Freight

Who trains the trainer?

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May 1, 2026

Way back in nineteen somethng, I spent the best part of a year working towards gaining a Technical Teacher Training Certificate, writes Jonathan Mosse. I mention this not out of any desire to boast, merely as a strong indicator that someone has recognised that merely owning a skill is no guarantee of the ability to…
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WIND-POWERED SHIPPING and the Future of Decarbonising Inland Waterways

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January 8, 2026

Wind-powered merchant shipping has moved from theory to reality, offering a compelling demonstration of how global freight transport can dramatically reduce its carbon footprint. While the direct use of wind power is not suitable for inland waterways, the principles behind it point clearly towards the future of low-carbon freight on canals and rivers. A landmark…
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MISSING in action

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June 18, 2025

Jonathan Mosse’s monthly look at freight development on the inland waterways… EQUATING the green shoots of spring with by far and away the greenest form of transport on the planet often appears to be something of a challenge to the minds of our politicians and general policy makers. This might partially be explained by an…
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FREIGHT on the waterways update

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Web Editor

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April 23, 2025

Jonathan Mosse’s monthly look at freight development on the inland waterways.BLEATING away on a monthly basis in a waterways magazine about the discrepancies in recognition of modal freight paths in the UK might, on the face of it, appear to be a fairly fruitless and therefore soul-destroying occupation. But is it? Let’s start by saying…
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FREIGHT DEVELOPMENTS on inland waterways

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Web Editor

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December 10, 2024

Jonathan Mosse’s monthly look at freight development on the inland waterways. IT IS my unshakeable belief that the fact that we still have a functional commercial inland waterways system is largely down to individuals and not to the people who are entrusted with running them – the navigation authorities. Wood, Hall & Heward (WHH: a…
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Call to action: just add water

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Web Editor

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December 15, 2023

Jonathan Mosse’s monthly look at freight developments on the inland waterways. SO READS the strapline of the recently published one-page waterways freight promotional document, put out jointly by the Commercial Boater Operators Association (CBOA) and the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) Freight Group. Starting from the premise that people want cleaner air and reduced congestion in…
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They’re not making them any more

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April 19, 2023

Jonathan Mosse’s monthly look at freight developments on the inland waterways. “BUY land, they’re not making it anymore”; thus goes a well-known observation attributed to Mark Twain. Much the same thing could be said about ports scattered around the periphery of the United Kingdom. So when confronted by a headline such as: ‘Councillors vote to…
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Monthly look: freight on the waterways

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Web Editor

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January 21, 2023

Jonathan Mosse’s monthly look at freight developments on the inland waterways. AT THE end of November, the British Ports Association (BPA) and the UK Chamber of Shipping jointly hosted their annual Scottish Parliamentary Maritime reception in Holyrood, with a sizeable grouping of MSPs, to discuss the sustainability and energy revolution in their sector. Delivering a…
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Levelling up! Freight developments on the waterways

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Web Editor

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October 25, 2022

Jonathan Mosse continues his monthly look at freight developments on the inland waterways. I’M BOTH intrigued that Boris has unwittingly stolen my thunder and dismayed in equal measure that he might, by association, have devalued my message. But, on balance, I feel there’s nothing for it but to press on! We’ve recently viewed the burgeoning…
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Rolling on the river

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Web Editor

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August 22, 2022

Jonathan Mosse continues his monthly look at freight developments on the inland waterways. AS WRITER and researcher for the Nicholson Waterway Guides, bumping along what passes for a towpath on the lower Trent astride a bicycle, checking for changes to the navigation, could easily be numbered at the bottom end of the job’s attractions. By…
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That ‘last mile’: Jonathan Mosse continues his look at freight developments on the inland waterways!

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July 22, 2022

LAST month we looked at the big picture and how waterways freight might establish itself as part of a true multimodal carrying strategy in the UK, examining how some of its perceived weaknesses could, in reality, constitute its strengths. When built, canals flowed past industry’s back door enabling boats to pick up finished goods and…
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Freight flounders

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Web Editor

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April 1, 2022

Jonathan Mosse continues his monthly look at freight developments on the inland waterways. STILL the fish kill saga continues in the Knottingley area of the Aire & Calder Navigation with no apparent resolution in sight, although in reality it’s the freight traffic that is being decimated rather than the local fish stocks. So, what do…
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FREIGHT BARGES TO RESUME SERVICE ON AIRE & CALDER NAVIGATION

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March 19, 2022

Canal & River Trust is giving freight traffic the green light to recommence passage on the Aire & Calder Navigation as the charity’s investigations into fish deaths nears completion. The announcement follows a temporary eight-week suspension to allow the Trust’s environmental team to carry out detailed investigations into the cause of fish deaths on the…
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Lagging behind in the large canal stakes

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Mark Lancaster

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August 23, 2021

Continuing our section bringing news of freight developments on the inland waterways. Jonathan Mosse reports. THAT the carriage of goods by water is by far and away the most environmentally friendly form of transport is not in dispute, so it is interesting to note what progress Britain, as the host country of this coming November’s…
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