KEY TAKEAWAYS: Canal Barge Company reported a record $549.4 million in revenue in 2025, up from $531.4 million in 2024. Redwood Holdings acquired Canal Barge and placed it under a holding company alongside Marquette Transportation. The combined companies create one of the largest towboat and b arge ownership groups in the U.S. Strong fleet utilization, contract renewals and tank barge demand helped drive the company’s record revenue and earnings.   For Canal Barge Company, 2025 marked both record revenue and earnings and a transformative shift in ownership – a pivotal combination that is poised to shape the next phase of growth for one of New Orleans’ longest-standing private companies in the trade and transportation sector. Canal Barge Company (CBC) reported $549.4 million in revenue in 2025, up from $531.4 million in 2024, marking a record year for the 93-year-old New Orleans-based marine transportation and logistics company. The growth coincides with an ownership transition. Last September, national investment firm Redwood Holdings acquired Canal Barge, placing it under a newly formed holding company that includes Marquette Transportation Company of Paducah, Kentucky. New York-based Redwood Holdings is a family-owned holding company that invests in founder, family, and management-owned businesses. “Redwood is an excellent owner that provides the financial strength and a long-term commitment to our business,” said Merritt Lane III, CBC President and CEO. “Selling our family’s ownership this year was the result of a thoughtful process. It was important to us that we would be able to accomplish this while continuing to provide our customers the best-in-class service they are used to from us, as well as to provide the stability and confidence that allows our employees to stay focused on operating our business.” The transaction positions Redwood as one of the largest owners of towboats and barges in the country. Lane said the transaction provides CBC with long-term strategic alignment and the financial strength to scale operations while preserving its core identity and workforce. The decision, he added, secures a permanent, growth-oriented home for the company’s next chapter. “Redwood is the ideal long-term home to continue the legacy of the CBC Family and provide opportunities to our mariners and shore-based employees,” Lane said. “They have already made significant investments in the company since acquiring us, including buying a fleet of tank barges and strategic waterside land in Houston.” CBC was founded in 1933 by Joseph Merrick Jones with one barge and a $10,000 capital investment. The company began operating the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway‘s first all-welded steel tank barge that same year. Over the past nine decades, CBC has grown to include more than 900 tank, hopper and deck barges, 49 towboats, and more than 900 employees. Redwood’s acquisition includes CBC’s subsidiaries – Illinois Marine Towing and the IMT-Lemont Shipyard, Canal Terminal Company, Canal Analytical Environmental Services, and Pelican Marine Services. The deal was structured through a Redwood-controlled holding company, of which Lane now serves as CEO, while continuing to lead CBC’s operations. The transaction unites two complementary players in the Jones Act marine transportation market. CBC provides marine transportation, logistics, terminaling and harbor services for industrial customers. Marquette focuses on barge towing services across dry cargo and liquid cargo markets. Marquette’s 1,700 mariners and shoreside employees oversee more than 130 towboats and tugboats across the Mississippi River, Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and coastal markets. “Canal Barge not only can grow in its existing footprint, but our affiliation with Marquette Transportation also brings together an amazingly deep and diverse business portfolio, extraordinary talent, best-in-class operating and logistical capabilities, and tremendous scale that creates opportunities for efficiencies and growth,” Lane said. “We spent the year getting to know our partners at Marquette Transportation, learning from each other and identifying opportunities to match up capabilities and create an even stronger enterprise for the future.” Maintaining continuity during the ownership transition was a priority, Lane added. “I am very pleased to say that we managed through the transition successfully, with high customer satisfaction and employee retention. Our team stayed focused, our safety record was solid, and we produced record financial results.” CBC’s 3.4% revenue increase was supported by favorable contract renewals, high fleet utilization, and stable operating conditions, “in spite of one of our heavier fleet maintenance years,” Lane said. “CBC had record revenue and earnings in 2025. Our tank barge business was the biggest contributor and showed the most improvement, but our open hopper and deck barge business units both performed very well,” Lane said. “Our customer portfolio was very stable and was the source of most of the revenue growth.” In the trucking segment, Gretna-based Acme Truck Line Inc. reported $242.3 million in revenue in 2025, up slightly from $242 million in 2024. Founded in 1960, Acme operates 70 local offices and a fleet of 1,200 trucks, serving approximately 1,400 active customers. The company averages 3,500 weekly loads and logs roughly 45 million miles annually across more than 40 service markets in 15 states, operating around the clock throughout the year. Companies in the trade and transportation industry continue to navigate a complex operating environment shaped by global trade policy shifts, export demand volatility and the capital-intensive nature of marine assets. Lane noted that grain exports – particularly corn and soybeans – remain sensitive to geopolitical developments, while high vessel construction costs have tempered new barge supply, keeping market discipline in check. Despite those headwinds, Lane expressed cautious optimism heading into 2026. “While the overall economy seems to be a bit flat, it is healthy with a more business-friendly regulatory environment and lower interest rates likely stimulating some economic growth. Trade policy will impact our business in many ways, but the most significant impact will be on Marquette’s grain business that is driven by corn and soybean exports,” he said. “More importantly, the supply of barges remains stable with new construction mostly in check due to the high price of new assets relative to current market rates. If we have solid demand, stable supply, and favorable operating conditions in 2026, we could have another record year.” ...read more read less