseras även kostnaderna för inlandssjöfarten i Sverige kontra Europa och ytligt nämna andra faktorer som gör den mindre slagkraftigt. En av slutsatserna som framkom  ur detta arbete är att Sveriges tolkning och tillägg till det Europeiska regelverket inte är den största anledningen till att det inte finns någon ekonomiskt stabil inlandssjöfart i Sverige utan endast en av faktorerna. / Europe has a great history of successful and attractive shipping on the inland waterways as a part of the transport infrastructure, where a great amount of cargo has been transferred from the roads to the inland waterways. Shipping as a type of transportation is a very environmentally friendly alternative besides advantages for the society. As shipping decreases the heavy traffic on the public roads, the risk for traffic accidents and the risks in transporting dangerous cargo will be lower.In Sweden the shipping on the inland waterways has not been as successful compared to the european neighbours with inland waterways, and despite this there is a great need for transferring cargo from the roads to the sea and an official goal from the government for doing this. By comparing the swedish regulation regarding the shipping on inland waterways with the european regulations, the aim is to find out why  shipping on the inland waterways are not successful in Sweden. Besides the comparative of the regulations this report will also analyse the different costs and other factors making it less attractive. What the authors can conclude in this study is that the swedish adaptation and additions to the european rules is not the only factor why there is no  economically functioning traffic of the swedish inland waterways, it is just another brick in the wall.

Ett företag står inför nya logistiska alternativ när förutsättningar förändras. Det kan handla om infrastrukturförändringar, men det kan också handla om lag- och regelförändringar när samhället vill skärpa krav på miljömedvetenhet och hållbarhetsredovisning. I vänerområdet finns skogsindustri som i sina verksamheter är beroende av tunga transporter. Det är en energiintensiv industri. Historiskt har Vänern och Göta älv använts för utskeppning av exportvaror. Numera går dock många transporter på järnväg för omlastning i Göteborgs hamn. Slussarna i Trollhättan är gamla och betongkonstruktionerna har börjat att vittra sönder. För fortsatt möjlighet att använda fartyg till och från Vänern har Sjöfartsverket, Trafikverket och kommunerna längs Göta älv beslutat att bygga nya och större slussar i farleden. Detta kommer att ge nya möjligheter för industrierna kring Vänern, som framöver kommer att kunna använda större fartyg i sin logistik. I denna uppsats har StoraEnsos kartongbruk i Skoghall studerats för en fallstudie om styrande faktorer vid val gällande lönsam exportlogistik, hållbara transporter och effektiva godsflöden till kund. Semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer har gjorts med representanter för StoraEnso, Sjöfartsverket och representanter för rederier som sedan länge trafikerar Vänern. I en diskussion ställs resultaten mot teorier relaterade till logistik och hållbarhet. Studiens slutsatser indikerar att nya större slussar kan ge fördelar genom ökade alternativ i företagens logistikkedjor och därmed en bättre redundans vid transporter. Det framkom att det finns vissa logistiska hinder på grund av att myndigheter och kommuner längs Vänern och Göta älv bättre borde koordinera underhåll och infrastrukturförändringar. Från respondenterna och från teorin noteras att jämförelser mellan olika transportslags lönsamhet och miljövänlighet är svåra att göra. Företagen har ofta komplexa logistiklösningar som har mejslats fram under lång tid. Det framkom att StoraEnso arbetar tydligt med miljöfaktorer i upphandling av nya logistikfunktioner. StoraEnso ser det som ett viktigt arbete för egen lönsamhet, men också för legitimering av sin verksamhet i samhället. / A company in a changing world is faced with new logistical options when conditions change. It can be about infrastructure changes, but it can also be about law and rule changes when society wants to tighten requirements for environmental awareness and sustainability reporting. In the Lake Vänern area, there is a forest industry that is dependent on heavy transport in its operations. It is an energy-intensive industry. Historically, Lake Vänern and Göta rivers have been used for shipping export goods. Nowadays, however, many transports go by rail for transshipment in the Port of Gothenburg. The locks in Trollhättan are old and the concrete structures have begun to crumble. For the continued possibility of using ships to and from Vänern, the Swedish Maritime Administration, the Swedish Transport Agency and the municipalities along the Göta river have decided to build new and larger locks. This will provide new opportunities for the industries around Lake Vänern, which in the future will be able to use larger ships in their logistics. In this essay, StoraEnso’s cardboard mill in Skoghall has been studied for a case study on profitable export logistics and sustainable transport. Semi-structured qualitative interviews have been conducted with representatives of StoraEnso, the Swedish Maritime Administration and representatives for shipping companies that have been sailing Lake Vänern for a long time. The mill’s audit firm was also contacted. In a discussion, the results are compared against theories related to logistics and sustainability. The study’s conclusions indicate that new, larger locks can provide benefits through increased options in companies’ logistics chains and thus better redundancy in transport. It emerged that there are certain logistical obstacles due to the fact that authorities and municipalities along the Vänern and Göta rivers should better coordinate maintenance and infrastructure changes. Comparisons between the profitability and environmental friendliness of different modes of transport are difficult to make, due to the fact that the companies often have complex logistics solutions that have been developed over a long period of time. StoraEnso works clearly with environmental parameters in the procurement of new logistics functions. StoraEnso sees it as important work for its own profitability, but also for legitimizing its operations in society.